How to fix peeling hood & roof top paint

[Jay11]

Is there a fix for this chrome bumper rust/peel?

 

[Rick W]

If the chrome has not delaminated, you may be able to polish it. The chrome is like a bonded piece of tinfoil. If it’s rusty on the surface from pinholes you can polish it, but if that layer, like tinfoil, is actually starting to peel off the steel, it’s done, stick a fork in it.

If you go to the paint store or Home Depot, you can get some “0000 grade steel whool.” And get some of the old-fashioned Comet abrasive cleaner for your sink.

I have to emphasize you are not going to “scrub” the bumper with the steel wool. Wipe it down, and use the Comet to create a slurry on top of the bumper. Once you’ve got the slurry, take the steel wool and rub it around with minimal pressure. It’s more of a buffing action and a scrubbing action.

I’ll say it again, if you push it hard, you’re could scratch the surface and/or dull the surface. If you don’t push down hard, the chrome is much harder than the steel in the steel wool pad, and with the comet, it will take all the surface rust off without damaging the surface.

I suggest trying it on a piece of scrap you may have or on a dark side of the bumper to start. It is a very easy technique, just start very low pressure, and amp it up if you have to. Let the chemicals do the work, and let the material science keep the chrome from getting scratched. Take your time.

There are probably tiny rust pits when you are done, that’s why it’s rusting on the top in the first place. Think of it like a volcano with a small hole, that then spews lava around that little hole. You’ll be able to clean up all the lava (rust), everything except the hole itself.

When you have it clean, there are two options for keeping it from coming back. You can wax the hound out of it with a true wax (not the spray and wipe stuff). If you do that regularly, not only will it bring out the shin in the bumper, it will keep a wax layer on top of the pit so it shouldn’t evolve further

If you do have a small spot or two where the chrome has actually peeled off, for a temporary cure, you can:
1. clean them with the steel wool and comet,
2. Use a nylon scrub brush and scrub out as much of the comet as you can
3. Use white vinegar and a nylon brush again, and it will neutralize the comment
4. When it’s dry (you can use a heat gun) spray it with brake cleaner to get all the residue off
5. Get some silver rustoleum, and paint the bare spot. Let it run over the chrome, and then just wipe it off. It will wipe off the chrome, but not the rusty spot. Give it two or three coats a few hours apart, and you will cover the bare metal and again, you can wipe it off the chrome.

That’s about the best you can do without re-chroming the bumper or getting a clean one out of a scrapyard

I hope it helps

 

[Jay11]

The chrome is delaminated a little bit but it's gross enough that a better replacement from $80 to $150 at JY is worth it. Question now is are these bumpers the same for 1995 to 1998 and/or 1998 to 2004?
I have found a 1994, 1995, 2003, 2005. I plan to hit the JY on Friday. Just in case these is all they have it will be good to know if these do fit my 1998

1994


1995



2003


2005

 

[Jay11]

Is anyone able to confirm which or if the bumper years above can fit on my 98 Ranger?

 

[Rick W]

If you Google simply “ Ford Ranger” it will give you the various generations. Wikipedia, I think. That will tell you year by year the upgrades and the modifications.

 

[Jay11]

If you Google simply “ Ford Ranger” it will give you the various generations. Wikipedia, I think. That will tell you year by year the upgrades and the modifications.

Whenever I would Google that at home I would get some error like host cannot be resolved. At work this came up, so now I know my options....

HOODS

 

[Rick W]

So, it looks like only a 98 to 2000 bumper will fit it. Is that your conclusion too?

If you’re asking, if later model bumpers will fit, I don’t know the pieces and parts well enough to answer that. But put the question out again, there are some of these guys you know the details a whole lot better than I do.

 

[Jay11]

So, it looks like only a 98 to 2000 bumper will fit it. Is that your conclusion too?

Yes. I will keep it simple and stick with those years to eliminate wrong fit, returns, etc. when I head to JY sometime this week.

 

[ranger man'02]

Whenever I would Google that at home I would get some error like host cannot be resolved. At work this came up, so now I know my options....

View attachment 139926


HOODS

View attachment 139927

IGNORE THIS THE AI IS USUALLY WRONG!!!

 

[Ab_Reed]

Everyone knows I’m a rustoleum nut.

What would the truck be worth with a cheap paint job? I’m assuming the 800 would throw you down instead of bringing you up

Sanding it isn’t all that hard. sanding it to get a mirror finish can take a lot of time. No joke, I’ve painted a couple of my trucks with rustoleum with a foam roller out of the can. After red primer, you thin down the rustoleum about 1/3 mineral spirits, and you roll it on on a 65° day when it’s not sunny. That lets it spread out without running. Then two coats of full strength, all four hours apart.

For that white truck, you can try just doing white on the hood and on the roof, but it’s probably going to look different. But it will look 1000% better than it does now.

The other thing you might do is do the hood and the roof in a complementary color. If the interior is red, maybe use red, use blue for blue, you get the idea.

Then put some pinstripes on the truck (dirt cheap pinstripes). The pinstripe pulls your eye, instead of the eye going to defects in the paint.

Almost no matter how carefully you do the rustoleum you will end up with a little bit of orange peel, but I get nothing but compliments

View attachment 139145View attachment 139146

You can see how the pin stripe graphics pull your eye off the flat surface of the paint

you’re also talking about $30 versus $800, and I know you’ll get the 30 bucks back easy

With the rustoleum, you can do a final sand with a 100 grit and the paint will fill. Wet sanding you’ve got to go down to 2500 with block sanding. Fortunately, white is very forgiving.

And a thought on the complementary color. Restoleum has about 12 standard colors. If you want a lighter version of one of the colors like the red or the blue, just buy a can of white and blend it yourself.

my two cents, I hope it helps

I'm assuming you build these trucks just for the reaction? Im not sure "noting but compliments" is the correct statement for those two truck. The pinstripes do noting to distract from the paint. Dirt-cheap pin stripes are exactly that.

 

[ranger man'02]

I'm assuming you build these trucks just for the reaction? Im not sure "noting but compliments" is the correct statement for those two truck. The pinstripes do noting to distract from the paint. Dirt-cheap pin stripes are exactly that.

Lemme guess auto correct?

 

[Rick W]

I'm assuming you build these trucks just for the reaction? Im not sure "noting but compliments" is the correct statement for those two truck. The pinstripes do noting to distract from the paint. Dirt-cheap pin stripes are exactly that.

All I get are smiles and offers. I’m happy with that.

There’s always a few guys who criticize this or criticize that, and typically, when I ask them what they built, I get blank stares, and zero answers. I’m not knocking for a second the guys who put blood sweat and tears in to make show quality trucks, that’s fantastic. I think the whole beauty of the hobby is anybody can do whatever they want, it’s all good.

 

[Rick W]

I'm assuming you build these trucks just for the reaction? Im not sure "noting but compliments" is the correct statement for those two truck. The pinstripes do noting to distract from the paint. Dirt-cheap pin stripes are exactly that.

And an afterthought. @Jay11 said he couldn’t go $800 for paint which sounds like what it would probably cost to do the roof and the hood. He asked for cheaper alternatives. And he said he was prepping to sell the truck.

I’m just proposing a $20 option that he can do himself for a little work. If he spends the $800 I doubt he’ll get $800 more for the truck. But I will guarantee if he spends the $20 and a few hours, he’ll get a few hundred extra dollars out of it in a heartbeat.

And touching up the bumper after cleaning it up with steel wool will cost him 10 or $15, far less than the cost of a new bumper. Whoever buys it could then invest in the bumper and pro paint if they want it.

 

[JoshT]

The chrome is delaminated a little bit but it's gross enough that a better replacement from $80 to $150 at JY is worth it. Question now is are these bumpers the same for 1995 to 1998 and/or 1998 to 2004?
I have found a 1994, 1995, 2003, 2005. I plan to hit the JY on Friday. Just in case these is all they have it will be good to know if these do fit my 1998

1994
View attachment 139865

1995

View attachment 139867

2003
View attachment 139869

2005
View attachment 139870

Since it didn't really get answered...

The 93-97 bumpers won't work on your truck. They may physically bolt onto the frame horns, but IIRC they will interefere with the grill and/or headlights.

The 98-11 bumpers will physically bolt onto your truck and fit around your grill and headlights but they may not perfectly match the contour. I've seen it suggested that the later grills may not only be taller, they may dip down more in the center as well, that would leav a larger gap below the grill when those bumpers are installed on an older truck. I haven't seen that myself and to my eyes it does not appear to be an accurate claim, but I haven't tried it either. T

Another note is that the later models from that 98-11 range have more components that need to be swapped on. I think it was in 08 that they moved from having a steel bumper structure with a plastic valence atached to it, to being a plastic bumper cover with an impact bar hidden below like most cars have. You can install the newer bumper cover style on your truck, but you also need to get the impact bar and support structure that goes with it.