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May 01, 2004
As regards flat or gloss, an old friend of mine visited the factory at
Abingdon while they were producing rubber bumper cars and he said you could
look down the rows of parked cars awaiting dispatch and pick out some that
had distinctly more shiny bumpers than others, possibly due to different
moulds being used. So it's your choice, but I think glossy looks better.
However, the front and rears were actually different material, various
sources say the rear is nylon (to resist fuel spills) and the front
polycarbonate. This brings me to the point of this email - polycarbonate
cannot be painted with 'normal' automotive paints as it suffers from
something called plasticiser migration, which basically means your nice
shiny front bumper will eventually go brittle while the paint film will
become really flexible. At the first little knock, the bumper will crack
and the paint will probably peel off in one big sheet! You can get special
primers but you need to check this out carefully with a paint specialist.
On the other hand, you can polish your existing bumpers for that nice shiny
look - doesn't need anything fancy, just takes a lot of elbow grease.
Regards
David
"David Jacobs" < mail@... > 31774
Posted on May 1, 2004 01:27 PM
Posted to category(s) Body | Exterior | Fuel System | Gauges | Lubrication System | Restoration | Technical Info
