Color Matched Bumpers

[rbrown]

VERY different. The GL has a smooth rubber like material. The normal Gray bumpers are hard gray plastic.

Interesting. I cannot believe they would use a different material on such a 'low' end vehicle. But heck they used different mirrors for one year so what do I know.
Mine of course are gray but are quite flexible. Are the GL bumpers yellow underneath the paint?

And I am going to stop by a yard or two to see if I can find a GL.

[TheresGabe]

Some body should have told me years ago I couldn't paint my grey bumpers red. They also should have told me Festies are not a tow rig LOL

Can't lengthen the wheel base by changing the front and the back. Can't lift. Can't shorten the turning circle. 100 watt HID will melt everything.

LED turns don't work. Ahh never mind. That red bumper has pushed through a lot of sage brush, pushed trees off of roads..and it still looks good.
You need some one local that knows current body and paint stuff and you will not have problems.

Ugh... I didn't mean to stir the proverbial pot. I've mentioned in other posts, that I have had my various festivas in various body shops, and either been told that it wasn't possible with auto paint, or that it would be very expensive to paint the gray bumpers, and at that point, there was no guarantee that itd stick. That is AWESOME you got yours to stick. Maybe you could share your secret?

[zoe60]

I can't find a picture to post. but I think mine looks awesome with the bumpers painted. Paint has stuck to my bumpers for 4 years or more now. The body guy talked me into painting the bumpers and taking off the side moldings and I'm glad he did! He said you never see any new model cars with bumpers that are a different color than the car. Makes your Festy look more "with the times". Wish I knew how he prepped them. Maybe you could talk to a body guy. Go for it!

[Movin]

Ugh... I didn't mean to stir the proverbial pot. I've mentioned in other posts, that I have had my various festivas in various body shops, and either been told that it wasn't possible with auto paint, or that it would be very expensive to paint the gray bumpers, and at that point, there was no guarantee that itd stick. That is AWESOME you got yours to stick. Maybe you could share your secret?

I didn't mean to stir either! But I see a lot of cars up on a hoist.
I can tell if they have been to a body shop. It doesn't take long to
find out who gets the paint on right and who is having problems
with the bumper paint. I took the car to the best shop I could find.

Beyond that I know very little that we don't already know . If you
want to do it yourself you might find the largest paint supplier
around and offer to take their outside sales guy out to lunch!
There is a lot more to learn about this subject.

[Larry Hampton]

There's a flex agent added to paint for flexible bumpers. You also have to prep the bumpers a little different. There are a ton of mid to late 90's gold Camry's running around with slightly different color bumpers, almost silverish, this is factory paint.

[CrookedHalos]

Have any of you heard of PlastiDip? Some of my members in my mustang crew have "dipped" their rides. No prep required other then a cleaning. Some of my buddies spray painted with just the spray cans and I think he didn't spend more then $500 on covering his whole car with a couple of coats. It's a rubber paint so it looks matte when you finish it. It's very durable when dried completely. Another thing is that it's completely removeable by hand, it peels off once you get a good hold under the edge of it after opening it up with a razor. Lol I am not sponsored by them, but I plan on doing it to mine! It's simple, looks pretty cool, and it doesn't run like other paint so it's perfect for a newbie project.
I know you're only interested in painting your bumpers and their paint color is limited. But for what you'd pay for regular paint, prep, and labor, You could coat the whole car.

[rbrown]

There's a flex agent added to paint for flexible bumpers. You also have to prep the bumpers a little different. There are a ton of mid to late 90's gold Camry's running around with slightly different color bumpers, almost silverish, this is factory paint.

Back then they baked the paint a bit to get it dry faster. Of course the bumpers could not be baked so they were painted separately. Spraying at different times will almost always result in differences. Ever temperature using the same paint will change the lay of the paint and make it look different.

The best light to look at a car's paint, High Pressure Sodium (yellow/amber) street lights. It will show you everything.

[TheresGabe]

Have any of you heard of PlastiDip? Some of my members in my mustang crew have "dipped" their rides. No prep required other then a cleaning. Some of my buddies spray painted with just the spray cans and I think he didn't spend more then $500 on covering his whole car with a couple of coats. It's a rubber paint so it looks matte when you finish it. It's very durable when dried completely. Another thing is that it's completely removeable by hand, it peels off once you get a good hold under the edge of it after opening it up with a razor. Lol I am not sponsored by them, but I plan on doing it to mine! It's simple, looks pretty cool, and it doesn't run like other paint so it's perfect for a newbie project.
I know you're only interested in painting your bumpers and their paint color is limited. But for what you'd pay for regular paint, prep, and labor, You could coat the whole car.

$500 is WAY expensive for Plasti-dip. You can get a gallon of it. (Normal car might take 3 gallons) for $66 on their site.

My dash vent panel is plasti-dipped white. The spray can was $11 on amazon. You can get black for like $8/can at home depot!

My buddy John just did the 18" rims, and all of the chrome insignia on his new Hyundai Veloster. It took 4 X $8 cans to do all of it.