Painting 2001 Exp XLT rear bumper

[Herbeeking]

Hello. What type of sander and paint techiques to redo 2001 Ford Explorer XLT rusted rear bumper. Sould i remove bumper it or maybe rusted bolts not advisable..
I am a rookie give me all steps and tools materials needed thanks.

 

[Mbrooks420]

The sander doesn’t really matter, type wise. You’ll need to use a rough grit paper like 60 to remove all the rust until the metal is clean and totally shiny. I’d finish with 80 and 120 before the primer.

I’d use a quality automotive primer. If using rattle can paint I’d also spring for quality automotive paint.

 

[koda2000]

If you have a harvest gold or grey bumper that you want to repaint, once you have it prepped you'll need a base/color coat and a clear coat suitable for automotive use. The base coat can be done fairly well with rattle cans, but the clear coat will not come out shiny because it dries to quickly.

If you've never spray painted anything before, you might want to leave it to a auto body shop. I've been using rattle cans to spray paint automotive parts for many decades. I can achieve very good results on small parts, but painting a bumper is another matter.

 

[J_C]

I may just need sleep but I don't understand what you're stating. It's a metal bumper that's painted, or a chrome bumper that you want to paint, or plastic clad and there are rust stains on the painted plastic?

I would take the bumper off. If the bolts shear off from too much rust, just get new bolts. Put some penetrating spray on them.

 

[koda2000]

I may just need sleep but I don't understand what you're stating. It's a metal bumper that's painted, or a chrome bumper that you want to paint, or plastic clad and there are rust stains on the painted plastic?

The PO stated it's a 2001 XLT rusty rear bumper. A 2001 XLT would not typically have a chrome rear bumper and it would not have a plastic rear bumper cover, other than the plate on top, which is removable. I assume it's a rusty, painted steel rear bumper.

 

[J_C]

I guess I'm not very observant, didn't realize they did painted steel on 2001 XLT's.

 

[Mbrooks420]

I’m guessing by his post he has a rusted painted bumper. It could have a chrome bumper, but that was much more common on earlier models.

 

[koda2000]

I’m guessing by his post he has a rusted painted bumper. It could have a chrome bumper, but that was much more common on earlier models.

and Eddie Bauer's.

 

[J_C]

Hmm, I think I would check junkyards for chrome bumpers, if earlier model years fit? Despite the bottom of my '98 being no stranger to rust, the chrome bumper itself looks pretty good still.

 

[RandomNerd2000]

They do make kits of paint that are literally automotive grade paints in a can, people use them to replace panels and DIY paint them, they're different than typical rattle can paint afaik. The kits are expensive though, close to a junkyard bumper. I thought about doing that with my 2000 to paint match a fender but ended up just getting a good condition pre painted one out the junkyard.

https://www.amazon.com/TouchUpDirec...0d-20&linkId=c7c3dab4f20b0639b8fa9ae5716d37aa