[JSH]

The inevitable finally happened to the car after six years. The garage door closed on the bumper.
The shop wants $2k to repair a couple of pretty deep scrapes several inches long, but I'm wondering if anyone has tried a DIY.

[ZLRob]

Originally Posted by JSH

The inevitable finally happened to the car after six years. The garage door closed on the bumper.
The shop wants $2k to repair a couple of pretty deep scrapes several inches long, but I'm wondering if anyone has tried a DIY.

You could try it but you would have to have a fairly decent amount of knowledge regarding painting and masking techniques that would make the inevitable paint lines you would have if you spot repaired seamless. I personally have had amazing results with paint code matched single stage rattle cans mixed from local paint shops. Full paint gun and booth setup not needed.

Even after futzing with paint and differing techniques, I still have some issues sometimes, and given that paint is a slow curing type thing it makes someone who doesn't have a lot of patience to watch a gaff up dry really frustrated because they saw where they went wrong.

One more thing if you go DIY route. I was advised a while back that it's always better to paint with bumpers or body parts hanging vertically (ie like it naturally does on the car), not horizontally like it does on a stand because of the way the paint falls will show you notably different results.

[GreenZLE]

GM does an absolutely terrible job of paint matching bumper covers to the main body. For the most part, repainted bumper covers match BETTER than factory. My Rally Green ZLE front and rear covers are splotchy and dont match, period. My Equinox is white and the covers look like they spilled yellow tint in the paint compared to the body.

If you have a clean space and filtered air source to paint it AND its the rear bumper cover, I think the average joe can pull it off. I would remove the cover entirely and spray it and clear coat it. The front covers are much more challenging for a novice to clear coat without runs and dry spots.

You might even ask the shop what they would charge to repair and spray it for you if you take it off.

[bishopts]

Originally Posted by GreenZLE

GM does an absolutely terrible job of paint matching bumper covers to the main body. For the most part, repainted bumper covers match BETTER than factory. My Rally Green ZLE front and rear covers are splotchy and dont match, period. My Equinox is white and the covers look like they spilled yellow tint in the paint compared to the body.

If you have a clean space and filtered air source to paint it AND its the rear bumper cover, I think the average joe can pull it off. I would remove the cover entirely and spray it and clear coat it. The front covers are much more challenging for a novice to clear coat without runs and dry spots.

You might even ask the shop what they would charge to repair and spray it for you if you take it off.

When i first got my car it had a black ZL1 style bumper on it. I took the bumper off and gave it to the paint shop close to my job. He did a great job painting it but the shade was just a little off. He had told me before he did anything that it would be better to have the car so that he could blend the color to the car. It wasn't running at the time so that wasn't an option for me unless i waited. I regretted it a few months later. I could always see it was just a little different shade in certain lights.

[arpad_m]

I haven't yet seen a 100% perfect paint color match between a black plastic bumper and a steel or aluminum body panel, even when painted with the exact same batch or can of paint. There is always an angle or a hue of illumination that brings out a slight difference.

My Camaro is no different, it's maroon (garnet red) and everything looks consistent for the most part, but there are a few angles that show a tiny color difference.

[Camfab]

Originally Posted by JSH

The inevitable finally happened to the car after six years. The garage door closed on the bumper.
The shop wants $2k to repair a couple of pretty deep scrapes several inches long, but I'm wondering if anyone has tried a DIY.

This is just me, but I’d pull your bumper off the car, and order a new GM bumper. Take the new cover and your old one so the shop can color match it. If they want 2k to do that job, you need to look elsewhere. If you get the new skin before you pull the old one off, you’ll have a clue where all the fasteners and clips are located.

[JSH]

As soon as it warms up here, I'll take a shot at making it look "OK." If it doesn't work, I'll get prices for a new bumper/paint, and repairing this one. The first issue is that the door should have stopped and opened when it met resistance.

[arpad_m]

Originally Posted by JSH

As soon as it warms up here, I'll take a shot at making it look "OK." If it doesn't work, I'll get prices for a new bumper/paint, and repairing this one. The first issue is that the door should have stopped and opened when it met resistance.

Slightly off-topic, but this is an excellent opportunity to get a good looking pre-refresh bumper instead with a more aggressive diffuser and the "old school" ZL1 1LE smoked taillights to replace the swimming goggles

[JSH]

Originally Posted by arpad_m

Slightly off-topic, but this is an excellent opportunity to get a good looking pre-refresh bumper instead with a more aggressive diffuser and the "old school" ZL1 1LE smoked taillights to replace the swimming goggles

Do you think you could find a link to one of those?

[arpad_m]

Originally Posted by JSH

Do you think you could find a link to one of those?

It's gonna be a project for sure, but fortunately fellow member The Maverick has already paved the way: https://www.camaro6.com/forums/showthread.php?t=608035

The bumper is available here: https://www.autopartsprime.com/gm/re...er/oe-23404807 (needs to be painted, so you'll need help from a body shop unless you're a pro).

I purchased an SS diffuser, but you'll need a ZL1 specific one, so I won't give you a mismatched product link, but Next Gen Speed should have something if you want to go cheap. Of course, many more options are out there from ZL1 Addons, Carbon Addons and others, here's an example: https://carbonaddons.com/products/20...-rear-diffuser

The taillights are the toughest to source, I'd try various online parts stores and maybe ebay, too. The part numbers you need are 84136775 and 84136776, and it seems at least one site shows them as available to order, not sure if they're for real:
https://www.gmpartsdirect.com/oem-pa...-lamp-84136775
https://www.gmpartsdirect.com/oem-pa...-lamp-84136776

[JSH]

Originally Posted by arpad_m

It's gonna be a project for sure, but fortunately fellow member The Maverick has already paved the way: https://www.camaro6.com/forums/showthread.php?t=608035

The bumper is available here: https://www.autopartsprime.com/gm/re...er/oe-23404807 (needs to be painted, so you'll need help from a body shop unless you're a pro).

I purchased an SS diffuser, but you'll need a ZL1 specific one, so I won't give you a mismatched product link, but Next Gen Speed should have something if you want to go cheap. Of course, many more options are out there from ZL1 Addons, Carbon Addons and others, here's an example: https://carbonaddons.com/products/20...-rear-diffuser

The taillights are the toughest to source, I'd try various online parts stores and maybe ebay, too. The part numbers you need are 84136775 and 84136776, and it seems at least one site shows them as available to order, not sure if they're for real:
https://www.gmpartsdirect.com/oem-pa...-lamp-84136775
https://www.gmpartsdirect.com/oem-pa...-lamp-84136776

Thanks