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paint for 240/245 bumper covers?

allthumbs

New member
Joined
Nov 29, 2017
Hi all...

Apologies in advance if this is well covered already; I can't seem to find a relevant thread.
I'm in the middle of a re-paint/restoration of a '92 245 5 speed, and ordered a new OEM cover for the rear bumper.
My body guy strongly suggests I have this painted, but I was under the impression that they usually mount on the car without being painted or sealed at all... let me know if I'm off base.
Also I know the bumpers are a "light black" and the rocker trim is grey, but does anyone have a color reference for the trim or a tip for restoring original rocker trim?

Thanks in advance!

-Allthumbs
 
Leatherique sells a special black dye that is designed specifically for bumpers/black trim that's supposed to actually help soak into/stain into the material better.
 
The bumper covers are indeed black, no paint. I did paint mine as they were just a bit faded with SEM black bumper paint. I also painted the lower cladding with SEM black trim paint. Did not care for the grey color. My 89 244 is a dark blue.
 
SEM Black Trim Paint or Dupli-color Black trim paint, both are good and dry to a matte finish. Any paint/body shop supply store will have them. All OEM bumper covers on 240s are black plastic, never painted to match body color - if you see that it was done as a modification.
 
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SEM Black Trim Paint or Dupli-color Black trim paint, both are good and dry to a matte finish. Any paint/body shopt supply store will have them. All OEM bumper covers on 240s are black plastic, never painted to match body color - if you see that it was done as a modification.

:nod:
 
^^ Not the SEM trim paint. For black bumpers, SEM 39103 Black Bumper Coater and for the cladding, SEM 39193 Dark Grey Bumper Coater are as close to the OEM color as you will get with paint. They are a dead on match. The cladding and bumpers on this 240 were all refinished using these two products. The window scrapper channels and the quarter window trim were refinished with SEM Trim Black. SEM has changed the formula for the Trim Black and it no longer is even close to a match for the Volvo black trim.

This link has the SEM bumper and trim paint color chart with part numbers listed.

https://www.semproducts.com/manage/...eets/bumper_coater_aerosol_color_card_web.pdf

Gaz2pi3.jpg
 
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I went with black cladding and black bumpers on my blue 89. The black 90 will get the same treatment.
89and90240dl.jpg
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Virgo cap doesn't work on front
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black caps also no good on the front
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Thanks for the info on the SEM paints. The cars look great!

The proper corona center caps are a nice find. Over there is probably a good place to look for some. They seem to have sold more coronas with the small center caps overseas.
 
Thank you jfs356 for the tip to SEM and thank you 2manyturbos for the details on which paints are the best match!
2manyturbos, I take it you haven't experimented with SEM colors for window scraper and quarter window trim since they changed the formula for TRIM BLACK.

I definitely appreciate the detailed info.
 
I was leaning toward not painting the bumpers, having picked up a new rear bumper cover (and appreciate the tips on both Leatherique black dye and Forever Black to darken them if they fade) But while I was wrangling a replacement front bumper cover (there are a few in Florida and I'm in New York), my body guy went ahead and worked on the old front cover.
So... now I'm going to paint em both to match.

You guys anticipate me on this thread with talking about coronas and Virgos... I still have stock wheels and am starting to look into an upgrade.
 
Painting plastic just creates an ongoing maintenance project, as the paint will fade faster than the plastic.

I'd dye them with aniline dye once they faded if I cared that much.
 
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