Scratch on Power Coated Bumper

I recently purchased a new bumper for my truck which sadly arrived scratched. ARB being the company they are was extremely helpful and willing to make this right and offered to replace the bumper free of charge. I decided to take another non-monetary option because I just didn't see the justification of dealing with replacing the bumper when it will inevitably get scratched while I'm wheeling anyways.

So, as a result, I decided to attempt to fix the issue myself. I sanded the area down to the metal, applied 2-3 coats of Rust Oleum Professional primer and 4-5 coats of Professional semi-gloss paint. It came out decently enough however because I masked off the area, it looks like a big piece of tape is covering the area which isn't ideal. How can I blend this?

 

I thought that was tape until I continued reading

I think you would've been a lot better off with a flat black to better match the rest of the bumper. Maybe you could find an inconspicuous area and hit it with some flat black to see how close it looks, and if it's really close, use that to blend it. Like maybe just paint that entire section.

 

Put one on the other side so it looks like it's suppose to be their. When anybody asks what it is tell them it's where your guns mount on to.

 

Personally, I'd cover that with a Tacomaworld sticker and call it a day

 

So, I tried just flat black and I think I like it better. Might actually extend the paint all the way to the corner on both sides.

 

Look at you making me look bad. Edit: Paint the upper edge and it'll look like an extension of the bumper guard

 

That's the idea. Might wet sand the current patch and then tape everything up, spray some primer and put a few layers of paint down.

 

How bad was the original scratch?

 

Personally I think it looks better without the big rectangle paint touch up. Maybe just a little black nail polish to fill the scratches would blend better and look less noticeable

 

I did try that. I sanded down just the two scratches and touched them up and it looked really strange, like two random lines painted on it. With the powdercoat being so thick, there was a lot of texture on the two scratches so I couldn't simply hit it with some touch-up paint. That's when I decided to sand down the area in a more geometric way and paint. First attempt was still a bit rough due to a dirty garage so I wet sanded the area and threw some more coats on it.

 

Satin black is the closest I've found for powdercoat like that. Don't go down the rabbit hole though...you'll end up painting the whole damn thing. Masking and sanding are always going to be a problem on powdercoat. I'd tape off all the stuff you don't want paint on (lights, grill, body) and then spray. Just let the spray pattern dissipate around the spray area. It's likely the best garage tech blend you're going to get. Only once you've found a good paint match. Or go to a powdercoating joint and ask them what the best fix would be.

 

Do you have any experience with any particular type of paint? ARB is suppose to be sending me some touch-up paint though I'm not sure if it's the brush on or pin type.

 

This is the reason companies don't like to offer powder coated fabricated items. It's extremely difficult to get them to their destination without damage. The customer understandably looks to the vendor for compensation, but the reality is there isn't much we can do once it leaves our facility but pray that a clumsy fork lift operator doesn't hit it during the 1/2 dozen trucks it's loaded on in transit (or any number of other issues). We usually don't get reimbursed that money from the shipping company, we just take it to the face. I'm glad ARB took care of you. That what good companies do. It's tough being the good guy.

Also, touch up with semi gloss on the smooth powder coat and satin on the textured powder coat.

 

Yeah, this isn't the first powder coated piece I've received scratched so although it sucks, I'm not surprised. ARB has been awesome to work with on this issue for what it's worth.

That said, I did try semi gloss (https://www.rustoleum.com/product-catalog/consumer-brands/professional/high-performance-enamel-spray) and it just didn't look right. Reminded me of electrical tape. Didn't stand out as much I don't think as the flat black but the flat does seem to match the plastic trim which might be why I like it better.

I even wet sanded the semi gloss hoping to dull it some and make it match better but that didn't exactly work out. To say I'm an amature at automotive painiting is an understatement.

 

It's been a while. It was one of the big companies as I recall...Rustoleum? Sorry, that's not a huge help. Try a few different ones on some scrap metal or paper and hold it up next to your bumper

 

Doesn't surprise me either. Powder coat isn't all that much better than decent spray paint. Scratches just as easy.

No worries, I can't paint to save my life.

 

I haven't found that to be true. Spray paint is the devils coating. Powdercoating is much stronger and will look good years after spray paint has bubbled, flaked and peeled off. I never use smooth powdercoat anymore though. A lightly textured powdercoat seems to hold up really well in my experience.

 

The texture is much better at hiding scratches. The only bitch about spray paint is the prep work. If you were to sand blast your parts first and really clean them well afterward (similar to what is done to powder coated parts), you would have a pretty durable paint job with spray paint. However, almost no one does that. Shit takes forever.

 

Must be really shitty powder coating to scratch easily.