I thought I'd share this with you guys. This is a write-up I did almost two years ago. It might give you guys some hints or even a walkthrough if you ever need to do a similar repair. I've only had to re-polish the bumper a couple more times in the last two years, both times taking less than 10 minutes to get it back to normal. If you guys have any questions, feel free to ask.

-Robert


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April 15, 2007:

Today was the day I decided that I'd had enough of my ugly faded rear bumper. It has really bothered me for quite some time...so I set off to the auto parts store to get some polishing compound. I'd never used the stuff before, but I was sure I could tackle the job. I didn't have an electric buffer, so I had to do the work the old fashioned way.

There's not much I can do as far as a write-up. Basically, I followed the instructions that were on the product. What I can do is show you all pics of the results. I took my time and tested the waters as to how much pressure I should be applying the compound with. Here are the results:

Step 1: This is my initial "test an inconspicuous area" application. You can see how seriously faded my bumper is in the pic. I did a very, very light application of the compound in the middle of the bumper.




Step 2: Ok, I saw a little bit of progress in Step 1, now it's time to get dirty and do the real deal. I started with the right half of the bumper.





Step 3: I'm starting to get some results in the above pics, so I keep going at it.... and a while later, it begins to look like this:




Step 4: A bit further along the compounding process..




Step 5: 2 to 3 hours later, the final results:








The entire process was approximately 2-3 hours. I don't know exactly when I started, but I was out there for a while working on it. I wanted to do it right, and did not want to burn through the paint by rubbing too hard. I started off very lightly rubbing the compound on, and as time progressed through the compounding process, I learned how much pressure I could apply the compound with.

I topped off the compounding process with some wax and polish. It remains to be seen if this will hold up to the test of time or mother nature, but at least it's not an eyesore any more. Personally, I think it came out great considering how faded the bumper was in the first place.

Almost forgot to say what I used for it.

I used Turtle Wax Polishing Compound and Scratch Remover.



Ignore the big green bottle on my bumper, that was some turtle wax rubbing compound, and it was completely useless, it didn't do a thing. I still have the full bottle if anyone wants it. lol.

Nice job, looks like a new paint job

Nice!

I tried that... my paint is WAY too far gone...

Your bumper looks GREAT!!!! I recommend anyone who has bad paint to try this.

Looks real good yup.

What kind of pad are you usin'?

Maybe try the the premium TW polishin' mix. Takes more elbow grease, but the finish is DEFINITELY better that TW regular polishin' mix.




I been workin' on mine for a few hours a week for 3 months now. Entire car, by hand. 2000 grit, rubbin' compound, then polishin' compound. Some areas 3 times over. It DEFINITELY shows in the delts, traps, lats, triceps and forearms. That is NO bull too!