painting my lip~

[kenshinS14sks]

ok, it looks like crap... the place i went to 4 years ago after i got into a fender bender got me a new front bumper and lip but with no tracking on the car and just daily driven...looks like the front's been sprayed with a pellet gun... no joke

so i've been searching...or "trying" to search but with not much success. i wanted to paint the lip on my s14 either the stock gray that it came in or just a white to match the car... and if that turns out good, maybe even the rest of my front bumper. so the question is

1) could someone point me towards a link with information to rattle can this at home?

2) how do i prep, sand, paint (how many coats), clear (i've read do it in some, and don't in others)... etc etc

im not looking for show quality...just that half the bumper and lip is the original plastic color and the other half is the painted color

[radhaz]

There's a decent article in one of the back issues of Sport Compact Car I believe it was October 2004

[NSDCA]

i would sand the lip/bumper with 600 grit. wash it, take all the dirt off and dry it. then just rattle can that sucker. wait like 3 days for the paint to cure and then wet sand with 1500 grit. thats what i do, looks good to me.

[cdlong]

just pull it off, clean it, and give it a coat of black paint. it's not rocket science, it's going to get beat up again anyway.

[MakotoS13]

at least scuff the hoe before you paint. only retards paint without sanding.

[kenshinS14sks]

no clear? will it be dull or shiny?

[NSDCA]

i dont use any clear coat. my shit is pretty blang blang. 1500 grit wet sand. then wax that lip.

[frozencoconutz]

yea it shouldnt be too hard, because its a lip. just sand with either 400 or 600 and then make sure you clean all the dust and crap off. then paint away. oh yea....try to apply thin coats so you dont get runs.

[Drunk Bastard]

Originally Posted by MakotoS13

only retards paint without sanding.

what about painting DIRECTLY on top of your old paint? is that NOT gangster....???

[95civicEX]

as someone else said just sand it down with 600 an spray it again...if you really want to ensure it sticks, sand it with 150-220 until there's no paint left on there, primer it, sand the prime with 600 grit then paint over it, then clear coat that. what's really going to protect the paint is the clear, the more coats the tougher it will be. just make sure the paint flashes (10-15 minutes between coats should cause the paint to flash, it will dry to a point where there is a different shade than the wet paint)

[projectRDM]

Best option, strip it. The OE Zenki lip comes in 'natural' urethane, it's basically a dull white. Since your car is white it won't look bad at all, you can still paint it a brighter white if you want and it won't show the gray through when it gets chipped.

[papershot]

clear spraypaint doesn't do shit for durability so you know. wetsanding makes it shiny.

[kenshinS14sks]

thanks guys...gave me a lot of help and imma do it as soon as i get back into the states

[FaLKoN240]

Originally Posted by R240NA

Best option, strip it. The OE Zenki lip comes in 'natural' urethane, it's basically a dull white. Since your car is white it won't look bad at all, you can still paint it a brighter white if you want and it won't show the gray through when it gets chipped.

Not an attack, just a question:

How come my friend's bumper and lip are yellow underneith the paint? He has a 89 zenki with a lip. Is that yellow the factory primer?

[projectRDM]

Originally Posted by 240FaLKoN

Not an attack, just a question:

How come my friend's bumper and lip are yellow underneith the paint? He has a 89 zenki with a lip. Is that yellow the factory primer?

Excellent point.

S13s used the yellowish mold urethane for the bumper and the Zenki lip, the later 91-94s used black on the lip. No clue why, just maybe it was cheaper or more available at the time.

S14s use the black mold on bumpers and the Kouki lip, the Zenki lip is white though for some reason. Makes color matching a pain because any dark color will chip off and show the white through. The sideskirts are black mold as well, as is all the rear valances.