I know someone has done this same thing before, but i was wondering what i should prime the metal with in order to be able to lay down a nice thick coat of black paint or bedliner.

 

Lots of sanding is the key I would think. I'm interested in hearing others opinions as well though, I have some chrome nerf bars I might put back on my truck if I can get them black.

 

roll on or spray on?

for the spray on, all I did was scruff the whole thing with a green scotch brite pad, rub it down with some paint thinner, let air dry, and hit it with like 12 coats going from light crappy passes (coats 1-2) to light and even (coats 3-4) and one heavy finish coat (not so heavy at to run it...


It is CRUCIAL that you give the shell plenty of time to dry. if not, you will make puddles that will crack as they cure from being too thick.

pics in a moment...
*EDIT*


some things to note: post painting, pre-getting my my impact strip impacted at home depot, and pre re-painting the grille with thicker coats and clear coating (for stremph yo)

**EEDDIITT** <-- get it, double edit

i should mention that i got this bumper for like $15 or $20 because the doner vehicle had melted down in a fire <-- i had to scrub the plastic bits off with the same rust remover i used to prep my interior...

 

I was thinkin of the bedliner in a can from the auto parts store. I'd do spray paint or that, whichever is easier.

 

yeah, this is rattle liner $9 a can (before 20% off coupon) from harbor freight. it's a shell style, not rubberized. wont take a hit as well from kicked up gravel and such but at about $7.25 for the can, it beats painting on the $29 herc (and looks nicer) and a $50+ line-x job.

id give the finish a strength rating as follows:

10/10 raw metal, no marring!
9/10 factory chrome or paint-on bedliner on a prepped surfacce, takes a serious beating
8/10 rubberized bed liner laid down correctly on prepped surface
7.5/10 shell style liner laid down correctly on prepped surface
7/10 any of the above on poorly prepped surface
6/10 spray paint straight up, clear coated
5/10 exposed spray paint
4/10 craft paint
3/10 finer paint
2/10 water paint
1/10 hoping ink leaks from the news paper onto the bumper in the rain

i took a serious hit from my trailer rolling to one side while i was loading it impropperly chocked. it "pushed" through the shell exposing about a standard-button-sized area of old chrome in two spots.

all in all: I'd do it again with out a second thought

 

Well, thats good to know. Did you remove the grill or anything to get to the chrome easier? or did you just tape off the areas?

 

The bottom 'lip' of the grill covers up quite a bit of the bumper so at the very least, remove the grill so you can spray the whole thing. You'd be better off removing the bumper entirely though. IIRC, the grill will need to be removed to get the top bolts of the bumper out.

 

Matt remembered correctly. Grill will need to come off, feel under the chrome strip and you'll feel two cutouts, just grab and tug firmly, don't yank. Then there's two cutouts at the top of the grille too, do the same thing. Not that it matters at this point but be carefull later on that you don't scratch your bumper when you're pulling the grille off.

I learned this the hard way with my 05.

 

thanks guys! Ill see what i can do to start this project tomorrow.

 

yes, remove the grille. the bumper is held on with 4 (possibly 6) bolts that are fairly easy to rech (2 kind of suck but nothing bad)

just unbolt and lift off. that will make your prep work TONS easier... i hung mine from an oak limb on type 2 nylon cord and went to town on it. remember that the spray liner prefers ambient temps of 70 degrees (F) in order to do it's job and cure correctly...

since you are in florida... knock yourself out though