Just wondering if anybody has ever attempted color matching their bumpers, mirrors etc (edge style) by themselves ? I'm thinking 'bout getting a few cans of duplicolor perfect match and some clear coat and having at it. Like many here, my Ranger started life as a plain-jane base model, so at this point all the black is pretty faded and grey. My main concern is the quality, obviously not professional, but i don't want to have to redo this 6 months down the road.

I was going to start with my rear bumper, keep the plastic part up top black, but paint all the metal underneath it "yz".

So, good idea? Any tips, suggestions or failures please share!

 

i'd say its a good idea, but you might want to weigh the price of having a shop do it vs. doing it yourself.
In theory, you've got the right idea, but i don't know how well it'd last.

 

I was looking into that stuff as well. Haven't gotten to it tho.

I'm sure with good prep work and attention to detail you can get it done.
Post pics if you do

 

I actually used duplicolor perfect match paint on a new header panel ( under the headlights) It came out alright. No clear coat on that and its still there after years. .When I asked the shop for an estimate back then it was several hundred dollars. For $6.50 I got it done, it is a truck after all. Can't tell its not oem until you look real close.

Thing is I'm a bit worried about using it over such a large area of my truck, and especially on a part that will def. get whacked at some point.

Either way its gonna get sprayed, the only question is white or black I guess. That faded grays gotta go.

 

If you've got the confidence to do it, then I'd say go for it.
heres my few pointers:

Take the bumper off and hang it up. Preferably in a place that isn't really humid, but warm too. Your going to want the paint to dry completely before you spray the clear coat.

Also, do you prep work. Get yourself some good sand paper, like 320 or so, and hit EVERYTHING, then wipe it off with some paint thinner, or at least some tap water and let it dry.
Then scuff it up with some red 3M Scotch pad.

Primer would be something to look into also. You don't need the Duplicolor brand primer, but go to Home Depot or Lowes and pick up some Plastic primer. spray a few coats of that on first and make sure its even before spraying color.

Once you spray your color. make sure everything is even and there are no defects in the paint. If there is, get some water and wet sand them out and touch it up.

Spray on more than one coat of clear. That way if it does get scratched or whacked, it won't be too hard to buff out and you'll have less chance of it going down to the paint.

 

Painted the bumper this weekend, turned out pretty good i think.



Before



During





After

 

Took only about half a can to do these two panels, and then sprayed the plastic step with some krylon satin black. I couldn't find a way to seperate the two pieces (without breaking it!) so I could paint them individually. This resulted in a few imperfections from the masking tape, something I 'll have to fix when it gets a bit warmer. All in all, I like how it looks. But I have a feeling that once I start hitting the trails in the summer, I'm gonna have some touch-ups to tend to haha....

 

Nice work! It looks alot better painted to match.

 

That looks great!

 

Thanks guys, I'm pretty happy about. Hardest part was getting the rusty bolts off. When i spray it again this summer though, I'll have to mask to just the edge of the plastic piece and do it again. The tape took a bit of paint off the metal during the last step of my project, I was so pissed off! You can see it a bit if you look real closely at the painted left side of the bumper, oh well live and learn. Its def. an upgrade imo and makes a big difference visually.

 

Looks good! Nice work.

 

Thanks man! Next up is to paint the mirrors. I'm still rolling with those mickey mouse flag-style side mirrors. So I've got to get some of the nicer 04 ones, or mod some '06 if I can find some cheap enough. I'll be sure to post pics of this when i'm done.