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Well, with superfest coming up, there was no way in hell I could go with all the spiderweb cracks all over my front bumper. It used to be really bad... On Saturday, I went outside at 10pm and started sanding away. Sunday morning I sanded some more, taped it all up, bought my paint, painted it all, then realized I had the wrong damn color paint, so I went out and got more paint and used that and tada the final results. That's the jist, and now the "tutorial":
I had really bad spiderweb cracking on the front bumper. I wanted this to be a TEMPORARY fix to just last through superfest, all in all I only spent $25 so it's not bad at all for one day of work (so far). I used 800 grit wet/dry sandpaper, and wet sanded until my fingers were numb. With that high of a grit, it didn't sand a lot off in all that amount of time that I worked at it, but it smoothed the cracks over and left a really, really smooth finish...
After sanding it all down, I used Duplicolor Sandable Primer to prime the bumper and help fill in some of the imperfections and low spots. It went on great and was a really good primer to use to sand down and fill in a lot of the pin holes I had. I would spray it on, let it dry for 15 minutes, then sanded with one of those 350 grit foam-ish blocks that you can buy at popular auto stores. I then would spray another layer, let it dry, sand, repeat. I used about 5 coats of the primer, thin coats, and it really did a great job.
After the primer was applied and sanded, it was time for color. I started out with the first couple coats barely covering the bumper. I wanted it to be just enough on there to create a tacky layer, so that the next "wet" layer would stick well. It worked great, I sprayed once and waited three minutes before spraying again. After about 5 minutes, I sprayed a wet, but still light, coat onto the car to give it the color. After it dried, I used a 2000 grit sandpaper that I had in the basement and wet sanded again to make it nice and smooth. I sprayed another layer again, let it dry, and then sanded smooth a final time. After letting it dry and cure for an hour, it was time for the Duplicolor Top Clear Coat. Same as the color, I sprayed a couple light coats to provide tack, and then the final two coats were the wet coats. All in all, it left a very smooth, non-splotchy finish that I am really happy with.
Today it got a little more dull, which was expected. After 48 hours, I can use some rubbing compound to buff it out and bring the shine out. Tomorrow, dependant on rain and humidity, is when I'll do that. And, to make the day even better, my Sonus SFX-1 and SFX-3 came, as well as my P21S... so my car will have a gorgeous finish in time for Superfest.
I had really bad spiderweb cracking on the front bumper. I wanted this to be a TEMPORARY fix to just last through superfest, all in all I only spent $25 so it's not bad at all for one day of work (so far). I used 800 grit wet/dry sandpaper, and wet sanded until my fingers were numb. With that high of a grit, it didn't sand a lot off in all that amount of time that I worked at it, but it smoothed the cracks over and left a really, really smooth finish...
After sanding it all down, I used Duplicolor Sandable Primer to prime the bumper and help fill in some of the imperfections and low spots. It went on great and was a really good primer to use to sand down and fill in a lot of the pin holes I had. I would spray it on, let it dry for 15 minutes, then sanded with one of those 350 grit foam-ish blocks that you can buy at popular auto stores. I then would spray another layer, let it dry, sand, repeat. I used about 5 coats of the primer, thin coats, and it really did a great job.
After the primer was applied and sanded, it was time for color. I started out with the first couple coats barely covering the bumper. I wanted it to be just enough on there to create a tacky layer, so that the next "wet" layer would stick well. It worked great, I sprayed once and waited three minutes before spraying again. After about 5 minutes, I sprayed a wet, but still light, coat onto the car to give it the color. After it dried, I used a 2000 grit sandpaper that I had in the basement and wet sanded again to make it nice and smooth. I sprayed another layer again, let it dry, and then sanded smooth a final time. After letting it dry and cure for an hour, it was time for the Duplicolor Top Clear Coat. Same as the color, I sprayed a couple light coats to provide tack, and then the final two coats were the wet coats. All in all, it left a very smooth, non-splotchy finish that I am really happy with.
Today it got a little more dull, which was expected. After 48 hours, I can use some rubbing compound to buff it out and bring the shine out. Tomorrow, dependant on rain and humidity, is when I'll do that. And, to make the day even better, my Sonus SFX-1 and SFX-3 came, as well as my P21S... so my car will have a gorgeous finish in time for Superfest.
357ci LT1, cammed, stalled, and driven. 
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