How hard to replace/paint hood/bumper on my own?

Status
Not open for further replies.

Jeraden

Platinum Member
Oct 9, 1999
2,518
1
76
So my wife got in a slight fender bender the other day. Big rip in the front bumper. And the hood is slightly buckled. Mechanic checked it out and there is no actual damage to the car, just the bumper and hood. Quoted a price of $2600 to replace them... I did a double take...really? That much??

I looked up how much an aftermarket hood and bumper actually cost. Like $560 total (not including shipping). How hard is it to really paint/install them yourself? I don't have equipment, but I would think for $2000 I could do a good enough job myself. I don't know how tough it is to actually paint them.

We have insurance, but a $1000 deductible, and if we make the claim, I bet our rates go up. My wife wants to just let the insurance handle it. But the DIY person in myself wonders how hard could it really be? I have no experience whatsoever in car repair or painting cars or anything though.

What do you guys think?
 

Zivic

Diamond Member
Nov 25, 2002
3,505
38
91
So my wife got in a slight fender bender the other day. Big rip in the front bumper. And the hood is slightly buckled. Mechanic checked it out and there is no actual damage to the car, just the bumper and hood. Quoted a price of $2600 to replace them... I did a double take...really? That much??

I looked up how much an aftermarket hood and bumper actually cost. Like $560 total (not including shipping). How hard is it to really paint/install them yourself? I don't have equipment, but I would think for $2000 I could do a good enough job myself. I don't know how tough it is to actually paint them.

We have insurance, but a $1000 deductible, and if we make the claim, I bet our rates go up. My wife wants to just let the insurance handle it. But the DIY person in myself wonders how hard could it really be? I have no experience whatsoever in car repair or painting cars or anything though.

What do you guys think?

to do decent work it will be harder than you think. just getting the paint to match can be a chore. painting sounds easy, but you have to properly prep and prime to make the job look good. 2600 for OEM pieces painted and installed from a reputable shop sounds like a fair price. If the car is worth it, let the professionals do the work... if the car is kind of POS, give it a shot yourself
 

EagleKeeper

Discussion Club Moderator<br>Elite Member
Staff member
Oct 30, 2000
42,589
5
0
300 for the bumper alone to get it properly painted. ('06 Camry)
I do not know how difficult installation would be.

A body shop might be able to put on a $200 paint job; unsure of the quality

Talk to another body shop and possible a couple of the chain shops that will give you a few years of warranty.
 

Sluggo

Lifer
Jun 12, 2000
15,488
5
81
If its a common car, you might find used parts that are the same color. Won't be a perfect match, but for a car you are just using to get by, it will be closer than you can get it yourself.
 

SyndromeOCZ

Senior member
Aug 8, 2010
615
0
71
Painting a hood as your first thing might not be the best. The hood is the one body panel you nearly always see when operating your motor vehicle. And trust me, the imperfections would jump out to your eye very easily.
 

JulesMaximus

No Lifer
Jul 3, 2003
74,542
921
126
Replacing the parts wouldn't be too difficult assuming the airbag didn't deploy but painting those parts will require the services of a professional. You won't get good results doing it yourself. You need the right tools, a paint booth (with air filters to keep contaminants out of the paint) and the know how.
 

Subyman

Moderator <br> VC&G Forum
Mar 18, 2005
7,876
32
86
Lol please don't paint yourself. Quality body shops use ventilated and filtered painting rooms to lay the paint. If you DIY you will certainly have both orange peel and dust in the paint. You need a compressor, dehumidifier filter, automotive paint sprayer, primer, base coat, clear coat, assortment of sand paper, solvents, and buffing tools. You then need to know how to properly sand the surface, properly thin the paints, be in an area of the correct temperature, know how to properly adjust the flow and pressure of the air and paint, use correct timing and sweeps while spraying, wet sand between coats, and buff the finished panels.

No, it is not DIY. It takes a professional or a dedicated hobbyist that has practiced quite a bit. Look at spending days trying to do it only to get poor results.
 

jtvang125

Diamond Member
Nov 10, 2004
5,399
51
91
I build a few plastic model cars now and then and trying to get a good paint job on them are hard enough. I can only imagine how much harder it is on a actual car. Imperfections on a small model won't be noticeable but won't cut it on a full size car cause even minor ones will be very visible.
 

Capt Caveman

Lifer
Jan 30, 2005
34,543
651
126
Lol please don't paint yourself. Quality body shops use ventilated and filtered painting rooms to lay the paint. If you DIY you will certainly have both orange peel and dust in the paint. You need a compressor, dehumidifier filter, automotive paint sprayer, primer, base coat, clear coat, assortment of sand paper, solvents, and buffing tools. You then need to know how to properly sand the surface, properly thin the paints, be in an area of the correct temperature, know how to properly adjust the flow and pressure of the air and paint, use correct timing and sweeps while spraying, wet sand between coats, and buff the finished panels.

No, it is not DIY. It takes a professional or a dedicated hobbyist that has practiced quite a bit. Look at spending days trying to do it only to get poor results.

Add the bumper paint will need an elasticizer.
 

Black2na

Senior member
Nov 25, 2010
629
1
0
Lol please don't paint yourself. Quality body shops use ventilated and filtered painting rooms to lay the paint. If you DIY you will certainly have both orange peel and dust in the paint. You need a compressor, dehumidifier filter, automotive paint sprayer, primer, base coat, clear coat, assortment of sand paper, solvents, and buffing tools. You then need to know how to properly sand the surface, properly thin the paints, be in an area of the correct temperature, know how to properly adjust the flow and pressure of the air and paint, use correct timing and sweeps while spraying, wet sand between coats, and buff the finished panels.

No, it is not DIY. It takes a professional or a dedicated hobbyist that has practiced quite a bit. Look at spending days trying to do it only to get poor results.

Now being in my 9th year as a body man start to finish its something an avg joe can do WITH heavy supervision of someone who knows what the hell there doing. someone said locate the parts in the same color as your own car from a junk yard www.car-part.com will give you junkyards in your area that will have the items and most of the time they have color included in the decription. save you alot of time and money. and still have it look good/decient. i try and match color when replacing panels saves me alot of time when changing a door or fender not having to jam the panel.
 

Jeraden

Platinum Member
Oct 9, 1999
2,518
1
76
Ok, ok, I'll leave my tinkering to electronics and let the professionals handle this one. Thanks for talking some sense into me. :)
 

halik

Lifer
Oct 10, 2000
25,696
1
0
now being in my 9th year as a body man start to finish its something an avg joe can do with heavy supervision of someone who knows what the hell there doing. Someone said locate the parts in the same color as your own car from a junk yard www.car-part.com will give you junkyards in your area that will have the items and most of the time they have color included in the decription. Save you alot of time and money. And still have it look good/decient. I try and match color when replacing panels saves me alot of time when changing a door or fender not having to jam the panel.

^^^ this ^^^^
 

Howard

Lifer
Oct 14, 1999
47,982
10
81
Lol please don't paint yourself. Quality body shops use ventilated and filtered painting rooms to lay the paint. If you DIY you will certainly have both orange peel and dust in the paint. You need a compressor, dehumidifier filter, automotive paint sprayer, primer, base coat, clear coat, assortment of sand paper, solvents, and buffing tools. You then need to know how to properly sand the surface, properly thin the paints, be in an area of the correct temperature, know how to properly adjust the flow and pressure of the air and paint, use correct timing and sweeps while spraying, wet sand between coats, and buff the finished panels.

No, it is not DIY. It takes a professional or a dedicated hobbyist that has practiced quite a bit. Look at spending days trying to do it only to get poor results.
What you describe doesn't really sound all that difficult.
 

IcePickFreak

Platinum Member
Jul 12, 2007
2,428
9
81
Ok, ok, I'll leave my tinkering to electronics and let the professionals handle this one. Thanks for talking some sense into me. :)

Good idea. Painting a car/parts that you want to look at least halfway decent isn't the time for someone who has zero experience to give it a go.

At best you could of picked up the parts yourself and drop em off at a bodyshop for paint, then put them on yourself. But again you said you have no experience whatsoever with auto repair, it's probably not going to be as straight forward as it seems to someone that does (getting the hood adjusted right etc.)
 

yhelothar

Lifer
Dec 11, 2002
18,409
39
91
I've done it before. My first attempt came out pretty bad. But after I learned the ideal thickness of a coat, it started to come out great. It's especially easy if you use acrylic paint. It's not quite as durable as the more professional urethane paint, but it's super easy to make it look really good. You can totally screw up the paint job, but just sand it out and polish it to a perfect shine.

Here's a thread where I detailed how I rattlecanned my bumper myself.
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2032463&highlight=paint+bumper

I followed the awesome videos from www.automotivetouchup.com
They also sell color matched acrylic paint in a can.




 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.