Topic: question about fenders and bumpers.

[gomi]

Hello all. I just purchased a 2000 four banger. I love it so far, but my fender flares are all faded and gray. CAn you simply paint them black? HAs anyone done this? thanks for any help you can offer me.

[Jeffy]

You can either use Bumper Black or try Black Krylon Fusion paint.  TJ flares go grey a lot faster then the old YJ and CJ flares.  My Warn Poly flares fade a bit but stay sorta dark.  I've been thinking about paint mine OD green.

[Bounty Hunter]

Heat gun, brings the black right back

[gomi]

really? do you just pop them off and use a heat gun on them for a few minutes?

[Jeffy]

The heat gun heats the plastic up and causes it to sweat.  This is moisture from inside of the flare.  It can be difficult to get the flare to blacken evenly.  I've seen many that have dark lines from using a heat gun.

[NiteDog]

I am still a fan of painting.  I removed mine sanded them with a 320 grit then wiped them down with 801 to promoted adhesion, primed, base coat black and hit them with clear mixed with a little flattening agent to give them a satin look. Lot of work, but it depends on the look you want.

I was tired of getting amoral on the paint, and wax on the nasty flairs.

mike

[gomi]

wow. I'm gonna try painting it like that. Thanks for everyone's help.

[Sparky Watts]

My standard answer to any paint/soft top/flair/cosmetic restoration is a good coating of mud...... :wink:

[01amberfirewv]

I used the Krylon Fusion that Jeffy is talking about and it is probubly the best stuff if you are going to paint.  It still will scratch though which is a pain.  Another option is somthing you can get at Lowes of Home Depot called Penetrol.  It is a paint condtioner and in my opinion much easier to use and get an even coat than paint.

[hozer]

I had the same  prolem on mine also. I used this stuff called white diamonds made for polishing metal. I found it through KURYAKYN which is a Motorcycle acc. company. The white diamonds is rubbed on by hand or a slow moving buffer and it seems to work awsome. It makes the flares look better than new if you are looking for a shiny lokk on your flares. White Diamonds is a liguid and it has wax right in the liquid too.

[Mozman68]

Griots Garage has a new product that dyes the plastic parts and they claim it will work on all the black plastic.....I have a 2000 as well and ordered it today to try on the bumpers, flares, mirrors, door handles...etc.

Comes in a bottle with a foam shoe polish applicator tip on the end.  Seems much easier then painting.

I will try on the bumpers first as I will most likely be replacing those.

It is listed as a bumper and trim restorer...here's the link:

http://www.griotsgarage.com/search.jsp?searchtext=bumper


Note:  They also reccomend purchasing the paint prep cleaner (I already happen to have that) to really clean off the junk/chemicals that may be on the flare/bumper for a cleaner application.  I'll let you know how it goes, but it will be a few weeks before I get a chance to apply.

[Chowmaster]

i have seen a couple tj's with truck-bed coated flares.  looked good and held very well.

[gomi]

i have seen a couple tj's with truck-bed coated flares.  looked good and held very well.

I saw someone with this as well. He said he bought some of the duplicolor bed liner that was in a spray can. It looked pretty good.

[Jeffy]

I've used Duplicolor and it's very thin.  The other problem is if you do not prep the surface well enough, it will flake off.

[jwrape]

I taped my body up far enough back to prevent over spray then I used Acetone to clean the part of the flare I was painting and used Krylon Fusion paint Satin Black. It looks great.
You might be able to see it in these pics.