So the weak spot on my original S-10 front bumper proved to be the upper ledge that sits just below the eyebrow on the fender. Apparently it is a natural water/moisture trap that allows water to accumulate and not drain off.
What you see here is my personal solution to that issue. What I did was to graft in a doubler plate on both sides where the rust out is prone to occur. (Even the replacement bumper had started to show damage and rust out in the same area.)
I did both bumper tips and shaped the plates to conform to the pocket as completely as possible, even chamfered the edges to match the inside curves. Then I welded both of the plates in completely and took Dr. Dremel to the seams to smooth them out. Also went back a time or two to add weld and reshape some of the seams where I wanted the final product to be as smooth as possible.
These show the plating after receiving two coats of POR15. Once that had dried, it was on to the Krylon and final sealer coat of flat black.
Done with the inside, now the outside gets its turn. This is the first coat of, wait for it, POR15. The two coats actually were applied to a clean rust free surface. The trick with this was to give the metal some "tooth" or a good degree of initial coarseness to give the POR something to grab onto or sink into. Both the bumper tips had prominent "acne" and, once cleaned and ground out as much as was feasible, they got multiple applications of Rust Not, and then the POR over that to guarantee that, as much as possible, whatever cancer that still possibly lurked in the shadows was caught and killed.
Primer and sand, primer and sand, primer and sand, y'all know the drill so no great revelations there.
Primer Sealer, the last coat prior to the Money Shot. The primer and the POR15 seemed to get along with each other, no orange peel or lifting but just to make sure the color and the undercoats do not get into a fight, on went the primer sealer. (Funny story about that....)
And the Money Shot. The keen eyed are likely already grumbling, "that doesn't look like what is on the box side." About that...........
According to the paint code, what the color is supposed to be is "Pewter" sort of an off or flat silver color. Catch is, when I shoot the OEM formula it comes out way too cold with a heavy bias towards silver, when put in comparison with what is actually on the vehicle. At this point there has been around a half dozen spray outs of the variations on the theme to get the final color just that little degree of warmer that it seems to need. I have personally always thought the factory color was sort of a "Champagne" hue and may still elect to have the current color recipe modified by adding a lighter, more towards the gold end of the spectrum, flake , as opposed to the silver/pewter. Been fiddling with this color business since before COvid so it is pretty much an ongoing saga.
And what the world gets to see, this shot from the topside angle. Most of the top surface actually gets buried under the upper grille/fascia because the grille shoulder is also the cover for the bolts that hold the bumper to the upper frame brackets.
At this point, it is back to watching the paint dry.
Post Script.
When I said "back to watching................." these shots are actually the second Money Shot. The first one failed. At this point I may never be sure what happened but, on applying the final shot of base coat, it curdled. Not orange peel or acne or craters, just a group of fine wavy lines that moved at random and in random patterns across the paint, and just in small specific areas. Even with the base coat dry and clear coat applied, they remained, so.................
Once I got as far down in the layers that I was back into the primer/surfacer, and they were still there but it all was smooth, I took a chance and reshot the primer/sealer and let it dry overnight. Then I shot the base coat, again, and it shot true. Typically, clear is shot over base with about a half hour or thereabouts in between them, it varies according the shooter and how they approach the matter. I elected to wait for around 4 hours to give the base a longer drying time and it seemed to pay off as the clear went down and laid down as you see it.
The bumper, now? On the truck. I hung it yesterday. Elected to use all new fasteners just because I managed to find and buy them. The side mounting straps still have to go on and then the lower fascia panel; something to do today.
Moving on.....................
CopperNick
