Date:         Sat, 3 Jun 2006 17:43:45 -0700
Reply-To:     James V <tornadored@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         James V <tornadored@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Painting the Exterior Fiberglass Body molding and bumpers-
              best methods, materials?
Comments: To: robertmstewart <robertmstewart@MAC.COM>
In-Reply-To:  <C0A77E2F.8A2F%robertmstewart@mac.com>
Content-type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"

On 6/3/06 2:58 PM, "robertmstewart" <robertmstewart@MAC.COM> wrote:

> I was interested in painting my 87 Wolfsburg Exterior Fiberglass Body
> molding and bumpers, what the best paint, process/ methods?

Upon purchase, my 88 Westy's rear bumper had several cracks, scuffs and
gouges.  Some were several inches long with the fiberglass exposed.  I used
bondo to fill and epoxy on the backside to reinforce any cracks.  I didn't
use any fiberglass repair material.  Sanded the areas smooth.

I gave the entire bumper a quick rough sand and went straight to paint (no
primer, IIRC).  I used Dupli-Color Bumper Coating:

http://www.duplicolor.com/products/bumper.html

It's basic rattle-can paint that's supposed to be more flexible.  Around $6
a can (I used about 1.5 cans for the rear bumper).  It's a perfect black for
the Westy fiberglass bumpers.  Nice satin finish.  Very easy to get an even
coat because of the low luster.  It's been a year, and it looks like new,
maybe better.  I schlep bikes around quite a bit on my rear rack and am
always leaning them against the bumper, and the paint is holding up nicely.

A bonus is that the next time you get a parking lot scuff, you can quickly
and easily make a perfectly matched touch up.

James V