93-02 Firebird & Trans Am CETA Paint Mod
Tools:
Short Phillips Screwdriver
10mm wratchet
needle nose pliers
Supplies:
Primer (I recommend duplicolor)
Color Coat and optional clear coat
Masking Tape
Plastic Tarp
300-400 grit sandpaper
1000 grit sandpaper
The Procedure:
Step 1: Unbolting the the bumer (optional) There are 6 bolts and two screws that hold the bumer on along with 4 plastic pull clips on the top and 3 barbed plastic clips underneath the car and 2 more pull clips underneath on either side. You’ll have to take out the tail lights and spare tire to access the bolts as well as pull back the carpeting. Some of the bolts are circled in red.
Step 2: Preping the bumper You need to sand rough the area to be painted with your coarser sandpaper. Not all the way down to the plastic, but just enough to get the surface rough. The idea is to give the primer a surface to stick to.
Now wash the entire bumper with soap and water then dry with a lint free towel. Don’t use a chamois because they may leave oils on the bumper which will cause the paint to fish eye.
Then tape off the areas you don’t want painted. Give the tape a twice over press down to make sure the tape all sticks. You don’t want any paint seeping under the tape at all. Drape the plastic tarp over the bumper to cover the areas you dont want painted from overspray and tape it to the tape you previously laid.
Step 3: Painting the Bumper
Wet sand the areas you are painting with 1000 grit, clean and dry. Shake the paint well and often. Whether you use a rattle can or HVLP, the techniques are the same. Apply at ~8″ away from bumper in even strokes from side to side. Don’t ever start or stop a pass directly over the bumper.
Spray -> pass over bumper -> end spray
Since I used a semi-gloss paint, I did not want to use clear. But for those who do, you should apply while the color coat is still tacky. Allow ~15-30 minutes between the layers to keep it from running. If you wnat to color sand, make sure the clear is thick enough to plentifully sand without sanding through.
When you take the tape off, be sure to pull the tape away from the new paint and not straight off the surface. Otherwise the paint may peel.
Color Sanding: (Optional) To eliminate orange peel, color sanding works wonders but this also takes a little practice and if done wrong you’ll need to shoot more layers of clear. You may want to start out with 800 grit wet/dry sandpaper with a sponge behind the sandpaper. If you use your bare hand to hold the paper the sanding tends to come out uneven from the pressure from the tips of your fingers. Have a hose or a bucket of water to keep the work wet at all times. Keep in mind you do not want to sand through the clear coat to the color coat.
When you sand, the clear will become dull and low spots will stay clear. You should sand just enough so that the low spots are sanded away. Repeat this with grit increments that get higher and higher until you reach about 2000 grit. Then it’s time to bring out the buffer.
You’ll want to use two compounds to buff out the haze from color sanding. A cutting compound and a polish compound. Keep in mind that the cutting compound cuts away at the paint so use this in moderation. One could do this by hand but it will cut days of work by using a random orbital buffer or analagous. Also keep in mind that any buffer you use may burn through the paint if kept in a spot for too long. Buff the painted area with cutting compound until most of the haze is out equally throughout. Then use a polish compound until the shine in the clear comes through. Just remember that through all this, you should not sand all the way through the clear, or you’ll have to respray the entire clear all over again.
Step 4: Reinstall. Replace bumper with all clips and screws. Replace tail lights with filler panel and replace interior.
Step 5: Enjoy! Before:
After:
