I drive a 93 Maxima...SE. It drives very well. Becos of this site I am fixing the problems my self and then started liking my Maxima.

So I want it to look good. But rust and age are taking its toll.
The paint on the bumper has been coming off -- like flakes. whole bumper is black now. My car color is dark blue
and rear wheel wells on one side i see rust BUBLES. I see a strip with bubles 1 inch wide and 2-3 inch long
I saw post about painting today and it got me thinking
I have specific questions regarding painting and taking care of rust...

1. I live in an apartment. I have to paint out side. Is it OK to paint if weather is around 60-70 F
2. Where should I get paint from if I just have to paint front bumper and small spots on wheel well.
3. what to do with those rust bubles...?

I read about paints from http://www.paintscratch.com/pricing.htm.
Is 12 Oz spray can good enough for my work?
They are bit pricey though... Any feed back about their paints
Any other good sources from spray paint..?
I do want a reasonable quality...paint.

Appreciate your inputs ...

 

too tired to answer thouroughly tonight (going to bed) maybe tomorrow. Maybe Dan or Juan will jump in before I do.

 

the paint on the bumper is comming off because it is an aftermarket bumper(oem bumpers come in yellow) and was never prepped properly before being painted. with that being said, for the problem not to come up again, you would have to sand off as much of the old paint as possible, prime with an adhesion promoter, and paint the entire bumper.in no way shape or for will you get a quality looking paint job from a rattle can(unless it's black and you can just wet sand it and buff it when done, did that a long time ago for a friend!)

rust is cancer, if it's bubbling up it's because its already deep in the metal. that means so that you never have problems with it again you need to grind down the area where the rust is and cut out the area of rust and weld a patch panel over that. then do your filler body work, prime and paint. if the rust is where i think it is it is a pain to cut out and reweld properly.

honestly, if it were me i would leave the rust, and take the car somewhere for them to prep and paint the bumper. 2-300 will get you a decent bumper respray.

 

how deep is that rust? if its all the way through then sand it the best u can...seal it (por-15) then bondo and just drive it until it blows up.

the bumper....go to a shop and get that repainted....no rattle-can will paint the entire bumper cover.

unless you REALLY like the car then cut it and reweld a patch panel.

also paintscratch is pretty decent with the color and matching...but don't think you'll repaint the entire section of the car w/ a rattle can. also buy more cans then you think you'll need. paint from the rattle can is EXTREMELY thinned out....remember it's TOUCH UP paint.

 

I have nothing to add to what they wrote. sorry I was just too exhausted to type much of anything last night.

 

too exhausted from working on the car?

 

Sounds like someone did a shat job sometime in the past. Sorry to hear that. Better get the rearend on a jack/stands or ramps and take a CLOSE look under the fender wells.

 

i used rattle can stuff on the bumper. just buy like 4-6 cans of plasti-kote or whatever, but sand the bumper first, primer it, paint it, then clear coat it. the primer, paint, and clear coat was all made by plastikote. Now, it doesnt match exactly, but it looks a helluva lot better than the big yellow spots. If you do have enough money, you could come closer to a color match by takin it to a shop.

 

i would assume it's the same problem most earlier maximas or NE cars have, the front of the wheelhouses allow water in and start to rust.

 

actually YES

 

I used a rattle can as well that was specifically made for bumpers. It helps that it's a black car, so it's not really a huge enough difference to stock color to worry about. Priming, wet sanding and clear coating is definitely important if you want it to come out half decent. Just don't expect more than anything half decent and you won't be disappointed.