ok i've been reluctant to post this odd issue of mine. it's extremely complicated but i'll give you the short of it...

a couple weeks ago i had my front bumper painted, i dropped the bumper off with a dude working at a paint shop after hours (no contract ect. .... really bad idea FYI)
i picked up the bumper a few days later and installed it. the color of the bumper is brighter than the rest of the car.

long story short i got most of my money back from said painter but now i want to see if there is any way to speed up the color shift on a GPW bumper. i know it sounds odd but my only alternative is to get the bumper done over AGAIN and this is it's 2nd paint job since OEM so layers are not ideal.

MY QUESTION IS..... is there a product or something i can apply or do to give the appearance of a aged GPW color (slightly yellowish)

after racking my brain the only thing i can think of is to apply a rubbing compound to the bumper. without UV protection maybe the color will shift over time with the sun...???

 

Uhh...clear coat = UV protection. If you want to scuff the paint with rubbing compound and make the entire bumper look like shit, why not just get it repainted? The fact is, paint codes vary so much and you really need to have your car THERE to have it matched perfectly, otherwise I wouldn't expect anything close. And no, there is nothing you can do to change the color besides repaint it.

 

Repainting the front bumper will net the best results. You may be able to use some polishing with a machine to bring the old paint back to life. Still won't be perfect though.

 

you gotta get it repainted and color matched otherwise the bumper's paint will look way more fresh than the rest of the car

 

the thing is that now that i've done this repaint making it it's second repaint, there are layers.
i got a quote for a auto body place and they want to charge me $1,200 "to do it right" WTF MATE

 

A quality job should be in the 300-400 range and they should be able to work to ensure the color matches well. A key will be tinting the primer-sealer the right shade to get the proper color. Ask a shop if they'd be willing to spray test sheets of different tinted primer-sealers (followed by GPW/clear) to see which shade matches the rest of the body the best.

 

Damn Marc--are you gonna start doing paint touch-ups now?!

But I agree with Marc--it needs to be re-shot.

I still find it interesting (not you in particular OP), when people spend $3k on an Amuse wide body, and try and find the cheapest shop to get the work done.

You ALWAYS get what you pay for... ALWAYS

 

lol naw man. I've just had some experience learning how to do automotive painting and the various things that make those differences we detailers notice.
There's a massive difference in doing chip touch-ups, air-brushing for bigger areas, and respraying whole panels. I'm not interested in trying to do any of 'em - takes a lot of experience and $ in equipment and such

 

if i could find the shop that would do it for $400 i would do it, the last guy quoted me 1,200 for the lip and bumper prep and respray

 

The lip shouldn't need to be resprayed if its an OEM one. If its not... then that needs work too. Take into account that $400 should get the paint done, but if it needs to be repainted - there's additional work. You still should be looking in the $600-800 range (though you're in Cali which isn't the same as being here in Michigan).