I purchase an IPL front bumper from Outcast Garage. It came unpainted so I have been looking for a place to paint it. Should I take it to any collision shop or some type of customs shop? How much should I pay max? Also, should I have them paint it off the car, or blend it into the fenders? Some of the places I call say it would be a better match if they blend it. What have others done who had their bumpers painted? Was the match near perfect?
Thank you

 

300 bucks painted

 

i work at a body shop and own an actual g37 IPL but first off, the colors usually you would want to blend are metallics or pearls (some say you can't blend a pearl but if you experienced enough you can) and if its black or red it should be fairly easy to match without blending, and there is a price difference depending on your color usually reds and pearls cost more, so if all you have to do is scuff and paint it shouldn't cost more then $300 hope this helped.

 

Sorry I forgot to mention my g is an 08 vibrant red

 

hey I am a painter at collision and custom shop in johnson city tn before i moved here I was the head painter and paint shop manager at Lokey Nissan infinity mercedes. I am very **** with colors. if you look at a brand new g37 ANY color there is a slight sometimes pretty noticeable variation. that is because factory paints the cars and bumpers completely separate even in separate building and the paint mix is a little off or humidity is different or 1-2psi different in air pressure. if you want the best match possible. call a local PPG Platnium distributor who sells paint to the body shops. ask to speak to the manager and tell him you need to take your car to the painter in the area who actually knows how to tint his color to match. out of 5000 painters maybe 1 guy will know what he is doing. yes metallic and pearls are the ones that are tougher to match but again if the painters know what they are doing there will be no issues. YES you can blend pearl. as a matter of fact its a must if your just replacing a fender. you can't paint the whole side of a car just because of a fender. I do it on a regular basis and haven't had a redo whatsoever in over 5 yrs.

 

btw lokey nissan /infinity is in clearwater ,fl

 

also if this is a REPLICA front bumper no way is 300 going to get you on the road not even if it was a factory bumper would 300 do it. 450 is minimum for a quality shop. you pay 300 and you won't be happy then your going to pay the 450 shop to do it later. if its a replica bumper which unpainted sounds like it is. then who knows. they will need the car for fittment because they never fit right and modifications have to be made which costs body hours and then baked for quite a while to make sure the fiberglass isn't going to bubble up from escaping air. then be primed blocked/sanded then painted. could be looking at about 6-800 depending. now if you don't care about fit or color match or whether or not your going to have bubbles popping up take it to the shop that charges 300 but remember you get what you pay for.

 

I have done finishing and spray painting as a hobby, being exposed to this work, I realized that there's so much art and science to it that its amazing and people who can blend/mix paints are a rare breed. They love their work, they are acutely aware of the nuances, and the stuff that you are talking about is spot on, such as effects of pressure, temperature, humidity, environment, fitment etc. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

 

I actually just dropped off my bumper at my body shop to have my IPL front and sides painted, they quoted me $400 for the bumper and $150 for the sides.

So i'm guessing you shouldn't pay more than $400 for the bumper, I went to the best shop in town to assure that the paint matches my car perfectly. It's just as the saying goes, you get what you pay for.

Hopes this helps ya!

 

Are your IPL bumper and sides OEM?

 

This is very true! I thought i was going crazy, i noticed a VERY slight difference from my front bumper and body of my car, and i bugged my because no one else really noticed it.. when i took my car in to have its oil changed at infiniti, i saw a brand new red car and it too was slightly different.

 

phimphasone, His bumper is from outcast garage who sells NON OEM IPL STYLE bumpers which are fiberglass. Not of the best quality. His to look good is going to take much more work to get it looking good and STAY looking good. fitment on 99% of the AFTERMARKET body kits suck along with the build quality. Also once in a while if a good shop is slow they will take in some CHEAPER work and you can get lucky. KEY is look at the work they are delivering when your there.

 

I got quoted 800-1000 to fit it, paint it, and whatever else they have to do. If I go through with it my replica bumper would have costed me over $1500 :\

 

Have you tried test fitting it yourself first?

 

Not yet. My slim washer tank just came in today, waiting on my fog inserts and front bumper bracket replacements to come in then I will be doing so.

Since this is going to be costing me this much, I have been thinking of just wrapping the car. How much should a wrap cost on a g coupe?