price of a front bumper??
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From: Showing Italians the power of LS1
I used to have a '96 V6, and replaced the front bumper after hotting an antelope (long story), anyway, as I remember I found a new one at a "car parts warehouse" chain, forgot the name of it, for about $250. Installed it myself, then got it painted at a local auto body shop. About two weeks later, the paint started to chip off, and I went to go bitch at the paint shop, and they repainted it, and told me the reason it was chipping was because the cheap bumper I bought was not "GM authorized" or whatever, and said that it was very hard to paint because when the cheaper plastic bumpers are made, the manufacturers mix mold release agent into the plastic to assist with popping the bumper out of it's mold. This makes the plastic very hard to prep, and after they stripped and prepped the bumper again, the paint only lasted for a month or two before it started chipping off again. So, moral of the story is: If buying a plastic body part, get it from the dealer!
A good body shop should be able to make paint stick to about anything that is paintable. They obviously did not use the right flex agents and adhesion promoters that are needed for newer plastics.
