Painting a new hood (bonnet)

[mreynol5]

I had just finished prepping sanding priming painting sanding again clear coating... well you get the idea. The hood which had many small dings from pebbles now looked pristine and it was Sunday evening. On Monday I drove on an errand and rolled into a very large Suburban dead center on my newly shiny hood... :-( Today I received my replacement hood from my Porsche dealer and am excited to paint and install it. I have a few questions though:

1. The hood appears to have a coat of prime already upon it. The surface is smooth and a sort of olive green in color. Should I rough it up a bit with some 320 grit and prime it myself of just rough it up and apply the base coat?

2. The molded bumper has a very smooth dent in the shape of part of a Suburban's bumper. There are no scratches or tears just a smooth indent and a few scuff marks. I believe that heat and some gentle pushing from the inside will pop the nose back into place. Am I correct in this?

3. I will want to repaint the nose after fixing the dent. I plan to rough it up then apply the base then a few coats of clear seperated by light 800 grit wet sanding to produce a deep shine. Is there anything special that I should look out for when painting the plastic nose?

[1schoir]

I had just finished prepping sanding priming painting sanding again clear coating... well you get the idea. The hood which had many small dings from pebbles now looked pristine and it was Sunday evening. On Monday I drove on an errand and rolled into a very large Suburban dead center on my newly shiny hood... :-( Today I received my replacement hood from my Porsche dealer and am excited to paint and install it. I have a few questions though:

1. The hood appears to have a coat of prime already upon it. The surface is smooth and a sort of olive green in color. Should I rough it up a bit with some 320 grit and prime it myself of just rough it up and apply the base coat?

2. The molded bumper has a very smooth dent in the shape of part of a Suburban's bumper. There are no scratches or tears just a smooth indent and a few scuff marks. I believe that heat and some gentle pushing from the inside will pop the nose back into place. Am I correct in this?

3. I will want to repaint the nose after fixing the dent. I plan to rough it up then apply the base then a few coats of clear seperated by light 800 grit wet sanding to produce a deep shine. Is there anything special that I should look out for when painting the plastic nose?

mreynol5:

1. Repriming the hood with the same primer color as what is underneath the color coat/clear coat on your old hood and on your dented bumper is the best bet, as that will yield a more uniform final color coat that is more likely to match the rest of the car. After scuffing it with 320, wet sand the existing primer with 400 and shoot the new primer on, following the paint manufacturer's recommendations (usually 2 or 3 medium wet coats).

2. A heat gun from underneath, combined with an object similar in contour to the inside of the bumper surface where the dent is located should pop it into place nicely. Don't overheat the spot.

3. 800 grit wet sand is ideal for final spraying prior to initial base coat and for sanding in between clear coats. Using a primer with an already mixed-in flex agent will give you the most durable paint film, as long as you mix some flex agent into the base coat and color coat. That will minimize rock chips and the spider cracks that usually result from other cars' bumpers tapping your bumper. Sherwin Williams' SpectraPrime primer surfacer is one such primer which yields excellent results. It comes in about 8 different colors for the primer, so you should be able to match the factory primer color. Other paint manufacturers make similar primers.

Regards, Maurice.