Painting steel step bumper

[ItWillBeSlow]

What's the best procedure for painting an Oem steel step bumper?
I plan to go with argent silver. I originally thought i would put a coat of por15 down and spray a coat of rattle can silver. Should I skip the por15 and use rattle can primer instead? Vht and Eastwood both have the argent silver, is there a differences? Both companies also suggest a clear coat, is it necessary? These paints are marketed as wheel paint, I assume it will hold up to the occasional step on the bumper

[In The Ten Ring]

Ttt

[wbc409]

Have you looked into getting the bumper powder coated? I was looking into doing that for one of my old bumpers.

[scooterpimp]

Powdercoating is ok , but you cant touch it up like paint.

[special-K]

Use POR15 if it's rusty I guess. if it's that rusty I would remove and sand blast, etch prime, and paint. Mine was painted white over argent and peely. With it on the truck I put a cup brush on it, got it pretty well to bare metal, primed, and painted with a rallye wheel paint

[ItWillBeSlow]

I have looked into powdercoat, but I would like to be able to touchup

Originally Posted by special-K

Use POR15 if it's rusty I guess. if it's that rusty I would remove and sand blast, etch prime, and paint. Mine was painted white over argent and peely. With it on the truck I put a cup brush on it, got it pretty well to bare metal, primed, and painted with a rallye wheel paint

DO you recall what brand you used? I assume you did not clear coat.. any thoughts on if that is necessary or how it would look?

[custom10nut]

I re painted my rear bumper a couple weeks ago. Though I did mine with white, you can do the same in your garage. Higher quality rattle can paint gets good results, because you're no spraying a large panel area. I suggest a gray etching primer, followed by the argent silver like you want. Make sure that after you strip/sand all the old paint, that you rub it down with a wax and grease remover to get all the contaminants off the surface. This with some patience and a couple coats will give the results you want. Hope this helps

[99turbogmc]

Prep is 90 percent, I know it sucks.... I've been sanding my turbo truck for 2 weeks now

[davepl]

Best case would be to sandblast it to bare metal and then get a 2-part epoxy primer. It's like POR-15 but harder even. Then a topcoat with argent silver. You need a gun to spray it, but no time like the present to start!

Heck, you could even go

Bare metal
DP90LF primer
Deltron 2000 color coat in argent silver
DCU clear

That's similar to what I did for my engine (I used leaded enamel though) and it's been indestructible and held its gloss like new for years and many heat cycles. It's probably what I'll do for my wheels if I can't find a close white to the top of the truck.

[custom10nut]

Agreed. Careful prep gets the best results.
Shout out to all.
Speaking of spraying. If you have a Harbor Freight card, they have a 20 oz Gravity feed spray gun for $10 dollars right now. I picked one up, and thinking about getting another just for GP.

[ItWillBeSlow]

Unfortunately I have no air capabilities at the moment so it is rattle can or bust!

Thanks for the replies everyone. I have done a first pass with a wire wheel, having a hard time getting it completely bare metal, whatever is on it now (old silver) is tough stuff.

[Hogshooter]

After the wire cup I would sand it with some 320 dry then wipe with wax and grease remover, etch prime followed by some dry time of course then put a light coat of silver and more dry time followed by coats of silver until you get an even appearance and cant see though the color. let this dry a bit then you could put some clear on it.

[In The Ten Ring]

Can one spray paint over clear coat to fix scrapes that come later?

[ItWillBeSlow]

Originally Posted by In The Ten Ring

Can one spray paint over clear coat to fix scrapes that come later?

Probably not very easily.. good point

[special-K]

I avoid clear coat in all cases except with 2-stage paint. I avoid using 2-stage paint, too. On stuff like this I used spray bomb and what I used I got at a swap meet. I believe it's the company that makes it for Eastwood but sells it for what it should cost. All the spray bomb I use is single stage paint and doesn't require clear coat.

[ItWillBeSlow]

I got this done this week, thought i'd post some pics. Wirewheeled the whole thing pretty good, couldnt get it to bare metal everywhere on the front, would have required some serious time. Time will tell how well the paint/primer will hold over it, i bet it will.

Grease and wax removered, Primed and painted with VHT brand paint - 'Ford' Argent Silver according to the can.

How it began.

[ItWillBeSlow]

Apologies for sideways pics... dunno why that happens.

Primed

[ItWillBeSlow]

Painted

[ItWillBeSlow]

Shoutout to member Tropical Snowstorm for giving me the bumper for free !

[special-K]

I want it! . Looks great. I have a '72 step bumper to redo if I remove the Bartens bumper. But, I'd like to find one worthy of a chrome job and mine doesn't quite make the grade. Pulling it off is the best way. Mine was a quick paint job... and the truck hitch is integrated with it, so a major deal to remove. Probably weighs over 200#.

[Tropical Snowstorm]

Turned out great, glad you like it and it lives on!