TheGingernator

So after searching the forums for a little, I couldn't find any posts about a better solution to the plastic bumper plugs to simply fill the hole. While this is better than having a pair of holes and far better than having a hideous front license plate, it still isn't good enough for my tastes. So I took it upon myself to make a thread about how to fill in your S2000's front bumper license plate holes and have a "clean" bumper, totally smooth.

Here's what you will need:
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Sand paper (1500 or 2000 grit or Red Scotchbrite pad), Primer, Basecoat, Clearcoat (All of these were ordered from Touch Up Direct in the Premium Package), Tack cloth, Respirator (a real respirator with full sized filters, the one in the picture is better than nothing but won't protect your lungs while spraying clearcoat), Body Filler and PLASTIC putty knife, a buffer and assorted pads and compounds and polishes (my solution is the Meguiar's Dual Action Polisher attachment for my Black & Decker corded drill), painter's tape/masking tape, and of course, microfiber towels. I recommend that you do all your work in your garage with the door closed. I do this with the door closed because the air quality where I live is terrible and within an hour a visible layer of contaminates is visible. DO NOT perform any paint correction outdoors and especially not in direct sunlight.

1) Wash the car thoroughly and use isopropyl alcohol on the entire front bumper to remove any residual wax, chemicals, or even your own body oils. Make sure to clay the car before doing any paint correction to remove debris baked onto the clearcoat by the sun.

2) Mask off any sensitive areas such as headlights or lower intakes. In hindsight, it would make things easier during finishing to have masked off the hood and fenders as well, only the bumper should be exposed. I would also recommend pulling off the front emblem as shown in the pictures, makes it so you don't have to buff paint off the emblem.
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3) Sand the area and surrounding area around the license plate holes in a 6" radius using the 1500 or 2000 grit sand paper or Red Scotchbrite pad with moderate pressure. Make sure to wet sand and use plenty of water so that all the clearcoat that you are roughing up simply runs off the car instead of sitting on the car. Continue sanding until the area is a uniform matte finish, the prepped area should not be glossy. We do this to give the paint greater surface area to adhere to.

4) Wipe off any remaining water or run off.

5) Take the body filler and putty knife. Take a scoop of body filler and fill the license plate hole. Then keep adding filler to the area immediately around the holes. Don't be afraid of adding "too much" because we can always sand it off. Wait for 30-45 minutes for it to dry. Putting a fan pointing towards the car will help the filler dry considerably quicker.
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6) Sand down the body filler so that it is flush with the surrounding body work and only the license plate holes have filler. Use extremely light pressure, just enough to move the sand paper across the bumper, body filler sands off very easily. Take your time and do more passes to remove more filler instead of using more pressure. If you do take off more body filler than you wanted to, just add more and repeat this step. I didn't sand enough in my pictures and as a result it is somewhat noticeable in the right light, I will be redoing this once it annoys me enough.
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7) Using the tack cloth, using moderate pressure, rub the entire bumper with the tack cloth to remove any remaining dust from sanding.

8) Shake the primer can well for a minute. Spray the prepped area with primer in sweeping side to side motions. Be sure to use your respirator! The first coat should be a light coat and should have about a 50% opacity. Wait 15-20 minutes then do another coat, this time heavier, so slow down your sprays. Wait another 15-20 minutes and apply the final coat of primer. Wait 30 minutes before moving on to step 9

9) Tack the primed area as well as the surrounding area. Then spray the basecoat onto the primed area after shaking the can for a minute. Be sure to use your respirator! Hold the can 6 inches away and perpendicular to the surface of the car. Start moving the can across the area before you start spraying to prevent puddles of paint on the surface. On the end of each pass release the nozzle to minimize overspray. Move the can across the area at a speed which will provide adequate coverage but not cause puddles or runs. Also make sure to spray slightly past the bounds of the primer. This is to better blend the new touch up paint with the surrounding original paint to try to create a seamless finish. This is after the first coat of paint:
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This is something I learned the hard way, don't touch the paint. Period. Do not tack in between coats and if any imperfections arise (lint, dust, your pant leg brushes the paint and causes a noticeable defect), sand down the paint and start over.

10) Wait 15-20 minutes then apply another coat. You should need between 3-5 coats of paint waiting 15-20 minutes between coats. Do not tack in between coats of paint unless there is visible debris on top of the paint. Use extremely light pressure if you have to tack in between coats of paint. After your final coat of paint, wait 30-45 minutes before applying the clearcoat. This is what mine looked like after 5 coats:
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11) Shake the can of clearcoat for a minute. For the love of everything that is living, wear your respirator for the clearcoat if for nothing else. You WILL have breathing issues without a proper respirator. Spray the clearcoat onto the painted area following the same guidelines as with the paint. Spray 3-6 inches beyond where the edge of the paint is. This is to completely seal in all paint, better blending it.

12) Wait 30 minutes between coats of clearcoat. You should need 3 coats of clearcoat to completely seal in the paint. Do not tack in between coats.

13) Leave the car and come back in 24 hours. This is what mine looked like after 4 coats of clearcoat after a 24 hour drying period:
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It is ok to remove any masking at this point.

14) Wet sand with light pressure and 2000 grit sandpaper on any areas that do not have a mirror finish. We do this so that when you compound the area, there are peaks for the compound to cut off and leave behind a smooth surface. Then buff with your favorite compound and polish. For any and all questions and techniques on buffing I refer you to videos 4 & 5 here:[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0rbZOeNN4o&index=31&list=UUvqM4p5XKdXiug6 56WLmuOg[/media]

15) And the finished product [attachment=67167:20140929_193046_Richtone(HDR)1.jp g][attachment=67168:20140929_193107_Richtone(HDR)1.jp g]

aphex4000

Great writeup and very nice results!

donalduchiha

You should have filled the holes first with fiberglass as a foundation for the filler. Body filler is meant to go on very thin, not for filling deep holes. It will fail sooner or later, if you're lucky you can squeeze more than a year before that happens. Also, 1500 is way too high of a grit to use for painting, that's for polishing, 600-800 would provide better paint adhesion.

herap1

Nice write-up! I was going to do the same thing with mine but I ended up getting the plugs then painting over them.
Makes it look like they are molded to the bumper.

donalduchiha

I'm respraying my bumper/car so I took the chance to snaps some pictures of the proper way to do this, like how I've mentioned before.

Step 1: Taper the holes w/ rotary tool.



Step 2: Do the same on the back and sand approximately 2-3 inches around the tapered area


Step 3: Tape off the holes on the front side and lay 3 layers of fiberglass and fiberglass resin over the holes.