Best options for painting a bare metal bumper

[CjMiller7]

I am about to order a steel bumper from motobilt once they have their next sale (hopeful for a memorial day). For those who don't know, motobilt bumpers come as bare metal and need to be painted. I have been looking at options but hard to decide on which is best. The main three would be powder coating, rattle-can spray paint, and rattle can bed liner. I have heard powder coating may look the best but can be a bit tricky to touch up if/when it gets chipped as well as being the most expensive. Rattle can spray paint if the cheapest and easiest to touch up but may not always come out the best. And then the rattle can bed liner is somewhere in between on cost and a bit more durable than the normal spray paint. I would use the proper methods for the rattle can by doing a light sanding and using a self-etching primer also.

This is all just what I have read so feel free to correct me if I am wrong.

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[jludave]

Nothing beats powdercoat. You can touch it up with textured spray paint if needed.

 

[DARAMOS]

bringing this back up as I am in the same boat. I am sure others have dealt with this.

 

[Sheepjeep]

always done a rattle can. always happy with the results. if you plan on using the bumper for what it is for does not matter what coating you use it will scratch off and rattle cans can patch up real easily nice and always easy to get a color match at the store

 

[DARAMOS]

think i am leaning in that direction... what is the preferred process for this?

 

[DOOKEY]

Self etching primer. Any paint you want. Just make sure it is super clean before you start.

 

[RedundanT]

Self etching primer. Any paint you want. Just make sure it is super clean before you start.

Prep, prep, prep. De grease(oil residue) then when you think it's clean do it again.

 

[Jeep&dogs]

Look up Eastwood and order a can of their 2k epoxy. Clean it real good with wax and grease remover, hit it with some 180, two good coats of the epoxy, let it dry 24-48 hours and then scuff it with 320 and paint it with anything you want. Been doing collision work all my life.

Acid etch primer is works if you get real 2k acid etch, so part A and part B. Any etching primer you buy in a spray can isn’t worth a crap, think about it, it’s in a metal can, if there were a decent amount of acid in it it would not have a very long shelf life, the acid etching we use in the shops comes in a ceramic lined container. The closest thing I have found available to the general public is the Eastwood 2K epoxy.

 

[entropy]

I got a bad scratch on my front bumper, which is poweder coated and touched it up with rust oleum rattle can. Looks good. Nothing beats powder coat. How much does it cost to powder coat the bumper?

You can certainly use rattle cans and DIY. I did it with my spare tire rotopax custom mount and it is holding up great. It just takes a lot of prep and a few coats.

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