front lip care?
 

I've had my Polyurethane front lip mounted/installed for about two months and it's noticeably fading in colour. Are there any products that I should use to restore the " black " since it's now grey ?

Thanks in advance

pics?

Most people I know paint the parts when they put them on the car... maybe try that.

i have an unpainted polyurethane lip as well, it's not really a colour fading issue but a lack of gloss issue.

you can use water-based tire shine to keep it black and shiny till the next time it rains, but it's pretty much gone each time it rains which is alright for summer but useless in the winter.

the only other option is to paint it black.

paint + clear coat.

still waiting for pics.

if it's like a plain textured black, you could try black bumper trim paint that they sell at crappy tire after prepping the part with adhesion promoter. or maybe something rubberized like plastidip, but i'm not sure what the results would be like.

i'm reluctant to recommend a full out paint/clearcoat because you'll be dealing with stone chips and possible spiderwebbing/cracks in the paint after bottoming out or scraping curbs (depending on how low you are, if at all).

if you don't wanna pay a shop $150 to paint it, just got to Lordco, give them the color code of your car, and they'll mix you a spray can with the exact color for between $20-$30.

I've done it for my lips as well, they color match really well and you don't need clearcoat it after. It's all in the can.

i've done some research and they say that since it's polyurethane and flexible, you need some "flex" paint otherwise it'll crack from the spraycan paint...

If it this works for sure i'll definitely do it this way..

I'll get the pictures tomorrow.

Exactly same thing happened to my integra polyurethane lip so I ended up painting it last week.
Costed me $40(new vogue silver with metallic) for paint mix at lordco with a flexing agent added in.
He even gave me a bottle of touch up paint from the extra paint mixture.
Ended up costing me just under 80$ to paint my lip and side skirts. ($40paint, $5primer x2, $10clear x2, $5 sandpaper)
The colour wasn't a perfect match but it was close enough.

http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/796/img00281hce.jpg
http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/6640/img00302c.jpg
http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/5622/img00321d.jpg

The reason I painted it on the bumper is because the polyuthane lip is so dang flexible when off the bumper.

For blackening lips try this

http://img2.timeinc.net/people/i/200...ox_400x300.jpg

http://img195.imageshack.us/img195/9034/img0960p.jpg

I have a front lip too that I been wanting to paint for a while

How long did the whole process take?

I don't want to take off the lip cause it's a pain in the ass and it will look twisted all over again.

good post Peturbo... and good work.


Nammer, you can always try my chinese newspaper method if you're too lazy to take the bumper off. :thumbsup:


http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g1...0/P1010307.jpg

If you have everything with there ready to go, it should only take you a good few hours prepping, painting, and clear.
I then let it dry overnight and put back on my sideskirts+front bumper on the next day.
Sanded the lip with 400 grit then primed couple coats.
Scuffed the prime with scotch brite pad, then cleaned it up before painting(wax&grease remover is good for this)
Painted couple coats after primer was all scuffed up and cleaned.
Let the paint dry for about an hour before I started the clear coat.
Also good to use wax and grease remover before starting anything.
You don't want to be sanding wax, grease or anything into the lip.

edit: Almost totally forgot that you shouldn't use wax&grease remover on plastics.
Forgot what the product name is you should use but it's a green liquid.

If you want to keep the flat black look I used Duplicolor flat black flexible bumper coating on my lip, and then Krylon matte clearcoat.

hey since when did i have a cousin name thai:haha:

where can i pick those items up?

http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/501...7281753.th.jpg
http://img188.imageshack.us/img188/4...7281753.th.jpg
http://img188.imageshack.us/img188/2...7281753.th.jpg
http://img188.imageshack.us/img188/9...7281753.th.jpg

That's what my lip looks like, the darker area is where the front plate was ( i had it removed for the pictures so you can compare ). Obviously it's the sun that's fading the lip/gloss.

Peturbo, that looks great but i don't have a garage to store my front bumper in overnight and no room in the house so as much as i'd like to do that, i don't think i'll be able to manage.. if i leave it outside won't the dirt/dust get caught in the clearcoat/paint?

Duplicolor products can be found at Canadian Tire, they make great wheel paint too! The Krylon matte clearcoat you need to find at an art store, I got mine from Michael's on Bridgeport. I used 3 layers of plastic primer from Home Depot, 5 layers of the bumper coating, and 10 layers of clearcoat. I did it about a month ago, but no scratches/chips as of yet.

My bad, guessed the wrong person. lol.

Dust and such will get onto the paint and clear. But atleast it is just your front lip your painting outside and not the whole bumper or something.

holy shit talk about major fading!

I'll be start painting my front lip this coming weekend if time permits

canadian tire - back to black by mothers

i'll probably do this even if i have to re-apply it every so often. will post updates