[Frog and Ogy]

Hi all,

Is it possible, or has anybody here tried, recoating or repainting the grey bumpers on the earlier R8’s? - we’ve got a bodily very good condition ‘94 216SLi but the bumpers have faded somewhat and have been stained or gone white in a few places- silcone spray/ trim treatment doesn’t really seem to touch it... I’ve almost been tempted to scour them, and try again, but would that be unwise?

[Kriss707]

Hi,

There's a few ways of rejuvenating the bumpers.

Firstly try using a hot air gun gently over the surface, this melts the top layer of plastic & re-floats the plastic molecules. Be careful not to overheat & distort the bumper though.

Secondly There are sprays available which good paint suppliers sell, 1st stage is key off the surface & repair as/if necessary, 2nd apply an Adhesion promoter, 3rd prime, 4th apply the Texture you require, finally paint with the bumper the colour you require.

Thirdly if your not confident of trying those two options, send it to a professional Bodyshop & get them to do it.

Good luck

[carfixmobile]

I have used a product from a company called Wurth. It's a paste that you apply with a cloth.

They have a colour called anthracite (a grey colour - a bit darker but looks ok) which is a good match to the original. It has lasted well on a car that has been outside in all weather.

It's expensive but a tube goes a long way.

[Johnny 216GSi]

That's Wurth Plastic Dye and they do anthracite and black.

The anthracite is a bit more neutral grey compared to the original bumper colour of LOG (Tempest Grey 1) and as such it appears to be a little blue-ish next to original trim.

Nonetheless I used this on my car and it does stay on. Excellent on soft plastics like the bumpers, but invariably you'll want to do the hard plastics like the side rubbing strips, rear number plate applique, mud flaps, etc. to match. The harder plastics need a couple of coats and then you feel like you're painting them with a sponge rather than applying a dye. You do need to mask up as it'll colour anything it touches and stays on. You also need to choose a dry day as the dye needs 30 minutes to dry, otherwise it streaks horribly if rained on whilst still wet.

It won't cover scratches and gouges, so beyond this you're looking at plastic filler, sanding flat, adhesion promoter, plastic primer and a top coat. I've used the Hycote system for this kind of thing, and the topcoat could be either matte or satin finish with added texture, DC paints in Milton Keynes can mix custom colours and add two different grades of texture - you'd need a non-faded piece of trim for them to use to get an original colour match.

[Paul_1978_yorks]

I’m going to get some Wurth Plastic Dye for my 1995/96 charcoal SEi. However I’m not sure whether to get black or anthracite. What do we think?

[Topcat Tomcat]

The chap at the Bodyshop suggested the hot air gun technique and demonstrated it on an old piece of plastic trim for me.

It was fascinating to see it darken and what appeared to be droplets appear on the surface. Apparently you do need to keep it moving, otherwise wise it it becomes smooth and shiny!

I managed to locate some new, old stock front mudflaps, so I will experiment on those, as they are very, very tatty!

I’ll report back.

[Johnny 216GSi]

I’m going to get some Wurth Plastic Dye for my 1995/96 charcoal SEi. However I’m not sure whether to get black or anthracite. What do we think?

Black! It's got black bumpers and rubbing strips.

Anthracite is for phase 1 / 1.5 grey bumpers.