Well my first try at painting went ok, but not great.

I decided to do my bumpers and paint them the same color as my flares.

Spent a whole day FG'ing all the bits back together....guess who wins between a cone and an aluminum splitter and FB bumper?

So then started on the front of the bumpers. Sand, bondo, sand, prime, putty, sand, prime..... for a whole day. Ugh.

Then bought base code and applied that, which acutally went well. Then put a couple coats of clear on, but managed to get some sags although most of the bumpers were nice and flat.

So sanded out the sage, then put on more clear, but when I shot it this morning, outside with no wind, the clear ended up being cloudy.

Great, now what?

I called Cook's Automotive Service in San Jose where I bought the paint. They gave me the number of their technical guy, Kiurt Brunshwiler and I call him.

When we finally got connected he asked me where I live and said he would stop by and see what was going on.

After he arrived and he checked the paint, we talked spray guns and pressures --- all the base line stuff.

Ended up I was spraying with way to much pressure and too far away from the surface.

Long story short, Kurt asked if I wanted to fix it right away and I, of course, said yes.

We lightly sanded the bumpers (1000 grit) and cleaned them with a tac rag.

Then mixed up a little bit of base and went over both bumpers.

Then mixed up some clear and re-did both pieces.

The bumpers came out great and I learned how to set the gun and how close to spray (less than 6 inches), hold the trigger, etc.

Still a little orange peel, but it seems to be flatening as I watch.

Anyway if any of you San Jose guys want some real help and great advice give Kurt a call. He's there just to help those that need it.

Oh yea, the people at Cook's are also great. 408 453-7771.

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Way back in the mid Eighties, I always bought my paint materials from them. They were great then. Glad to hear they are still around!

Went back to Cook's Automotive in San Jose yesterday to pick up one of the moisture traps that you screw directly into the gun.

Then for fun stopped by HFS on the way home to see what they had.

They had all the normal moisture traps, but one with two big traps that included a regulator in between. Looked like a unit that would work.

There wasn't any pricing shown, so took the box up to the cashier and asked what it cost. She said $5.00 and change. I asked her whether she was sure about that and she said the unit was on sale.

Hard to believe, but a really nice unit. We'll see if it works as good as it looks.