I have some pretty big scratches on my front bumper. I have about a week to sand & paint if possible. Do you think this can be touch up painted, or will an entire bumper repaint be necessary? The scratches have definitely gone through the paint.

 

Either way you will need to repaint the bumper.

First you need to sand down the entire bumper you need to remove a bit of the clear but not go past the base color... you could get away with 600 or 800 wet sand paper

Then you need to sand and smooth the scratched area with maybe 220 i cant really tell how deep or bad it it from pics sorry.... maybe even use a little body filler if the scratched are actually gouges in the plastic.

Next prime over the areas that have lost the base color, and then re clear the bumper to blend it all in

most people don't know that when done right you don't need to re base the whole panel your working on just the affected area.. say you scratch the Quarter panel you need to reclear the whole panel to tie the fix into the panel.....

Jake

 

Repainting would be the better option but you might get away with just touching up since you only have a week to get it done....

 

Sorry, I meant I have a week of free time to tackle this project. I'll be sitting in my apt either working on this bumper (after removing it from my car) or just watching TV. I have a whole 10' x 10' area that I can put a tarp down and work on it.

Do I have to worry about that bumper flex additive?

 

i have seen it done with and without the flex additive, I painted my last car without and never has an issue... with that said if you can get it use it just to be safe.

touching up the black scratched area will look horrible you just cant get a good look out of using a brush and touch up paint to apply paint instead of a paint gun,

but if you dont really care to get it to look normal sure it will all be silver but not look good
Jake

 

For the cost of getting it re painted, you may be able to come across one on this site slightly worn for less the cost of new paint.