Front bumper has a scrape on it. Is a full repaint necessary?

[MattScopes]

Long story short, I have this scrape on my car that I noticed today that I don’t have any idea how it got there. Is this something that would require a full bumper repaint to fix? Or could this somehow be “spot treated”? Im not sure if it would be worth a repaint to me since it is my daily and it does blend in relatively well when not looking at it straight on, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed.

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[GrabberB]

The right person could do a spot repair (filler, base coat and clear). The clear coat would have to wet sanded and polished to blend. I spot repaired myself many times and I'm not an expert painter. Took me a few tries to get things right the first time. I used a small Sata spray gun (not cheap but the best). Spot repairing is best left to a pro.

I would not try doing this with touch up paint because you will never be happy with the end result.

 

[MattScopes]

The right person could do a spot repair (filler, base coat and clear). The clear coat would have to wet sanded and polished to blend. I spot repaired myself many times and I'm not and expert painter. Took me a few tries to get things right the first time. I used a small Sata spray gun (not cheap but the best). Spot repairing is best left to a pro.

I would not try doing this with touch up paint because you will never be happy with the end result.

Appreciate the reply. Have you had any issues with longevity on spot repairs? Seems like a bit of a mixed bag with people talking about them online saying they start to peel or show signs of fading after enough sun hits it.

 

[PS JCS]

I used Bumper Buddies in California.

 

[Neggytive]

wow, with that much flake trying to do a blend in panel with full clear, and have it come out right is going to challenge the best painter.

If I were doing it, knowing that Silvers are one of the hardest colors to match ( note the bumper covers are usually not a perfect match to the car) and that much flake I would probably do full paint and cleat after doing some spray out panels ant tinting.

Now one of the things that is happening in the collision industry right now is a push by manufacturers to dictate how repairs are done.

They are writing complete repair procedures for body repairs, how or if things can be repaired, if a panel can have a partial replacement ( section) or must be replaced at the factory seams, etc.

This is a 2022 position statement, it says no fillers and watch the paint thickness
https://www.oem1stop.com/sites/default/files/Ford_Bumper-Fascia-Position-Statement_FNL_2022.pdf

from the pictures I see yours is repairable IMHO, but again I'd spray the whole thing after tint and spray down panels were done.

 

[Neggytive]

P.S. Fords position statement on painting does not allow for blending clear, it is against their repair procedure.

Full clear taken to the break points or in your case full clear with the bumper off the car and torn down to the cover. The shop should charge that as "overhaul time" and replace any single use parts per the estimating guide

 

[GrabberB]

Appreciate the reply. Have you had any issues with longevity on spot repairs? Seems like a bit of a mixed bag with people talking about them online saying they start to peel or show signs of fading after enough sun hits it.

I've never had any issues with the spot repairs I've done. The last one I did was over 5 years ago and it still looks the same. One would be hard pressed to ever find it on the vehicle without a paint defect light or something along those lines.

 

[AZ_Ryan]

A competent paint shop should be able to blend that.

 

[MattScopes]

Thanks everyone, I’ll take all this into consideration

 

[Neggytive]

OK O am back to chime in some more

silver / silver with flake is just a real hard color to blend in panel

It is very translucent, if you have ever painted 3 stage it is a lot like that, you have to watch how many coats as it will darken the final color, a bad blend in silver results in a dark area surrounded by light. Getting the flake to lay out is a magic that only experienced painters seem to get right, the right temperature reducer has to be used in order to get the flake to stand up and not lay over. There are some colors you can paint on hot humid days and dump a bunch of retarder into it to it to get it to behave. I don't think yours is one of those colors.

If it came to me, I'd be asking my painter if giving it a coat of sealer to give it a uniform (light) color to spray over allowing it to come out all one shade based on how many coats the spray out card and tinting takes to get a match is the best way to go.

You have one chance to make it right, if you are wrong and the color is off, you are going to be doing a lot of sanding to get the MIL thickness down to the point you can shoot it again and stay under Ford's repair procedure

This is one of those situations where what seems like a minor repair turns into a challenge.

And the biggest challenge is to show the owner ahead of time that the color is probably a shade off, or if it is a spot on match ( it happens) getting the paint shop to spend the time to get the mix right, and that means telling the customer that in addition to the repair and refinish time, Overhaul time, replacement of single use items, and P&M costs, there will be an additional 2 hours maximum on the estimate for tint and spray down in order to assure the mix is right and the paint matches as close as possible.

No offense to the OP, but every customer is going to go over that with a fine tooth comb and if they don't feel it is perfect they are going to be all over you to "fix" it, or they are going to want money off the bill. Sometimes you just quote them a stupid amount of money and hope they take it somewhere else because you know it is just going to be more trouble than it is worth

 

[MattScopes]

OK O am back to chime in some more

silver / silver with flake is just a real hard color to blend in panel

It is very translucent, if you have ever painted 3 stage it is a lot like that, you have to watch how many coats as it will darken the final color, a bad blend in silver results in a dark area surrounded by light. Getting the flake to lay out is a magic that only experienced painters seem to get right, the right temperature reducer has to be used in order to get the flake to stand up and not lay over. There are some colors you can paint on hot humid days and dump a bunch of retarder into it to it to get it to behave. I don't think yours is one of those colors.

If it came to me, I'd be asking my painter if giving it a coat of sealer to give it a uniform (light) color to spray over allowing it to come out all one shade based on how many coats the spray out card and tinting takes to get a match is the best way to go.

You have one chance to make it right, if you are wrong and the color is off, you are going to be doing a lot of sanding to get the MIL thickness down to the point you can shoot it again and stay under Ford's repair procedure

This is one of those situations where what seems like a minor repair turns into a challenge.

And the biggest challenge is to show the owner ahead of time that the color is probably a shade off, or if it is a spot on match ( it happens) getting the paint shop to spend the time to get the mix right, and that means telling the customer that in addition to the repair and refinish time, Overhaul time, replacement of single use items, and P&M costs, there will be an additional 2 hours maximum on the estimate for tint and spray down in order to assure the mix is right and the paint matches as close as possible.

No offense to the OP, but every customer is going to go over that with a fine tooth comb and if they don't feel it is perfect they are going to be all over you to "fix" it, or they are going to want money off the bill. Sometimes you just quote them a stupid amount of money and hope they take it somewhere else because you know it is just going to be more trouble than it is worth

This is actually carbonized gray, does the same still apply?

 

[Neggytive]

IMHO yes, looking at the picture and the amount of metal flake in it

 

[AZ_Ryan]

OK O am back to chime in some more

silver / silver with flake is just a real hard color to blend in panel

It is very translucent, if you have ever painted 3 stage it is a lot like that, you have to watch how many coats as it will darken the final color, a bad blend in silver results in a dark area surrounded by light. Getting the flake to lay out is a magic that only experienced painters seem to get right, the right temperature reducer has to be used in order to get the flake to stand up and not lay over. There are some colors you can paint on hot humid days and dump a bunch of retarder into it to it to get it to behave. I don't think yours is one of those colors.

If it came to me, I'd be asking my painter if giving it a coat of sealer to give it a uniform (light) color to spray over allowing it to come out all one shade based on how many coats the spray out card and tinting takes to get a match is the best way to go.

You have one chance to make it right, if you are wrong and the color is off, you are going to be doing a lot of sanding to get the MIL thickness down to the point you can shoot it again and stay under Ford's repair procedure

This is one of those situations where what seems like a minor repair turns into a challenge.

And the biggest challenge is to show the owner ahead of time that the color is probably a shade off, or if it is a spot on match ( it happens) getting the paint shop to spend the time to get the mix right, and that means telling the customer that in addition to the repair and refinish time, Overhaul time, replacement of single use items, and P&M costs, there will be an additional 2 hours maximum on the estimate for tint and spray down in order to assure the mix is right and the paint matches as close as possible.

No offense to the OP, but every customer is going to go over that with a fine tooth comb and if they don't feel it is perfect they are going to be all over you to "fix" it, or they are going to want money off the bill. Sometimes you just quote them a stupid amount of money and hope they take it somewhere else because you know it is just going to be more trouble than it is worth

All good points, but I still think it's going to look better than leaving it as is.

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