TJM Bull Bar Type 13 - Prep and Paint

[berniebgf Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close berniebgf]

Hi All,

Thought it would be useful to share my experience with prep'ing and painting the new TJM Bull Bar, lots of photo's especially of the "wings" as I know there has been a few comments about quality and them not wearing well...

Firstly: There is NO WAY I could have done this without the help (more like lead) of fellow PradoPoint member "Nigelgillett" who happens to be a paint specialist who's good on the spray gun.... Thanks Nigel.

Un Packing:
TJM do an awsome job of packing, there was a layer of plastic wrapping, then this leather type material, then cardboard, then finally bubble wrap....bar was in pristine Black Powder Coat Condition.


Cont....

[berniebgf Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close berniebgf]

I thought I would be clever and prepare a home-made spray booth, although we used it a little at the start we pulled it down and covered everything else in the shed to give us more room....oh well...


First step was to sand a perfectly good black powder coat back so the new paint would "take" better...


Next was to clear it all up in prep work for the paint....so..wax and grease remover follow by a "tac" towel (something like that) which is a really sticky rag that clears all the crap off the bar to get it clean..



Cont...

[berniebgf Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close berniebgf]

Next was to spray "Adhesion promoter" onto the bar to help the paint stick, then we start the base coat...



After that we applied the clear coats and here is the finished product....



Cont.... "The Wings"

[berniebgf Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close berniebgf]

There has been a few posts about the "wings" and their quality (or lack of)...so I though I would post lots of pictures so anyone with them can compare the design and see if they have changed at all....


Cont....

[berniebgf Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close berniebgf]

So, these plastic bits took a bit more work, firstly we "wet sanded" all the pieces to get all of the ridges off and clean up the edges....
Then we "Plastic Primed", then "2pac" prime, then "guide coat, then sand down again, then base coat and clear coat....Lot of work..



Cont...

[berniebgf Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close berniebgf]

Decided since we have everything I would do the guards under the front....... Here is the finished product for the "Wings" and Underbody guards...



Overall it was a lot of work and I would not recommend it to anyone who does not have a fair bit of experience, very happy with the outcome fitting the bar will be friday night / Saturday morning. I will put up another post for that one..

Here's a pic of the products we used if anyone is interested.



All the best.

Bernie

[fido666 Banned Find all posts View Profile Close fido666]

Caught up with this thread via your build thread, very informative! I have the same bar in black powdercoat which I don't mind but my wings/infill have never been painted. I don't think I have the skills to DIY nor the equipment, will have to enquire at the local panel shop but at least I know what to ask for now.

[Chriso57 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Chriso57]

Hi All,

Thought it would be useful to share my experience with prep'ing and painting the new TJM Bull Bar, lots of photo's especially of the "wings" as I know there has been a few comments about quality and them not wearing well...

Firstly: There is NO WAY I could have done this without the help (more like lead) of fellow PradoPoint member "Nigelgillett" who happens to be a paint specialist who's good on the spray gun.... Thanks Nigel.

Un Packing:
TJM do an awsome job of packing, there was a layer of plastic wrapping, then this leather type material, then cardboard, then finally bubble wrap....bar was in pristine Black Powder Coat Condition.
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Cont....

Yeah the packaging is insane! Really well protected but it took me about 45 mins to unwrap it all. Then I had to load it all in the ute and dispose of it cos there was probably 3 wheelie bins full..!

Awesome bar though. I had the wings painted by TJM and left the bar black.

The wings in my opinion are crap. Dont fit very well at all. I am a bit spewing because I go the TJM bar specifically as I didnt want a bumper cut.

Chriso