Need some advice from anyone on here that does body work for a living. Just for fun I decided to shave and repaint my front bumper. Never done any body work before but everything went ok. I used plastic filler recommended to me from an auto paint store and built it up layer by layer. after I got it close I sprayed the area in a gloss black guide coat and perfected it until I couldnt see or feel it anymore. I used high build Nason 2k primer (4 coats) and base (2 coats) and clear(3 coats). After primering it I checked it again with a gloss black coat and I couldn't see it anymore. The paint looks amazing. My only problem is at certain angles and lights you can see a "shadow" of the emblem. Is there a step I missed? I've got another bumper I'm planning on doing as a backup/show bumper and I was wondering if anyone knew how I could get rid of the shadow. I'll post up pics when I get some.

 

pics of shadow...

once it cures...buff I guess to get a even reflection

 

EEsh, post pics... Sometimes when you sand plastic bumper too much they tend to swell up... even after priming and guide coating and re-priming... it may feel or look smooth or perfect but once painted it will show... also one good way to not get that outline/shadow is by beveling the edge with a pencil grinder...

Question, you said that "plastic filler" was used... Did you mean plastic bumper repair material? If so, was it a two part?

 

I'll post the shadow pic in the morning when I can get a good shot of it but here's a few that I have so far.

As you can see in the reflection, the emblem shadow isn't visible when I was spraying it. Only after I cut and buffed did I notice it.



This was a shot right before primer. You can see that the filler isn't in the shape of the emblem but for some reason the shadow shows the complete outline of the nissan "hamburger". I thought maybe I had sanded too far down but this pic shows it wasn't


all in all I'm pretty happy with the results of my first try. Just want to get it perfect for the second bumper.

 

Yes it was bumper two part filler that the paint store recommended. The guy was really helpful and knowledgeable. I showed him what I wanted to do and he gave me everything I needed along with a basic run down on how to do it. Also the bumper sat for 2 months after I had filled it in. I got side tracked but I figured any sort of residual expansion of the compound would have been over with in that sitting time.

I'll try the beveling thing too next time. Should I have put a sealer between the primer and base? The paint guy said I wouldn't need it but I'm wondering if that may have made a difference.

 

It wouldn't show up in any pictures. It looks great when you're standing still but when you start moving it shows up so I took a video. You can start to see it in the reflection of the building 6-7 seconds in.

Also the stuff I used to fill it was "plastic surgery (semi-rigid)" made by Sure Seal

Again thanks for all the replies, any tips or suggestions really helps.

Link to the video:
http://s11.photobucket.com/albums/a1...5-17-37-59.mp4

 

Anyone? No one's done this kind of project before?

 

my buddies is shaved and also has a little shadow, dont know

 

That doesn't sound right. lol

Sorry, I'm no help OP... I couldnt see the shadow in the video though.

 

I shaved my 07 gtis front end before I traded it on my z. You used wayyyyy to much bondo. The only way to do it right is to cut out the area of the emblem and plastic weld a piece of plastic of the same density in, then sand it down until its all flush. You shouldn't have to ever use more bondo than the thickness of a dime in any space.

 

That makes sense. I'll try that on the next one. Plastic welders are stupid expensive though. Is it the thickness of the material beneath the paint that makes it visible?

 

It just makes it easier. You want to use a body repair mesh on the back side of the bumper to hold it in place as you plastic weld it. You can also use a soldering wire to plastic weld. You just have to be a little more careful. You can pick up a cheap one for $20 at sears or home depot.

 

http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthrea...ont-bumper-DIY

This is how I did my center notch. I plastic welded and sanded the side markers.

I'm planning on shaving everything on my 350 other than the door handles with a full respray of black magic pearl with some amethyst pearl mixed in.

Pm me if you have any tech questions about it. I shaved 3 bumpers total(center notch, rub strips, side markers)

GL!

 

Sorry, I didn't see this post earlier. I did a plastic fill job on my nismo v3, then coated the entire bumper with a high build polyester primer wet sanded, then ppg primer, then color and clear. It sunk a bit where the filler starts, and has continued to shrink over time. This was not initially apparent but over time has gotten worse. I did some color sanding which helped the appearance but never took it away.

The poster that mentioned the plastic welding is correct, that is the only way to do this properly. Although it is much more difficult than the filler method.

I believe if my bumper was re-sanded down to the primer and re painted again the problem would be solved. However I've given up on home body work as it is too much of a pain in the a$$ with my tiny garage. My C-west long nose is in my living room waiting for paint because I don't want to do it myself again.

 

thanks for the replies
I never even considered that the filler would shrink over time. I figured several months of sitting on the shelf would have dealt with whatever shrinkage it would have gone through. I guess I will have to try the plastic weld method.

 

Even though the answer has been said already BoardSnow6 is correct. I did what is some call a noise chop on a Evo 8 that I had and plastic welded the section that was cut out and never had the issue you have. A friend Fiber glassed and bondo filled his and he had the exact issue you have. It did end up getting a little worse over time like slow03z said and he ended up a year later repainting the bumper and with another coat of primer before painting I believe helped it as now he no longer has that shadow there. Bumper looks good though man and what I believe is another possible issue is maybe not letting the lower layers cure long enough and the bondo being to think. Just a thought though.

Thanks,
Dallin

 

Thanks, this bumper is gonna be my DD bumper so Im not gonna repaint it for a few years. After it gets rock chipped to hell I'll redo the emblem shave and repaint it. I'll do the plastic welding on the 2nd bumper and I'll post how it turns out.

 

I've seen others do similar things and the results came out stellar. Plastic welding is the way to go.