How to Retexture Bumper Covers

In this video, we will show the full procedure required to refinish the textured area on the bottom of a Mazda bumper. These areas are prone to get rashes and scratches. Many times, body shops won’t attempt to repair a textured part. We’ll walk you through the steps we took to repair and refinish the bottom of this bumper.

Always wear proper safety gear while working!

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Click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKV7XaYS8fU

Products Used:

Note: This is a list of the Polyvance products that can be used to make this repair. This list does not include sanders, grinders, or other common tools you will need. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to call technical support at 800-633-3047.

• 1000 Super Prep Plastic Cleaner (three options available) OR 1001-4 EcoPrep Plastic Cleaner
• Plastic Magic Adhesion Promoter (several options available)
• 2000 Flex Filler (several options available)
• Waterborne Primer Surfacer (several options available). We used our 3043 All Seasons Black Jack waterborne primer surfacer.
• Flextex VT Low VOC Variable Texture Coating and Flextex VT Low VOC Reducer

Video Notes:

• 3803 Flextex VT has been discontinued. Our 3804 Low Voc Flextex VT is still available. To remain Low VOC, it must be thinned with our Flextex VT Low VOC Reducer, or it can be thinned with laquer thinner if Low VOCs are not needed. View the product info sheet for more information.
• Super Clean plastic cleaner has been renamed Super Prep plastic cleaner.
• Ecoclean plastic cleaner has been renamed EcoPrep plastic cleaner.
• 3700-series Bumper and Cladding Color Coat is no longer available in a variety of colors; it is only available in black and white.
• English Closed Captions have been provided for this video. Click on the CC button to turn them on or off.
• The length of this video is in no way representative of the actual time required to perform a complete repair and therefore should not be used for estimating purposes.

English Transcript:

In this video we will show the full procedure to refinish this textured area on the bottom of this Mazda bumper. These areas are prone to get road rash and scratches. This bumper had a small tear which had to be welded.

Clean the area to be refinished with 1000 Super Clean or 1001 Eco Clean plastic cleaner. Spray a heavy wet coat, then wipe dry with a clean, dry paper towel. The "road rash" and deep scratches are first sanded smooth with 80 grit sandpaper in a DA sander. Follow up with 180 grit paper where you had sanded with the 80 grit to remove the deep swirl marks. Finally sand the entire textured area with 320 grit sandpaper. This will increase the bite that the primer will have to the surface. It is not necessary to sand all of the texture off; you just want to make it look dull. Blow the plastic dust free with clean, dry compressed air.

We are going to apply some filler to the area around the weld, so spray some 1050 Plastic Magic adhesion promoter in this area to help the filler to stick. Let it flash off for about 10 minutes. Mix the 2000 Flex Filler epoxy filler in a 1 to 1 ratio on a mixing board. Apply the filler over the damaged area. Let the filler cure as long as possible for best featheredge.

Sand first with 80 grit in a DA to knock the filler down. When you get close to the final profile, switch to 80 grit in a sanding block. Avoid using the coarse sandpaper along the body line; you will profile the body line later with finer sandpaper. Block with 180 grit paper to do the final profiling. Hand sand with 180 to get the final profile on the body line. Finally, DA with 320 grit overall again to blend the repair area. Make sure there are no shiny spots on the textured area.

Blow the dust off again, then apply 1050 Plastic Magic adhesion promoter overall before spraying on the primer. Apply a flexible waterborne primer surfacer, such as our 3043 All Seasons Black Jack to the textured area. Spray one medium wet coat at first, then let it dry. After the first coat of primer, you will be able to see some of the 80 grit fuzz and swirl marks in the repair area. Sand these down and blend them using 320 grit paper. Sand overall and look for any remaining small scratches. Apply another medium wet coat of paint over the repair area alone.

Use spot putty to fill any minor imperfections. Sand the spot putty and prepare for a final coat of primer. Spray a final coat of waterborne primer surfacer over the entire area to be retextured. After it dries, scuff overall with a red pad. Blow dust free.

We are using 3803 Flextex VT to retexture this area. The Flextex can be reduced with lacquer thinner to fine tune the size of the grain. Sprayed without reduction, the material is thick and provides a coarse texture. Cut the material 4-to-1 with lacquer thinner and it will give a medium texture. Cut it 2-to-1 with lacquer thinner and it will give you a fine texture. In this case, we cut the Flextex 4-to-1 and are spraying with a 1.8 mm primer gun.

Apply one light coat overall first. Note how far the gun is away from the work. You want to "splatter" the paint on, not flow it out. Keep the gun moving at a steady pace and try to get an even coating. Let the first coat flash for about five minutes, then repeat the process one or two more times until you are satisfied with the appearance of the texture. Flextex may be left as is for a glossy black texture. To match the original OEM color and gloss, use 3700-series Bumper & Cladding Color Coat.