More specifically, bumpers. The 03 Miata I just picked up had an unfortunate parking lot encounter with a young lady in an SUV according to the previous owner. On first glance, it didn't look too bad, so he told her now to worry about it. On getting home, however, he realized the bumper was actually fractured. None of the metal appears to be damaged, although no doubt some clips will need to be replaced. I bought it knowing it needed to be fixed, so his problem is now my problem. Just wondering if anyone has used any pre-painted body parts suppliers? Wondering about fit and paint match quality. I've looked at a few sites, although I haven't found one yet that carries NB Miata bumpers. (Given that roughly half of them I've seen have bumper scuffs, this surprises me) I've also scrolled through the entire list of NB bumpers on Car-part without finding a Titanium Grey.
So:
1. Looking for feedback on the concept of prepainted parts vs. body shop work. (Wait, is that a GRM feature article I smell?)
2. Offering 1,000,000,000 innanets and the title of Grand Master of Google-Fu to anyone who can find me a supplier.
I bought a prepainted bumper cover off an eBay vendor years ago after our 08 Mazda6 was in a parking lot incident. Seemed to be made of thinner material than the original part, but all the trim attached fine, and it went on the car easily. The difference in color was no more than you might expect between plastic and metal parts on a car to be.
Aren't those called "junkyard parts"?
The main issue with freshly pre-painted parts is that there will be a noticeable difference in the way the paint look as it hasn't faded the same way that the original paint did. That's why a good bodyshop normally blends the paint into adjacent panels.
If you can find an OEM bumper from someone who's breaking a car for spares, you have a much better chance of getting a decent colour match, assuming that that bumper hasn't been repainted.
In reply to BoxheadTim :
A take off is "Plan A". Unfortunately, the car is a Shinsen, which had a limited run paint. (Although they apparently also used it on some earlier SE's and later Mazdaspeeds)
Toebra
HalfDork
8/1/18 1:33 p.m.
Titanium grey is tough to match, according to folks in the know. Not a color that is on a lot of bumper covers either, try some of the dismantlers in Florida
pirate
Reader
8/1/18 3:24 p.m.
Could a wrap be the answer. The vinyl seems to come in every color shade known to man!