So ive been wanting to get rid of "work truck" look of my truck, so I stopped by an autobody shop to get an estimate. Guy comes out looks at it and tells me, the parts I want painted are not supposed to be painted....and I was like huh? He said that plastic isnt supposed to be painted, which would include the grille surround which I thought they were all plastic, then the "top bumper or valance or w/e you call it said the same thing, then the freakin main bumper he said it "wasnt supposed to be painted yet its a reg. damn bumper" anyways he gave me a quote of $763 to have the grille surround, top w/e and front bumper but said he wouldnt give me a warrenty on the work..

Soo....my questions, These parts can be painted right? The surround is just an OEM unpainted surround, and is the top valance or w/e on the painted trucks plastic or metal? And Should I just keep looking or try the ford stealership?

 

if its the abs plastic (rough) it will look like crap if you paint it, if you really want it to like normal you have to get the paintable grille surround and top bumper cover. i think there is a surround for sale in the classifieds

 

where would I get a top bumper cover?

 

It's not hard at all to smooth that bumper pad and paint it. It's a pretty common thing actually. I wouldn't let that guy paint anything of mine with an attitude, lack of knowledge, and prices like that.

 

ebay is the cheapest. if it was mine i'd get a paintable grille surround also, less labor. the bumpers can just be sanded.

 

the body shop wouldnt warranty my grill surround when i got it painted,

they said b/v it is prone to chips from rocks/debris

which i agree with them

 

I am in the process of trying to do the same thing...well sort of. I bought a non-textured bumper pad and am looking for some chrome bumpers as we speak. I was told that in order to paint the bumper pad I needed to get the smooth kind and that the paint would not stick to the other kind even if it was sanded.

 

I painted my plastic on the upper & lower part of my bumper myself. I used SEM Bumper paint and that was about 5 months ago. It has held up great and thats with scubbing bugs off. Shows no sign of comming off yet. Good prep work is all it takes. I didn't sand it smooth but I think it looks OK.

 

stitch, looks real good, to me though it seems itd be easier to match black than it would for my truck since its a dark red.

 

One option is to take your fuel filler door off and take it to a paint supply shop and ask them to mix the color in SEM Bumper paint. I done that before in interior paint and shot it myself with a spray gun.

 

So the upper textured part CAN be painted huh?? I was told that there was some kind of fade resistant chemical added to the plastic that makes paint not stick to it very well.

 

well I guess it looks like ill be going to a salvage yard or ebay unless I can find a bumper cover and grille surround for my truck.

 

I have been wanting to do the same thing to top of my bumper on my 03. So far I have found this out..First it can be a DIY project. Like it has been said on here prep work in a major part. I found fill in primer that will make the bumper smooth to paint. No matter what the can says primer is always a good base..the fill in primer can be bought at your local parts store. It is sandable also. As for the paint match once again like it has been posted up here, you can go to your local Auto Paint store and they can match it. I am lucky because my truck is white. I will be using Krylon fuzion paint. I will post pic when I complete it.

 

Line-x xtra color matched

 

sorry in advance, i don't mean to hijack your thread; but since i'm trying to do the same thing i want to make sure i'm understanding everything correctly. do you just use primer on the textured plastic, then sand it? or is there some kind of "filler" you use on the textured part, and then sand that down? i really want to PTM; i just don't want to mess this up and be driving something that ends up looking really ghetto.
thanks in advance!