Paint on bumper sure takes a beating

[Aurora40]

After each of these longish road trips (700ish miles one way) I've noticed some decent chips on the front of the car. Just on the bumper. What happens is the paint seems to get peeled right off, sometimes the piece is still there flapping. The "chips" end up being somewhat large because of that, maybe 1/4-1/2 the size of a dime.

Is the paint on the bumper just not well applied? I mean, is this normal? I've been touching it up, but I have a feeling I'll need to just have the front bumper repainted at some point as soon the whole thing will be touchup.

[Kevin]

has your bumper been painted?

[zr-1assassin]

Originally Posted by Aurora40

After each of these longish road trips (700ish miles one way) I've noticed some decent chips on the front of the car. Just on the bumper. What happens is the paint seems to get peeled right off, sometimes the piece is still there flapping. The "chips" end up being somewhat large because of that, maybe 1/4-1/2 the size of a dime.

Is the paint on the bumper just not well applied? I mean, is this normal? I've been touching it up, but I have a feeling I'll need to just have the front bumper repainted at some point as soon the whole thing will be touchup.

mine does the same thing!i have had other c4's and all them did it to, just poor design. and if you hit it with a power sprayer from the carwash........oh my god it comes off. face it now or later it will have to be re-shot if you dont want any little chips!

[tomtom72]

That seems odd to me. The chips on my bumper mimic the chips that appear on the SMC. Ya know a "regular" stone chip, like a small impact crater. I mean depending upon how large the stone but nothing on the bumper that is that large with the paint still flapping at the impact point.

The winter brings alot of damage to the roads where I live and I have plenty of stone nicks from my own tires. The bumper takes a beating from other cars throwing pebbles at my bumper. The nicks appear as just small white spots on my bumper and clam shell.


Tom

Isn't the bumper paint the same paint as the rest of the car but with an additive mixed in to give it more flex???

[Aurora40]

The bumper is plastic, the rest of the car is SMC. I know what you mean about the "regular" chips, they look like the paint got crushed, but the SMC under it didn't give. Sort of a white crater. This isn't like that. The paint literally peels off and you can see the cream colored plastic bumper underneath. The rest of the car and behind the wheels has the more normal SMC type of chips/nicks from rocks and such.

Kevin, I don't know if it's been painted. It had some touch up when I bought it, but doesn't have any obvious signs of a repaint.

Zr1-assassin, yeah I feel like I could strip the whole bumper down if there was a crack and I had a pressure washer.

[zr-1assassin]

Originally Posted by Aurora40

The bumper is plastic, the rest of the car is SMC. I know what you mean about the "regular" chips, they look like the paint got crushed, but the SMC under it didn't give. Sort of a white crater. This isn't like that. The paint literally peels off and you can see the cream colored plastic bumper underneath. The rest of the car and behind the wheels has the more normal SMC type of chips/nicks from rocks and such.

Kevin, I don't know if it's been painted. It had some touch up when I bought it, but doesn't have any obvious signs of a repaint.

Zr1-assassin, yeah I feel like I could strip the whole bumper down if there was a crack and I had a pressure washer.

mine has the factory paint and has the same problem, so i dont think its been repainted just because of the chipping. we bought a 2005 nissan for my wife new in 05 and we had it 3 DAYS when i took it to the car wash. i sprayed the front off with the wand there and a paint spot came off the size of a dinner plate! i about fell over and passed out. needless to say the dealership reshot the front, but i think all cars are subject to thin paint on the front, which leads to chips and flapping paint. it kills me to but i dont think there is anything we can do about it my friend.

[tomtom72]

The bumper is made from a plastic? Sorry for questioning you Bob, but I thought that our bumpers were more of a "rubber" type material? "Enduro" something or other??

Anyway, usually the prep for the bumper is different than the prep for the paint applied to the SMC parts of the car. I understood from a body shop friend that there was a different primer and some additive to the paint to give it flex. I also understood that if the stuff "flakes" under impact that the primer/barrier coat is at fault. Those small sheets of paint are they brittle or do they feel like that they could be "rubbery"? Could be that the factory paint shop didn't get the surface clean enough prior to application of primer & paint. Or someone forgot a step in the painting process?

Sorry for runnin' at the keyboard.....I'm more thinking out loud!
It just seems strange to me that the paint on your bumper is coming off in that way. The front of my car looks like it's be thru the wars with stone nicks and no matter where the nicks are they all look the same...little "craters", with some all the way down to the primer.


Tom

[Aurora40]

Hey Tom, by "plastic" I just mean it's not fiberglass. Maybe it's some kind of rubber thing, I dunno.

The flakes of paint are very rubbery and flexible, not brittle at all. Bad primer could certainly be the case, it seems like the surface under the flake is bare, so the primer either comes off with the paint or didn't exist in the first place.

Oh well... nothing to do about it, was just wondering. If it gets bad enough, I'll have it repainted. The car's not stock, I'm not sweating some paint work. Some day I'd like to have it totally repainted with good body prep so you can't see the waves in the panels and such.

Bumpers are a eurethane material. The paint has a flex agent mixed in with it to allow some give. It should chip like normal, but you are dealing with paint that is 18 years old on some of the 90 model. The GM paint from that period isn't exactly the greatest, look at some of the other cars and how the clear coat is flaking off.

And by the way, a pressure washer isn't the greatest tool to use on any painted surface, as it will lift the paint off if given the the edge to do it from.

[Aurora40]

I don't use pressure washers on my cars. I just think one could probably strip the bumper clean the way the paint peels off it. Thanks for all the replies though, sounds like this is, well if not normal, not abnormal either.