Anyone know how to fix a car bumper?

[mpire]

GF hit something on the highway, it has cracked the bumper cover.

No missing pieces, so I was going to just glue it back together and sand and paint the spot and see how close I can get to fixing it for the $500 she doesn't have for a new one.

Its a clean crack/split on the bottom of the valence. No voids to fill.

I was considering getting one of these small kits to try it out.

What would you recommend to start with?

 

[LS6 Tommy]

I'm not a body man, but AFAIK, fiberglass won't "stick" to a poly bumper cover and will crack from flexing. In a nutshell, the best bet would be to plastic weld it, use the proper filler, sand, prime and paint.

Tommy

 

[K'ledgeBldr]

Yep- plastic facias have to be "welded".

There are irons made specifically for making this repair- and fillers to blend in. Then it's just a matter of sanding, priming (specific to plastic), and paint (also specific for plastic).

Good luck-

 

[Hammer1963]

Yes, but there are many variables that have to be considered on repairing a plastic bumper cover. The first is type of plastic. This will determine how you can make the repair. Honestly, this is not something most people should attempt without the knowledge and experience of proper techniques. I use a variety of methods. Hot stapling, welders and adhesives. Let's just say that I advise against taking on this project. You need to look at the surrounding area and see if there any way that you can temporarily secure the bumper using tie wraps or something similar to keep it from flapping in the wind

 

[Kaizen]

Yes you can but won't be perfect. as said get the right weld material and filler. you can either get paint from dealer in spray can if recent car or on line. i think dealer might be less if they have it.
it will get it through till better days. you can watch for a used one for a couple hundred and then paint it as well in the future. usually what the pro's do now instead of trying to mend and blend.

 

[paredown]

If it is not visible (like the bottom of the valence), I've done econo repairs using pop rivets and some light alu sheet or other backing material, in combination with a good two part epoxy like this:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Loctite-Plastic-Bonder-0-85-fl-oz-Epoxy-1360788/100371824

 

[rust in the eye]

A "plastic welder" will do the trick.
I recommend practicing on some scraps before going at the bumper to get a feel for it.

 

[peterhall]

3m 05887 EZ sand flexible parts repair works great on gluing plastic things together. Feathers great too when you sand it.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

 

[Stuart in MN]

If it's a nice tight crack, taking the bumper cover off and doing the plastic welding from the back side may make for a repair that won't need any paint (the crack may still show but it will be unobtrusive.)


Some people have had success doing the plastic welding with a simple soldering iron or soldering gun, but you'd have to be careful not to melt too much. There are YouTube videos showing how it's done.

 

[SGKent]

there are mobile repair people who do that kind of work and will make it look like it never happened. Do you really want to practice on your baby?

 

[theoldwizard1]

3M Video Plastic Bumper Repair for a Two-Sided Structural Repair

 

[YukonXL04]

If it's a nice tight crack, taking the bumper cover off and doing the plastic welding from the back side may make for a repair that won't need any paint (the crack may still show but it will be unobtrusive.)


Some people have had success doing the plastic welding with a simple soldering iron or soldering gun, but you'd have to be careful not to melt too much. There are YouTube videos showing how it's done.

This is what I would try. I have had good luck with this method. The hairline crack my still be visible, but it dissapears mostly.

 

[4xdog]

Isn't there some "manly" fiber-reinforced tape being talked about on here today that could be as good as welding steel in this application?

 

[Higgins]

If you can find a mobile unit, I'd go with them 1st.

If not, HF had a good micro welder that works on bumpers.

You'll need some filler material. Look along the highways for accident locations and collect up some of the plastic and bumper pieces. There are some utube videos that show you how to do the welding. The kit might have one as well.
The kit has some fine mesh that can be worked into the back of the bumper cover and then filled in.
Before you weld, you may be able to pull the bumper front together TIGHT so there is no line. You could also do a tack at the top and bottom of the crack, then go to welding the back.
Welding with plastic can be fun, and is a new eara for making stuff for the garage!!!

 

[kelpaso1]

This is how I've fixed many bumpers. If the crack fits back together nice then no finishing is needed on the painted side. In the video it shows melting the stainless steel mesh into the plastic and then he uses the fiberflex rod on top of that. I find no need to do that, I just use the mesh. All this is done on the back side of the bumper. Most cases if the crack fits back together nicely you will hardly notice the crack on the outside painted surface. I also put a wet towel on the painted side to avoid warping the plastic.

https://www.polyvance.com/video/bumper-repair/bumper-repair-with-plastic-welder-3

 

[TommyK]

What kind of car? You can buy pre-painted bumper covers pretty reasonably for most makes and models.

 

[rsanter]

They make a special 2 part material to glue/weld this stuff.
I would clean the back side and apply to the back.
I would even see if I can get a little piece of the same material (you can cut some from a junk car) and when doing the repair on the back side this can be added in like a splint or “boat patch”

 

[NUTTSGT]

There's always a trip to the junkyard to see if you can get a color matching replacement.

 

[CraigStu]

I did plastic welding w/ a soldering iron. It was the back cover for the box for my lawn vacuum. I used tin snips to trim 1/8" wide strips from the edge to use as filler. It isn't pretty but it hasn't cracked again either. If you worked on the underside of the bumper cover, I think you could get it done so minimum prep and paint on the outside.

 

[Nineeightyone]

I've done plastic welding with the $7 HF soldering iron, and it seems to work out pretty well. The biggest thing you're going to run into is trying to "paint" the crack back together, which you'll likely need to do in layers, which will create a weaker area. If it were me, I would pick up a bumper component from the junkyard (if a whole one in the same color isn't available) and use that plastic as a test piece, then use a piece of it as material to "weld" into the crack. You'll want to work from the rear in most cases, then once it's had time to set you can do a small layer over the front crack to blend it in and use a paint pen.

It's not ideal, but if you're on a budget and it bothers you it shouldn't be too awful to make it halfway decent looking.

 

[jubilee]

Nobody mentioned baking soda and crazy glue? That mixture is amazing. Buy a card of crazy glue at HF for a couple of bucks. I have repaired cracked air dams on a Tahoe and Ram pickup with it. Still holding. Tahoe was about 4 years ago. Wear rubber gloves or make sure you’ve got someone to feed you for a couple of days cause your fingers will all be glued together.

 

[Higgins]

A couple of yrs ago, a neighbors kid had a cracked bumper. Was going to school and $$$ were tight..

A new bumper and painted was around $1,200 or so. She had all the pieces and was able to weld the bumper back together. However, I had to sand the work in the front flat. No way around it unfortunately. Other than that it looked great. A couple weeks passed, and the daughter had a question for me. She found a car decal of a bandage that said ouch! We put it on her car, and looked cute! All her friends signed it !!
Last time I saw the car, the bandage was doing fine ........... LoL

 

[mpire]

I'm going to look into the plastic welder kits.

This is not my car, so I don't need perfection.

This is an opportunity to see if I an do it on the cheap and to learn something new.

A new bumper is about $500 after painting, so lets try not to do that.

It has packing tape on it now and you hardly notice it, but its trashy.

I have to buy a new plastic grill that is $60 that will reinforce the bumper once its done as it snaps into the bumper cover. It was shattered up pretty good from whatever she hit.

If it works, then great, saves her $500.

If it doesn't, then its really no loss and I had fun.

 

[cdods]

I'll throw out another option. I just had to repair a plastic canoe and used an epoxy repair kit from West Systems. I was very impressed with how easy it was to work with, and I can't imagine why it wouldn't work for a bumper.

Kit is here. https://www.westsystem.com/plastic-boat-repair-kit/

 

[ZRX61]

Ya need to V groove the crack on the back side before ya start piling in the weld.


and use the same type of plastic... which is never bondo or FG.

 

[MattRMagnum]

Isn't there some "manly" fiber-reinforced tape being talked about on here today that could be as good as welding steel in this application?

This would be my suggestion. Slap some heavy-duty tape on the back of it, and call it a day. Then just save up towards a new bumper (or don't, if it holds, who cares?). Faster/cheaper/less potentially problematic than trying to repair plastic.

 

[SIKPUP]

zip ties that look like stitches !!

 

[CJseven]

Plastic welder and hot staples on the back side , then fix the front with epoxy and repaint.