omega1 said:

Hi all,

So have finally done it and got myself an L322 'doer-upper' and there are a few things I would like to do to it, but have no experience at all so will be learning on the job (I can hear you all groaning already!).

But... With determination you can do anything (or make a complete mess of it and have it cost you more when you finally admit defeat and take it to a professional!).

So, one of my jobs is to fix a crack in the front bumper. I have a couple of questions, hopefully someone can help.

1) The crack looks quite big, I have seen something that looks like staples that are used to 'clamp' it back together before repairing, I'm assuming that I would need something like this to keep it from 'separating' before attempting any repair? Can anyone point me in the right direction of what I would need for this?

2) I've seen other posts/videos around the painting part and wondered if I would need to paint the whole bumper or can I just repair/paint the affected part and it will 'blend' into the rest of the bumper?

3) I've identified the colour as Java Black, is there a difference in the colour of the car and the bumper colour, or are they both Java Black?

4) For people that try this at home as I am, what is the best way/place to do the painting? I have limited space and know that I can't do it outside due to dust/particulates during the paining/drying process and have limited garage space. Any thoughts/comments on that?

Thanks all in advance, I'll post pictures of what I manage to do to it.

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tomcat59alan said:

Go on the Bay and look for a hot staple gun, sounds like what has been used before.check the colour code on the slam panel under the bonnet. the bumper should be the same colour. Use plastic filler and primer Wait for a warm dry day with little breeze bit of practice helps. Welcome by the way.

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omega1 said:

Thanks for the welcome!

Yes, already ordered one (hot staple gun), looks like it is what I need to hold it together while I repair it, colour is Java Black, so just need to order some of that up and then figure out if I can just do the cracked area or the whole thing.

Cheers.

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gold rover said:

Just my own thoughts but.......repaired areas of paint are, usually, a lot newer than the existing paint, this leads to a difference in the pigmentation. Which unless very skilled at aging the paint* before spraying, will show. If you paint the broken area, you can blend to a degree, and maybe get it so that only a keen eye will see it. As bumper is colour coded, if you paint the whole bumper, you have a larger area that isn't quite the same as rest of vehicle. This might be slightly more noticeable.
*Some companies will age the paint for you , but I think it depends on how much paint you want, and how readily available it is.

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gold rover said:

Just my own thoughts but.......repaired areas of paint are, usually, a lot newer than the existing paint, this leads to a difference in the pigmentation. Which unless very skilled at aging the paint* before spraying, will show. If you paint the broken area, you can blend to a degree, and maybe get it so that only a keen eye will see it. As bumper is colour coded, if you paint the whole bumper, you have a larger area that isn't quite the same as rest of vehicle. This might be slightly more noticeable.
*Some companies will age the paint for you , but I think it depends on how much paint you want, and how readily available it is.

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gold rover said:

@omega1 found this for you in regards paint aging
https://www.quora.com/How-does-a-pr...aint-repair-when-the-original-paint-has-faded
Hope it helps

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omega1 said:

Interesting read, thanks.

I'll post pics of the results! As I'm doing it myself I'm not expecting perfection as I've never done it before, but happy to give it a go and see what happens!

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gold rover said:

Depending on where in Hants you are, we may have someone near you, who can help, even if it's just nodding sagely, and saying " yeah mate , looks good. Brew and biccies time?"

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omega1 said:

I'm in West Meon area. Though I'm expecting more of a tilted head, 'not-quite-sure-how-to-say-it-looks-crap' kind of nod!

Cheers.

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gold rover said:

There's a Regional LZers area over in Community. Take a look , or put up a post. Brew and biccies is usual charge for help, money is not the done thing, unless reimbursing funds laid out.

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omega1 said:

Awesome, will do, thank you.
I'll need to work out the current exchange rate ;-)

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myfirstl322 said:

I'm pretty sure even Java Black is a 'base and clear' system, ie. the black is not the finish, the lacquer is.

Yes you can blend, but when I did my rear bumper (silver) it was less of a gamble to just paint the whole damn thing.

As for colour matching, remove the fuel flap and take that to the paint factors where they can colour scan it, because there are usually 2 or 3 tints of a colour that can be spotted with the scanner.

Also, bumpers never truly match the main steel bodywork due to plastic absorbing light rather than reflecting it.

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