my corona virus lockdown thread.....

[britlude]

Next on the list, is the rear bumper has some paint cracks and issues, so I wanted to paint it…. after investigating, I decided to remove it…. First up, after researching all the ‘how to remove an NSX bumper’ threads, it’s straight forward…..

.....however, mine had other ideas…..

Mine has a number plate holder that is connected by 4 threads to the chassis, not the bumper beam…..

IMG_20200406_114209 by jon sutherland, on Flickr

This wraps around the bumper beam so has to move out of the way to allow removal….. 28 years in one position meant this thought otherwise….. so snips required….
Leaving me this once the bumper was off….

IMG_20200406_115447 by jon sutherland, on Flickr

And how it should sit if complete…

IMG_20200406_115524 by jon sutherland, on Flickr

It swings and hooks into the bumper to latch it in place…. If it would swing… alas no, so they will be coming off…. The ‘nuts’ on the threads have no shape, not corroded, just round…. Ok, no prob, there’s obviously screw heads inside the boot…… no, they are hooked into a spot welded bar, not yet worked out how! Guessing they slide in from the side but nothing is moving yet! There might be an angle grinder involved shortly!!!!

So… bumper off…..

IMG_20200406_115606 by jon sutherland, on Flickr

Hmmm… that’s a bit crusty! Before you panic, bear in mind my car is used daily year round and lives outside……




















Now you can panic!!!!

IMG_20200406_123105 by jon sutherland, on Flickr

IMG_20200406_123118 by jon sutherland, on Flickr

Yup, that’s crusty! And the reason I wanted to get the bumper off….. the replacement beam has the numberplate gubbins already welded on, so I don’t need the non-swivelling swivelling bracket…..

So bumper prep started….

IMG_20200406_134122 by jon sutherland, on Flickr

IMG_20200406_134116 by jon sutherland, on Flickr

IMG_20200406_134111 by jon sutherland, on Flickr

I know that I can split the bumper into 2 halves to make it easier, but you haven’t seen the state of the fixings, and they definitely won’t want to move, so some masking will be necessary!

Fortunately I have sufficient of the correct mixed colour to do the job!!!

[ozon02]

you are good at painting, congratulations !!!
and how do you deal with lamination?
maybe you can make a bumper bracket with CF or Carbon
Those available from well-known sellers are expensive

[britlude]

We shall see once I've painted it!!!!

As for lamination, I have had my moments, but in this case I'll stick with the honda bit!!! I'll add some underseal on it for a bit more longevity!!!!

[britlude]

As the weather forecasters said, today was a good weather day! So taking advantage, garage space was cleared ready for painting….


The patches where paint had rubbed through were given a quick treatment of plastic paint adhesion promoter and the areas first blown in with some barrier coat…


IMG_20200407_101712 by jon sutherland, on Flickr


The rest soon following with a couple of full coats, suitable drying time in the sun and flatting in between coats!


IMG_20200407_103657 by jon sutherland, on Flickr


Then the first coats of colour.....


IMG_20200407_131247 by jon sutherland, on Flickr


Being base coat pearl, you can never be completely sure of the colour match, as the pearl looks lighter without lacquer…. Again, after appropriate drying time another 2 coats went on, being careful not to get any ‘dry’ edges to the paint…. That’s when colours DO change as the particles don’t have time to settle, and it can end up more ‘sparkly’….


Back into the garage for 4 coats of lacquer… I had to do this in the garage, as although it was calm and warm out, with the insects not too active, there are 2 silver birch trees dumping clouds of pollen!


IMG_20200407_141909 by jon sutherland, on Flickr


Once the paint surface had ‘skinned’ and the spray test sample was dry to the touch I could transfer it outside to let the sun do its thing!


IMG_20200407_151713 by jon sutherland, on Flickr


De-masked the bottom half of the bumper, and the colour match is pretty much there…. New on the left, old paint on the right….


IMG_20200407_152540 by jon
sutherland, on Flickr

the paint finish will get a bit 'orange peel' because of this particular lacquer (its not supposed to, but just does with me!) so flatting and polish will be in order once its had some time to cure..... the compromise of having a quicker cure time, rather than a surface that's sticky like literal fly-paper for 3 hours!!! if only i had a spray booth!

anyhoo, waiting for it to cure for a couple of days means i can get on with the bumper bar..... think i'm going to take the rear lights off, fit the bumper bar... then i can fit the bumper cover separately, and not have 10 bolts to line up in one go, but only 4! I'd rather not be fighting with a heavy bumper assembly with fresh paint!