purrybonker

This spring my front bumper was repainted after a minor disagreement with a curb. Immediately after picking the car up from the dealer I hit the road for a 3,000 mile cruise to Arizona and back.

Now, after an extensive exterior detailing job, I've noticed that the bumper is pretty nicely chipped up, presumably just from bugs and normal highway debris. The car has not been driven on gravel, nor do I recall drving through any construction zones or other areas characterized by loose gravel or road chips.

I'm planning on having the bumper painted again, but now I'm curious about the hardness of the new paint vs the factory paint and/or whether fresh paint needs a "curing period" before the car should be taken on the highway.

Also - during the first repaint the bumper was off the car, is this the "only way to fly"?

Edgy01

What you could suggest is the addition of a flex agent in the paint to give it a little more resilience to rock hits. But, it may give you more of a orange peel look. Otherwise, just face up to the fact that these things chip. Many years ago many Porsche owners thought that they would use something other than Glasurit on their cars, choosing something more 'durable' against chips. They chose Imron, which is a very tough paint,--used in the aviation business a lot. Of course, that stuff isn't in the same environment as a car. (Just how many rock particles do you fly into at 10,000 ft?) I would suggest that the bumper be painted separately and then installed. This way they can polish it on the car. No shop can easily polish a flexible piece like a bumper without any support structure behind it.

rijowysock

you know the paint should cure for a certain amount of time before being subjected to things like 80mph bugs..

they even say wait a month before waxing the new paint too.. if you have to drive home on highway from paint place blue tape some plastic on the front with cutout for the radiators..

also remember oem paint is always much tougher than aftermarket just because of how they do it and the prep work they do.

CMOS

I highly recommend the Dr. Color Chip product for fixing rock chips in the bumper and hood. http://www.drcolorchip.com/
I've used it with great success. It's not very good for real scrapes, but great for the rock chips on the hood and bumper.

You just had the bumper painted a few months ago! I would fix the chips yourself with the kit and then have it repainted in 12 mos or some later time.

Dr. Color Chip matches to your Porsche paint. Just be sure to select the car's color on the ordering page.

number9ine

3k on a fresh coat of paint did you in; the paint needs a few months to really cure and until then is susceptible to chips and scratches. I'd live with them, get some touch-up and no one but a concours judge will notice.

Take the bumper off again to repaint it; that way there's no tape lines, no overspray, no peel from awkward angles. Any body shop other than Earl Scheib or Maaco will tell you the same. It's pretty easy to remove, so why not?

M.