Bumper Repair

So i was leaving work when i looked at the back of my car and realized something wasnt right. Well, looks like someone hit the back of my car with something (mabye a plow?) and cracked the bumper and bent my exhaust tips.

I was wondering if there is someway to repair the cracked plastic (all the way through) that the bumpers are made of. I used some plastic spray adhesive on it and supported it with wood so it would hold together tonight, but if i got no dice in the morning, how do i repair it and what do i need to avoid taking it to an expensive shop??? All help appreciated guys.

I've repaired them before by using fiberglass cloth and resin on the back side to hold it together. Roughen up the bumper cover where you put the fiberglass cloth to give it and the resin something to grip. Silicone sticks pretty well but won't glue it together without eventually breaking. Perhaps you could use it to smooth over the outside to hide the crack.

3M makes a "flexible parts" repair kit. If I remember correctly it is a 2 part epoxy-like stuff that comes with complete directions. I remember using the stuff when I did auto body repair but never payed that much attention to the EXACT product name as I was not the one ordering the stuff.... just used it.... It does work great though. Do a Google search for "3M Flexible Parts Repair"... I bet you find what you need.

For the record... while fiberglass resin and cloth WILL work... it is not flexible and WILL eventually crack/break again and then you are back to square one needed to re-repair and repaint.

Tracy

Plastic welding

Thats what the body shop would use if they were going to fix it. Its like a really big soldering iron, and comes with different types and colors of plastic stock to melt into the cracks. This melts it all together up higher than it needs to be, then you have to grind and sand it back down to what you want. "Weld" it on both sides and its a really tough flexible repair.

I could be wrong, but I don't believe the urethane used on our bumper covers can be welded like that. It only works on certain types of plastic and I don't think we have any of those types.

Ive done it twice now with good results. Both times on 93LX front bumpers, which are SC bumpers really.

Excellent! You learn something new everyday. I had always heard that process did not work with our type of urethane. Nice to hear from someone that has actually done it.

Is there a specific kit or type of sticks you used with the iron?

I cant for the life of me remember what brand the stuff was. Its been 5 or 6 years ago. I do remember it was all together in a nice neat kit, and the plastic sticks looked like twizzlers. I also remember that the bumper material melted different than the plastic stock and it took some trial and error to build up the surface correctly. My in laws own the body shop and I will ask him what brand and type of stuff it was next time I talk to him. I now wish I had kept the first 93 bumper I did because my SC bumper is thrashed.

A quick search on Google turned up these....

http://arizonatools.com/catalog/browse/3190-3197/detail/8034/
http://www.malcom.com/products/pwk.php

and here is the 3M flexible parts repair stuff that I mentioned before.... this stuff works quite well.

http://products3.3m.com/catalog/us/...us_aad_3_0/command_AbcPageHandler/output_html

looks like there are quite a few products on the market. Just depends on how much you are willing to spend, i.e. are you just doing one bumper or do you plan to do several plus other types of "platic welding" projects.

Tracy