Y'all are sooo helpful...thanks!

I am (different) color and clearcoating over an used bumper.  My kid says that nowadays, it matters what color the primer or basecoat is for the final color.

If I am going to paint firepepper red pearl and I want it to match my car, is it OK to just wetsand the used silver bumper and then spray the color coat?

Or, do I need to take it down further and use a specific color primer to make it match better?

Nowadays there is a thing called "Value Shade" invented by DuPont that adresses this issue.

Back in the day painted thought that if you use a red primer under a red color, that it would hid better and therefor produce a better, less expensive job.  After some research they found this not to be true and invented the Value Shade system.

Basically they found that the right shade of grey works better than a primer of the same color as the paint.  DuPont assigns a VS number to every color and if you use the primer with the corresponding VS number you will achieve the best coverage and hiding. 

The only place I have seen that sells the Value Shade Primer in spray cans is Paint World (1-800-548-4321), they deliver to your door and are inexpensive -- especially since you are buying a brand name product.

If you need more help or have more questions you can e-mail me at CPaintCars@aol.com

*Painters - typo :)