Few general questions about paint.

[gopedhead]

For one, I wanted to know if there is any type of paint thickness gauge that can read plastic bumpers?



My second question is if anyone knows how car bumpers are painted from the factory. Is there someone acctually spraying the bumpers or is it all done by a machine? I know the whole frame is done by a machine but are the bumpers as well? Thanks guys.

[gopedhead]

Anyone? Help!

[the other pc]

There are paint thickness gauges available that work on non-metallic substrates. They are very expensive and are normally used by factories for production QC. It’s extremely rare to find a detailer with one but at least one Autopian over in the UK has been using one and posted about it.



I would think that bumpers are painted by robots like other parts of the body. I suppose it may vary from one factory’s paint line to the next.





PC.

[David Fermani]

Bumpers and trim are usually painted off site by suppliers. Some use robots and some actually have people spraying them. Then, they get shipped to the factory doing the assembly and it gets installed for final bill. That`s the reason why they never match the rest of the vehicle. The color, amount of metallic and finish texture is usually off on these parts.

[gopedhead]

Bumpers and trim are usually painted off site by suppliers. Some use robots and some actually have people spraying them. Then, they get shipped to the factory doing the assembly and it gets installed for final bill. That`s the reason why they never match the rest of the vehicle. The color, amount of metallic and finish texture is usually off on these parts.

Is there a way to find out if Honda sends their bumpers elsewhere to get hand painted and brought back to the factory? Is there a way to check for the difference between paint quality? Any type of indications? The suppliers they send these bumpers and trim too are hand painted like they are at auto body shops?

[David Fermani]

Honda`s bumpers are definately painted off-site. I wouldn`t say the quality is any different, just the color. Some trim is painted by robots and some by hand.

[gopedhead]

Honda`s bumpers are definately painted off-site. I wouldn`t say the quality is any different, just the color. Some trim is painted by robots and some by hand.

Is there anyway to find out? I basically just bought a new car and my rear bumper has two huge license plate mounting bolt holes through it from someone who didn`t know how to park their car very well. I acctually have a good imprint of their license plate into my bumper and it`s driving me crazy. I want to restore it back to factory paint which is why I`m asking these bizarre questions.



I have a 2007 Honda Civic Si and was told they were manufactured in Canada. Do you think there`s any way for you to find out if they are hand painted or machine painted? The bumpers of course



If some parts are hand painted, this leads me to my next question... Are they all still baked in a high temperature oven to speed up curing times or let to air dry like the body shops do.

[the other pc]

I’m not sure what you’re trying to get at?



Whether it was hand or machine painted you’re not going to be able to reproduce the exact finishing process that was used at the factory.



If it was painted by hand the exact motions the operators go through is different from piece to piece, operator to operator and moment to moment. If it was painted by machine it may be theoretically possible to retrieve the digitized motion profile but no factory is going to send anybody robotic programming files.



Either way it’s irrelevant because the gun settings are more important anyway and they are even more variable.



And the paint they use is usually custom formulated for the OEM so you won’t be able to get that either. If it was oven cured it was done to the paint manufacturer’s specification. My understanding is that Plastic parts are cured at much lower temperatures than steel body panels.



Your best off just finding a really good paint store and getting a custom color match done using a high quality re-spray paint system.





PC.

[Accumulator]

Yep, what the other PC said :xyxthumbs



No matter what the factory did, your options are limited. But for this application, make sure any touchup paint is mixed with the proper flex additive. Depending on how deep the "holes" from the impact are, you might have to find a shop that can do significant surface/perforation repairs on the plastic bumper cover...not something that`s all *that* commonly done, at least not to a very high standard (but it can be done, I`ve had factory plate holes filled and they stayed OK).

[David Fermani]

Whether it was hand or machine painted you’re not going to be able to reproduce the exact finishing process that was used at the factory.



If it was painted by hand the exact motions the operators go through is different from piece to piece, operator to operator and moment to moment. If it was painted by machine it may be theoretically possible to retrieve the digitized motion profile but no factory is going to send anybody robotic programming files.



And the paint they use is usually custom formulated for the OEM so you won’t be able to get that either. If it was oven cured it was done to the paint manufacturer’s specification. My understanding is that Plastic parts are cured at much lower temperatures than steel body panels.



PC.

Good job PC. On the other hand there are several parts on vehicles mass produced that are done by hand with OTC paint. I have a friend who paints Vipers for a Tier 1 vendor and it`s all done by hand (via paint gun). They also paint several trim pieces for Neons too(spoiler, hoods, etc.). I *think* that the only paint that can`t or isn`t resold is water born, which is used in the assembly line/plant application. Those systems are not used in body shops.

[gopedhead]

So I guess what I want right now is to find a factory painted bumper. If these bumpers are sent to a third party company, could I essentially call this company up and have them produce me a bumper that would be considered a factory painted job? The only problem now is finding this company.

[the other pc]

Don’t count on it.



Normally, sub-vendors are contractually restricted from selling OEM parts to other customers. If they did they would be undercutting their primary customers (which would annoy them greatly and they’d sue their pants off then take their business elsewhere).



Also, unless they’re stupid, they’re probably running colored parts in dedicated batches specifically to customer orders, not warehousing pre-finished inventory (a result of Just-in-Time and/or Lean manufacturing practices, all the rage in the auto industry).



So you can only buy OEM parts through factory authorized distribution channels who, not wanting to stock large numbers of the same part in different colors, only carry the unfinished parts that you get to paint yourself.





PC.

[Accumulator]

Funny, I posted another reply on this thread earlier (or at least I *thought* I did :think: ) and it`s not here....anyhow:



gopedhead- Considering how badly the OE bumper covers usually match, I wouldn`t be too interested in pursuing some outside-the-box acquisition process. I`d just let whatever bodyshop is handling the job take care of all this stuff. If you`re not satisfied, have them redo it.

[David Fermani]

Considering how badly the OE bumper covers usually match, I wouldn`t be too interested in pursuing some outside-the-box acquisition process. I`d just let whatever bodyshop is handling the job take care of all this stuff. If you`re not satisfied, have them redo it.

Right - It will most likely match much better than your front cover will.



As a side note on color match, manufactures establish a color variance with its paint matching. Think of it as scale of numbers from -5 to +5 (zero being perfect match to standard). The variance they want is between -2 and +2. What usually happens is the body color could be a -2 and the trim could be a +2 and it`s way off, but acceptable *for them* Different colors show the variance more and it can even be way off on black. Yes, there are actually several types/shades of black!

[gopedhead]

So what you guys are saying there`s no way for me to aquire these bumpers?