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Shoutout to the old painter who said skip the primer on my bumper job, he was dead wrong
Back in March a painter with 30 years on him told me to skip primer on a plastic bumper repair and just scuff it good, said primer was a waste of time and money. I listened, and 4 months later the paint started lifting around the edge of that repair on a customer's Silverado, so I ate the respray out of my own pocket. Anyone else had an old timer hand them advice that went sideways, or was I just dumb for trusting it?
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wyattbennett1mo ago
Why do the old school tricks always sound so solid until they blow up in your face? Had almost the same thing happen on a plastic bumper cover, guy told me adhesion promoter was snake oil and just scuff with 180 and send it. Flash forward one hot summer and the paint was peeling off in sheets at the flex points. Plastic needs that primer or promoter because it flexes and releases stuff, bare scuffed plastic just doesnt hold. Now I never skip it no matter who tells me its a waste. Some of that old advice worked back when paints were different, but it dont fly with modern stuff.
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sullivan.elliot1mo ago
Funny thing nobody has brought up yet is that bumper cover probably had a factory clear coat on it that was already failing, and that edge lift might have started from the backside, not the front. Paint lifts at edges when moisture gets in from behind, like through a crack or a broken tab area, and no primer on earth fixes that if the backside is open to the weather. @wyattbennett is right that plastic flexes and needs a promoter, but I've seen guys primer the front perfect and still eat a respray because water was sneaking in through the wheel well side. So yeah the old timer was wrong, but blaming primer alone might be missing half the story. Next time check the back of the repair too, cause that's where these comebacks usually start.
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rubym451mo ago
That Silverado edge lift story hits home, I had a 2019 F150 do the exact same thing after a guy told me to skip the promoter on a rear bumper corner. Water was getting in behind the cover from a cracked tab I never checked, and once I pulled it and dried it out, the front was fine, it was all backside moisture. Pull that cover and look behind the repair before you blame the primer, because that's where most of these lift comebacks actually start.
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