Got a can of bumper paint from a friend who used it on his truck trim (turned out really well). So I want to do the black bumpers. Since they have had armour all type protectant applied for years, I assume that I need to do some type of prep work to remove the protectant and get the bumper ready to paint. What should I use to prep it with, and is there anything else I need to do before painting? Any tips on painting them?

Thanks!

Mike Brown
Greenville, NC
1986 244 136K
1996 965 93K

The previous owner painted the bumpers on my '93 and they look really bad. The paint is cracked and chipping...I'd rather have faded bumpers than this. Any advice? Sand it off, paint remover?

Degreaser is good, I used a can of cleanser (comet or such) with a green kitchen pad and scrubbed the heck out of them until the oxidized rubber stopped coming off and the pad remained green. Then fill all the dings in, I used JB weld, Then a light coat of SEM "plastic prep" and several light coats of the plastic paint. They still look like new 2 years later. I took mine off to do this, much easier in the long run.
Dave Shannon
Spring Valley, California (San Diego area)
'84-245 200K+
'84-245T 190K+ on its way down to me (thanks Alex)
'85-244Ti 200K+
'86-740 230K+
'88-240 180K+
www.volvo2.homestead.com (Opens new window)

Thanks Dave. Hadn't thought about filling in the dings (I only have two really deep gouges).

Mike

Get a good 3M degreaser and silicone remover from an auto paint store and follow the instructions closely.

Thanks Steve. Hadn't thought about going to a auto paint store. Have one right around the corner.

Mike

My bumpers were almost light gray in appearance when I bought my car and I assumed they had never seen any protectorant. I just washed them with dish washing detergent and painted them. The black bumper paint made them look new again, though I did not fill in few small nicks/gouges. Use multiple, light dust coats for a nice finish...

Jay
84 245 GLTi 223k

Thanks Jay. I'll remember the multiple light coats method.

Mike