I got a new bumper for my car, and its white, my car is purple. So what i'd liek to know, is when i sand it down, do i need to just get it smooth, or am i going to have to sand the white paint off? I'm not even sure that you can sand the paint off..

 

I'm not a professional painter, so take this as 'amateur advice' but...

It really depends on the condition of the white paint. If it is in good condition, you'd just need to sand it enough to take the gloss down so your purple would bond better...

If the white is not in good shape, I'd strip it... the paint you put on is only going to be as strong as the layer below it... (ie, if the white starts to come off, anything on top will too)

If there are any cracks or spiderwebbing from an impact, you'd need to take that material off anyway....

 

well it only has one little spot on it where it looked like it was backed into something like a post, or a grociery cart, where it was "touched up" but i've gotten that smooth. I have sanded it all over with 220 grit paper, and i'm going to use 600 on it before i paint it.

 

Well, be sure that you don't see any lines or anything... because they will all show through, especially on darker colors.

Spend extar time now during the prep work... it's time well spent.

If you miss something now, it will show later, and then you'll have to undo all the work you did and start over... never fun.

 

I've had enough trouble with paint in the past, I would never paint any part of a car unless it were stripped down, because eventually the original paint will start to crack and it will ruin your new paint job. Why risk that?

 

Well i am only painting the rear bumper of the car, to match the rest of the car, eventually i am going to have the whole car repainted silver when i can afford it, because i hate this deep purple metallic color, but for now, doing it myself is alot cheaper, since it will only be that color for a year and a half at the most.