I'm considering painting the black rubber on my front and back bumpers. Here's what I'm thinking...

1. Clean (with rubbing alcohol as recommended by the paint store guy, he sells paint supplies for a living, but recommended the rubbing alcohol)
2. Scuff
3. Apply adhesion promoter
4. Spray 2 coats of paint

Is the paint going to stick to the rubber?
What do you recommend to use for cleaning? (Someone recommended Prepsol)
Have you painted the rubber with success, if you have, do you have pics...


Thanks!

there is an product called bumper black, i believe even AA carries a rubber blacking product.. i would not recommend painting rubber..

I've seen some that were painted. I have severe doubts, but if it's crappy already, what've you got to lose.

Maybe try the new paints made for plastics because they allow more flex.

Problem is that rubber not only flexes much more than plastic, it also changes size. I can't think of any paint that will work over rubber fr very long, and when it starts coming off it'll look like you-know-what.

Perhaps something like plasti-dip?

I have painted 2 good bumper tops for a 73 with Krylon black rubber paint rattler cans and they came out perfect.

In fact, after taking the old 2 bumper tops that were not so good, and only lightly sanding and cleaning with a vinyl cleaner, using the same spray from the can, they came out perfect as well, and were mounted on a friends car.

The key is knowing how to hold the car far away enough and to NOT let it build up to drip. Never apply too much at one time and really move your arm back and forth at least 12 inches away!

But, everyone has a different view on bumper tops. Mine look killer, and my old ones were good enough when sprayed to use again.

Good luck!

John
avidfanjpl

I've seen paint specifically touted as for rubber (and vinyl-specific formulations too) but have never used them. I noted when looking at the Plasti-Dip website that they have a spray-on formulation. I'm betting the Krylon you mentioned is very similar.

You must be really strong to hold your car at arm's length and move it back and forth like that!

Ever wondered... why is there rubber on the bumpers at all?

Is it just looks?

Yes!

Krylon bought PlastiDip or some such rumor was applied last summer.

The stuff was private labeled for parts houses, I bought 4 cans. I went back and could not find it, and Krylon had the exact same product out.

The store manager told me Krylon bought them, or at least the company that was making the original rubber spray paint.

It is killer stuff, and I have 2 cans left. Was thinking about trying it on my roof, but it probably is the wrong stuff. I still use black kiwi shoe polish on the roof!

Was there ever anything better to try? That Back to Black stuff is real garbage.

J

this is the what I was talking about..

http://www.amazon.com/Forever-Black-Bumper...e/dp/B000FOIJXQ

But before you try bumper black, first try a good cleaning with a soft brush & soapy water (get down into the pores) & dry it off well then dry in sun all day), then try giving it a good spray over with something like Wurth Rubber Treatment (it adds back the polymers & oils to keep it pliable & return the blackness from drying out - Wurth R.T. also available at AA, Peli, PP/A, etc.) & let it soak over night, then respray & soak/dry again (wipe off excess each time).

You might be surprised how much the black comes back after that treatment! (once you've had it black, you'll never go back! )

If that doesn't work & it still looks whitish or grey, then either try the bumper black (careful as it will stain the paint & try not to get runs or bubbles on the "rubber" as those will stay & show), or the old timer concours guys used to use black shoe polish with touch-ups of same every few months or year (based on wear). I've used both methods with success.

BTW - these are really a black colored soft closed-cell polyurethane foam (really not all that closed-cell, as can be seen by the dimples across them from rusting mild steel innards & looking at the rust on the toppers' & tits' backsides & studs) - not "rubber" per se.

Rob - they served 2 purposes in the case of the toppers -
1. was to seal the gap between the bumper top & bumper - although not a watertight seal;
2. as a "resilient bumper edge" with the small overhang on the top (like rubber bumper pads/strips in the middle of some bumpers)
3. the "tits" were 3 mph interim crash resistant measures to meet the 73 F & 74 F+R DOT crash worthiness regs., until the 5 mph reqt.s starting in 75 MY (shock mounted big bumpers on the 914s F&R to meet that reg.).

John - I wish I'd know you needed a nice set of toppers, as I sold a perfect 9 or 10 or 10 one off my 71 core chrome bumper a few months back for $100 (good clean studs too), which btw I'd done the clean & Wurth treatment above to bring it back. I still have an extra set of nice 8-9 of 10 front tits L&R (with replaced studs), & an new rear OEM topper (expensive sucker!) which I may not ever use, as well as a used one off mine with some small blemishes, if you ever need them. I got Mikey914's F&R toppers with the SS studs/innards & better rubber to use on mine, plus 2 other sets of perfect front tits to use on my resto (1 set as back-up parts since they're NOS). You've got my #!

Cheers!
Tom
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I painted my bumper tops, rocker covers and valence (I don't have a front one yet...) with spray on truck bedliner. It adhered very well, covered nice, made my rather bad looking parts look much better. And it has a good, not smooth finish. Should be resistant to chipping as well.

Thanks for the ideas. The more I think about it, the less likely I am to use adhesive promoter and paint. The expanding, contracting, and flexible nature of rubber just makes it seem difficult to paint and have good long term effects. The Wurth rubber treatment or 3M rubber treatment seems like it may last longer.

You really need a rubberized coating to try to even come close. You can paint the surface to get color back, but the best bet is a die as the OEM are very porous. Just make sure the bumper is good and dry when you do it or you'll be trapping water in.

You can make a ok bumper look good, but if the studs are crap, I'd look for another good used one.

I used black plastic furniture paint on my '75 rubber bumpers. Good stuff, no cracking in 5+ years. Just gotta get the surface clean
Home Depot and Osh sell the stuff