Yup. Did a thread on collecting ideas for finishing my Dirtworx bumpers.
https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/bumper-finish.4700/
https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/bumper-finish.4700/
Has anyone spray painted their bumper?
- Thread starter Chris
- Start date
Do you suggest applying clear coat following Krylon/Rustoleum satin black paint?
I personally wouldn't apply a clear coat on a Wrangler bumper. Not to mention that'd make it harder to touch up if you offroad.
liquidfluidity
TJ Enthusiast
Used Rustoleum Tractor paint on mine with minimal prep. I was in a hurry. Scuffed with a Scotch-brite pad, degreased, dried, and let'r rip. Turned out wonderful. We'll see what it looks like after winter. Use good technique and prep and you'll be golden .
I've been told and have read that VHT paints require a very high temperature before they'll completely cure.
One VHT painting guide says this...
- Paint must be completely dry before curing
- Heat to 250°F (121°C) for 30 minutes
- Cool for 30 minutes
- Heat to 400°F (204°C) for 30 minutes
- Cool for 30 minutes
- Heat to 650°F (343°C ) for 30 minutes
@ JerryBransford That's for their header paint, which I have also used with good results. This is the one I used on my steering components: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B3V2YAO/?tag=wranglerorg-20
Miracle Jeep
Member
My understanding of the powder coat process is because of the electrostatic process you potentially get better coverage in nooks and crannies. That being said the real advantage of powder coating versus sprayed paint is cost savings to manufacturers.
True, and powder coating is definitely not any more durable in my experience playing in the rocks. I certainly wouldn't pay extra to have a bumper etc. powder coated when I can paint it with rattlecan Rustoleum primer & paint for 1/10th the cost.
This is true, but you have to chamfer the edges to prevent thin spots.
I've had several large parts powder coated. They were a lawn mower deck and my jeep bumpers. From my experience with these parts, I think the powder coating is a little thicker than a rattle can finish. For corrosion resistance, I felt this was important.
Is the powder coating any more durable than a rattle can finish? My experience says it is slightly more resistant to abrasion. My mower deck still looks like new after several years of service (for non East coasters, this is maybe 20-22 mowings a years). Just yesterday, I backed my car too close to my jeep and the rubbed my rear fender on the jeep bumpers shackle mount. The car's paint was removed to base metal, but my bumpers powder coat was removed to the primer coat, and not to the base metal.
With only have these few data points to base my opinion, and having a lost cost powder coat facility nearby, I choose to powder coat when I can. For my jeep bumpers, the cost was $250. This included media blast, primer cost, and top coat.
Per my powder coater, a lot of non-american made parts that are powder coated are not media blasted or primed properly. They look good, but the finish doesn't hold up.
Sandblasting
Number one you should really invest in a $100-$200 HF sand blast cabinet and some aluminum oxide. (Never play sand like you find at home depot. That will literally kill you.) Hf sells aluminum oxide in the 2.5 gallon bucket for cheap. Can be reused multiple times. And it works great. EVen if your entire bumper can't fit inside the cabinet. Just put one side in at a time. Or take it out someplace you can do it. I build surplus rifles and we use this method on hard to remove finishes. It's amazing what you can do with an air compressor and blast cabinet. And it leaves a nice texture (depending on the media you use for blasting. You can even get walnut shells that leaves little texture if any) But aluminum oxide leaves a nice enough aggressive finish for paint to grab onto nicely. I can't tell you how many old car parts from the 40's I've resurrected simply by sandblasting them. It's like you've got a new part. Hit with acetone, primer and paint. And your good to go.
Chemicals
But chemically. I used Jasco about fifteen years ago. (and several times since on other really badly painted objects.) To remove the paint from an ancient huge umbrella stand made out of iron. Thing probably weighed 40 to 50lbs. And was about 30" across. It had been painted many times over the decades and then left out in the sun year around. And was very ornate. Probably from the 50's or 60's. So it was completely full of little curves and nooks and crannies. I tried a wire brush using my air tools. And normal paint remover. And nothing would touch it. It had many layers of enamel paint sun baked into it over decades.
So I took it out on our property by itself. Laid it down on something. A tarp or a box IIRC. And painted/poured the thick clear Jasco all over it in a thick layer. You let it sit. And the paint just bubbles up off the surface. It took a couple coats to get into all the old paint in the nooks and crannies. As it was a very intricate but bulky casting.
But man that stuff would bubble asphalt. Let alone any kind of paint it touches. I don't know if the formula has changed or been legislated out of existence since. But it was by far the best paint remover I'd ever seen. And the strongest chemical. My parents used it restoring furniture for years. That's how I learned about it.
For sure you'd have to do it on a single part at a time. I'd be interested to see what it would do to PC. I'll have to go read the specs on it. But for hardcore paint removal. I've never seen anything better. If you splattered any of this on your car it would take it down to the bare metal quickly.
It's super caustic though. I used a mask and gloves and old clothes. And if any got on your skin it would burn within a couple minutes. I kept a hose handy. A little water stopped the burning. And I then hosed off every layer I applied. And used wire bushes and putty knife to get the bubble paint out of the nook and crannies. A power washer would come in handy during this phase. Most washed off with a hose. But I would assume a generally smoother bumper, even a tube bumper, would be easy to do with this stuff. Basically I just painted/poured it on and it bubbled up even the most stubborn paint.
Here's the current warning. So maybe it's still the good stuff:
"WARNING: This product can expose you to chemicals including Methylene Chloride, which is known to the State of California to cause cancer, and Methanol, which is known to the State of California to cause birth defects or other reproductive harm. For more information go to www.P65Warnings.ca.gov. "
I don't know if either of those ingredients are what make it work. But I would suspect so.
Paint VS Powder Coating
In answer to the original question about PC versus spray paint. I would have to agree with the latter. I've never paid to have anything PC'd. But the conventional wisdom that I have always followed is to do the best prep I could do (with Jasco it was simply coating the metal item with the JAsco. As it literally stripped everything off.), water wash, prep some more and acetone wipe. Then spray with primer (self etching sounds like the way to go on bare metal. Thank you, Jerry.) and then use the best paint you can find. That way you can retouch anything that goes south.
SEM is some of the best if not the best. But I think on metal you might find paints for alternative uses more forgiving for things like touch up. SEM has a bed liner but it's brush on and very aggressive texture.
I have not seen a comparison test of bedliner type sprays vs other normal spray paint. But I like the fact that the bedliner (like Rustoleum which has a lesser aggressive finish. But still enough texture to hide marks and paint that might have chipped or been scraped off.) can cover up imperfections over the life of the part. Normal spray paint isn't going to cover but the lightest scratch. Whereas bedliner with it's texture. Will fill in alot. I can see where you could beat the crap out of something and be able to come back the next day with your spray can and totally touch it up without any bright spots or texture difference. So for an exterior piece I would go with Rustoleum bed coating. (Not the professional grade. Just the normal stuff for $7.50 a can at home depot. Professional grade sucks.)
It's hard to cover a chip. Or a place where the paint just lifted and didn't stick originally. Or a scratch. Normal paint will still show those outlines from a medium to larger size paint chip or scrape. Bed liner will cover that up quickly.
Follow Jerry's Advice
Jerry's right. Follow the instructions. Even SEM has a very specific instruction set for their different sprays. That dictates how to put it on, how long to let it dry and when to put additional coats on. With times. I can't imagine they haven't scientifically worked out the best way to apply their product. It may turn out fine just doing it however. But if you want it to last I'd find those more detailed directions and follow them.
I see alot of guys painting alot of stuff. But few follow up posts from years later and how the paint job held up. I read alot about guys stating they just washed off the part with a scotchbrite pad and sprayed it and it "turned out great!". Never to be heard from again - a year later or 5 years later.
Which brings me back to my comment about the original topic. With paint you can touch up. With Pc you can not. It's a no brainer for what we use these parts for. If it was an airplane I might feel differently. But for a Jeep out in the rocks or brush. Your gonna want to touch things up.
Number one you should really invest in a $100-$200 HF sand blast cabinet and some aluminum oxide. (Never play sand like you find at home depot. That will literally kill you.) Hf sells aluminum oxide in the 2.5 gallon bucket for cheap. Can be reused multiple times. And it works great. EVen if your entire bumper can't fit inside the cabinet. Just put one side in at a time. Or take it out someplace you can do it. I build surplus rifles and we use this method on hard to remove finishes. It's amazing what you can do with an air compressor and blast cabinet. And it leaves a nice texture (depending on the media you use for blasting. You can even get walnut shells that leaves little texture if any) But aluminum oxide leaves a nice enough aggressive finish for paint to grab onto nicely. I can't tell you how many old car parts from the 40's I've resurrected simply by sandblasting them. It's like you've got a new part. Hit with acetone, primer and paint. And your good to go.
Chemicals
But chemically. I used Jasco about fifteen years ago. (and several times since on other really badly painted objects.) To remove the paint from an ancient huge umbrella stand made out of iron. Thing probably weighed 40 to 50lbs. And was about 30" across. It had been painted many times over the decades and then left out in the sun year around. And was very ornate. Probably from the 50's or 60's. So it was completely full of little curves and nooks and crannies. I tried a wire brush using my air tools. And normal paint remover. And nothing would touch it. It had many layers of enamel paint sun baked into it over decades.
So I took it out on our property by itself. Laid it down on something. A tarp or a box IIRC. And painted/poured the thick clear Jasco all over it in a thick layer. You let it sit. And the paint just bubbles up off the surface. It took a couple coats to get into all the old paint in the nooks and crannies. As it was a very intricate but bulky casting.
But man that stuff would bubble asphalt. Let alone any kind of paint it touches. I don't know if the formula has changed or been legislated out of existence since. But it was by far the best paint remover I'd ever seen. And the strongest chemical. My parents used it restoring furniture for years. That's how I learned about it.
For sure you'd have to do it on a single part at a time. I'd be interested to see what it would do to PC. I'll have to go read the specs on it. But for hardcore paint removal. I've never seen anything better. If you splattered any of this on your car it would take it down to the bare metal quickly.
It's super caustic though. I used a mask and gloves and old clothes. And if any got on your skin it would burn within a couple minutes. I kept a hose handy. A little water stopped the burning. And I then hosed off every layer I applied. And used wire bushes and putty knife to get the bubble paint out of the nook and crannies. A power washer would come in handy during this phase. Most washed off with a hose. But I would assume a generally smoother bumper, even a tube bumper, would be easy to do with this stuff. Basically I just painted/poured it on and it bubbled up even the most stubborn paint.
Here's the current warning. So maybe it's still the good stuff:
"WARNING: This product can expose you to chemicals including Methylene Chloride, which is known to the State of California to cause cancer, and Methanol, which is known to the State of California to cause birth defects or other reproductive harm. For more information go to www.P65Warnings.ca.gov. "
I don't know if either of those ingredients are what make it work. But I would suspect so.
Paint VS Powder Coating
In answer to the original question about PC versus spray paint. I would have to agree with the latter. I've never paid to have anything PC'd. But the conventional wisdom that I have always followed is to do the best prep I could do (with Jasco it was simply coating the metal item with the JAsco. As it literally stripped everything off.), water wash, prep some more and acetone wipe. Then spray with primer (self etching sounds like the way to go on bare metal. Thank you, Jerry.) and then use the best paint you can find. That way you can retouch anything that goes south.
SEM is some of the best if not the best. But I think on metal you might find paints for alternative uses more forgiving for things like touch up. SEM has a bed liner but it's brush on and very aggressive texture.
I have not seen a comparison test of bedliner type sprays vs other normal spray paint. But I like the fact that the bedliner (like Rustoleum which has a lesser aggressive finish. But still enough texture to hide marks and paint that might have chipped or been scraped off.) can cover up imperfections over the life of the part. Normal spray paint isn't going to cover but the lightest scratch. Whereas bedliner with it's texture. Will fill in alot. I can see where you could beat the crap out of something and be able to come back the next day with your spray can and totally touch it up without any bright spots or texture difference. So for an exterior piece I would go with Rustoleum bed coating. (Not the professional grade. Just the normal stuff for $7.50 a can at home depot. Professional grade sucks.)
It's hard to cover a chip. Or a place where the paint just lifted and didn't stick originally. Or a scratch. Normal paint will still show those outlines from a medium to larger size paint chip or scrape. Bed liner will cover that up quickly.
Follow Jerry's Advice
Jerry's right. Follow the instructions. Even SEM has a very specific instruction set for their different sprays. That dictates how to put it on, how long to let it dry and when to put additional coats on. With times. I can't imagine they haven't scientifically worked out the best way to apply their product. It may turn out fine just doing it however. But if you want it to last I'd find those more detailed directions and follow them.
I see alot of guys painting alot of stuff. But few follow up posts from years later and how the paint job held up. I read alot about guys stating they just washed off the part with a scotchbrite pad and sprayed it and it "turned out great!". Never to be heard from again - a year later or 5 years later.
Which brings me back to my comment about the original topic. With paint you can touch up. With Pc you can not. It's a no brainer for what we use these parts for. If it was an airplane I might feel differently. But for a Jeep out in the rocks or brush. Your gonna want to touch things up.
djwages
New Member
Before I start repainting bumpers and nerf bars, I'd be interested to read or hear about reports on the various paints out there and which are best for repainting black bumpers and such. Here's a list of paints that I hear mentioned from time to time. Feel free to add or point me to a thread where this has been hammered out. Durability to scuffs, flaking, and rocks are one measure but also curious about UV/fade resistance.
Also, is satin black the general color of choice?
1. SEM Trim Black
2. VHT Hood, bumper and trim
3. POR 15 black
4. VHT Roll bar black
5. Dupli-color truck bed paint
5. Rustoleum truck bed liner paint
6. Eastwood's frame/chassis black (I've used this in the past and its pretty tough)
7. Others?
Also, is satin black the general color of choice?
1. SEM Trim Black
2. VHT Hood, bumper and trim
3. POR 15 black
4. VHT Roll bar black
5. Dupli-color truck bed paint
5. Rustoleum truck bed liner paint
6. Eastwood's frame/chassis black (I've used this in the past and its pretty tough)
7. Others?
ejay
TJ Addict
I'm waiting on a quote from a local powder coating place to have my old front RockHard 4X4 bumper re-powder coated. (It's scraped up and chipped and I just got a hoop for it so I want matchy matchy) If it's more than $100 I'm just going to plastidip that bastard.
LONGJP2
TJ Expert
I wanted to add a hoop to my winch mount and recoat the whole thing. The powder coat guy estimated $500 - 600, with half of that being the labor to remove the existing powder coat from the mount.
Powder coat is a disaster, the smallest rock chip or hit and you get water under it, peels like crazy. It's also impossible to touch up because it's so thick. You always see the damage. It's great if you don't plan on getting near any rocks or sharp objects at the mall. I've switched from spray to roll on rust-oleum semi-gloss black for all my steel armor. It's easy to apply with a roller or brush and lays down flat when it dries. You only need one or two coats from raw steel and it is easy to touch up. I use a paper towel to blotch small spots. It blends well with my previous satin spray and I've done an entire skid, sliders and touch ups on a single quart with plenty to spare. It is just another option to consider.
I used rattle can paint on mine. Chose that for ease of touch ups and well, I gots more expensive Jeep stuff to buy.
ejay
TJ Addict
I was told that if it's steel they can burn it off in less than half the time of sand blasting. Labor at this particular establishment is $95 an hour for sand blasting.
djwages
New Member
That's really steep. I had my entire TR6 car frame sandblasted and powder coated by a professional powder coater here for $600. Removing old powder coat is harder to sandblast than paint and can cost more and odd colors cost more but that still seems way high. Must be inflation!
MFMauceri
New Member