Lower Body Cladding/Bumper Painting

Escher

Escher

Senior Member
Joined
Jul 22, 2008
Messages
466
Location
Washington, DC
Car Year
2012
Car Model
Outback
Transmission
6MT
PS, Blue Fox: What size are those BFGs? And have they worked out OK for you? Also, how come you have the bare plastic (i.e. unpainted) lower body cladding here in the US? I thought that in the US only the LL Bean Edition Forester came with contrasting color cladding, and that was still painted and shiny, not raw plastic and matte. Canadian import maybe?
 
Escher said:
PS, Blue Fox: What size are those BFGs? And have they worked out OK for you? Also, how come you have the bare plastic (i.e. unpainted) lower body cladding here in the US? I thought that in the US only the LL Bean Edition Forester came with contrasting color cladding, and that was still painted and shiny, not raw plastic and matte. Canadian import maybe?
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My BFG's are 215/70 16's. Slightly oversized and are working amazingly well. Love the tires. Plenty of grip in snow and ice.......as well as massive grip off-road (especially when aired down)

As for the bare plastic.......it's not. I sprayed on bed-liner on the lower bit of the car. It's kind of a long story, but I was backing up and side-swiped myself against my brother's bumper and scraped up the lower plastic on the bumper and back door something horrible. Instead of paying out my rear end to get it resprayed.....I decided to spray the bumpers and lower plastics with bed-liner. BEST thing I've done in a long time. Holds up well, doesn't show scratches, and cleans up nicely too.

Here's another picture of it as it is today. It's been a little over a year since I've sprayed it on (and yes, it's a rattle-can job). Took about 8 cans of spray, no cracks, no peeling, no fading......

fozzybeforetrip001.jpg
 
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Blue Fox said:
Here's another picture of it as it is today. It's been a little over a year since I've sprayed it on (and yes, it's a rattle-can job). Took about 8 cans of spray, no cracks, no peeling, no fading......

fozzybeforetrip001.jpg
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What kind of spray-on did you use? I've been contemplating doing this on mine because of some nasty scratches on the rear bumper.
 
^^ I used the Duplicolor stuff. Comes in a blue can, sprays on very evenly. I use it for just about everything. Give the appearance of textured plastic, and holds up very well, and doesn't chip or peel.

7140498_dpl_tr250265_pri_detl.jpg
 
Great, Thanks! I had been going back & forth between that & the Plasti-Kote stuff. Looks like i'll be able to save a few bucks by using the duplicolor.
What grit sand paper (if any) did you use to prep it with? I've read anywhere from 180-320 is what people have used. Always nice to hear first hand from someone who has actually got good results.
 
^^ I just scuffed up the clear coat with a scotch brite pad (making sure it was all dull, no shiny left). Then wiped it all down with rubbing alcohol. Wasn't too worried about getting a perfectly smooth sanding session in, being that I was spraying textured bed-liner material. :biggrin:
 
Blue Fox said:
^^ I used the Duplicolor stuff. Comes in a blue can, sprays on very evenly. I use it for just about everything. Give the appearance of textured plastic, and holds up very well, and doesn't chip or peel.

7140498_dpl_tr250265_pri_detl.jpg
Click to expand...

What a brilliant idea to spray your bumpers with truck bed liner, Blue Fox! Never would have occurred to me. Much easier than sourcing unpainted bumpers from Canada.

BTW, I'm back in the States this week, and it turns out that through MY05, i.e. before they introduced the new front with MY06, unpainted bumpers were standard on the base Forester X model. I'd totally forgotten about that.

For that reason, I had a hard time deciding between MY05 and MY06 when I bought my Forester in 2006. Of course, by the time I made up my mind, all the MY05 models were completely sold out. Thankfully, I had decided to go with an MY06 anyway. :)
 
A few of you brutally hijacked the "Post your favorite off road pic" with this topic.:raspberry: I don't normally bust out the "No Hijacking Stick":poke:,we all do it to a certain extent but in this case, it is a relevant topic that needs to be preserved and that thread needs to remain clean. So those involved :mob::bananagunner::eviltoyou: watch yourselves!!! J/K, feel free to carry on here...
 
Apologies for the hijack! Thanks for splitting this out, Carl. Definitely inappropriate. But definitely a worthy topic too!
 
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Escher said:
Apologies for the hijack! Thanks for splitting this out, Carl. Definitely inappropriate. But definitely a worthy topic too!
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No worries Escher.:) It just seems to happen sometimes, in this case I think it certainly was worth it's own thread. I'm glad all the posts flowed nicely in an easy way to transfer without getting all jumbled and confusing.
 
Most definately a good thread to have w/ good information. Sometimes just get a little lazy on here to start a new one, nice move ;)
 
Blue Fox said:
Ooooooopsy. (about a month late)
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Why? You came up with a smart solution, posted pictures, and answered all the questions. All you're missing is the t-shirt. :raz:

Seriously, unless I spring for a brand new Forester next year, I'd say there's a 95-percent chance I'll do this to any used one I find!

For the tires, the BFGs do look good. But I was so happy with the stock-size Geo AT-S' on my 06 that it'll be hard to decide between the two. The Geo AT-S is obviously more road-biased than the go-anywhere BFGs, but they did everything I needed them to do for the year I had them on.
 
Oooopsy about the threadjacking incident. I didn't realize we threadjacked as badly as we did. ;)
 
Blue Fox said:
^^ I used the Duplicolor stuff. Comes in a blue can, sprays on very evenly. I use it for just about everything. Give the appearance of textured plastic, and holds up very well, and doesn't chip or peel.

7140498_dpl_tr250265_pri_detl.jpg
Click to expand...

As has been said before, I wouldn't have thought to use this but I think I will give it a try.
 
Blue Fox said:
^^ I used the Duplicolor stuff. Comes in a blue can, sprays on very evenly. I use it for just about everything. Give the appearance of textured plastic, and holds up very well, and doesn't chip or peel.

7140498_dpl_tr250265_pri_detl.jpg
Click to expand...

I think I am going to use this on the bottom of the back bumper on the ribbed section. The other spot I was thinking about using this is along the side of the car underneath the doors, the section that is about 6 or so feet long and one piece. I have a few scuffs and chips in there and I'm thinking this would be a good way to make that look better while getting a little protection. I do have a solid color silver Forester though so I don't want to spray the full lower body cladding. I'm open to anyone's thoughts or opinions on this.
 
I usually hate thread revivals... But I'm glad you zombie'd that one!

I don't really like the silver lower body cladding that I have... I would've preffered the unpainted ones. That might do the job :)
 
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