Hi Everyone,

I tried to rattle can paint my new Poison Spyder front bumper, but it didn't turn out well. I'm thinking about just using Duplicolor Bed Liner spray now. My question is what do I need to do to my bumper to get it ready to spray with bed liner? Anything at all? Is bed liner forgiving? Will it leave blotchy areas like the rattle can paint?

Thanks for the help everyone!

 

How did you do the original paint job? Did you primer it first? One heavy coat or multiple light coats? What kind of paint did you use?

You can probably just lightly sand off the top layer of the paint that's on there now and put on the bedliner, but it's hard to say for sure without more information.

 

How did you prep the metal to receive the paint?

 

I sanded it, cleaned it with mineral spirits, 3 coats of self etching primer, then 3 coats of paints. Still looks blotchy. I probably need to do a better job of prepping. But I'm moving on to bedliner now haha.

 

Sounds like your rattle can skills are poor like mine, if you do bed line get the quart that you brush on instead of more rattle cans.

 

I thought I did a good job. I did light sprays with smooth strokes. Well I think so haha. I just think my prep work was poor.

Is bed liner more forgiving in terms of leaving blotch spots, kinda like how plasti dip is forgiving?

 

There is your problem. Mineral spirits leave behind a contamination film that can weep up through base coats and primers. You really need to go back to square one. Sand it ,
prepsol or 91% alcohol after tac-cloth wipe down to remove any oils and surface contaminents. Self etch primer and paint.

 

UPDATE

I decided to give it another shot.

1. Wet sanded the bumper down with 400 grit sand paper until it was nice and smooth. I had 600 grit on hand but I was just plain lazy (BAD).
2. Wiped the bumper down with some cloth. All I had at the time was mineral spirits and I didn't want to use that again.
3. Put 3 coats of Rustoleum paint on it. 1st pass was 30-40% coverage, 2nd pass was 80% coverage, 3rd pass was 100% coverage. I used long end to end strokes and the technique of "chasing the dry" up.

LESSONS LEARNED
1. A good prep helps. Don't underestimate sanding. Everywhere you read "PREP WELL" but I guess you don't really know what that means until you give a shot first and then you realize that your prep needs to be better than that.
2. Primer isn't required. Although probably recommended.
3. Don't use mineral spirits to clean. Just based on my personal experience.
4. Spray technique is key. Long end to end strokes. Not little taps and light sprays here and there.

It turned out very nice! I will post pictures of my bumper when it dries.