Bumper in shambles *PICS*

[trainguy1989]

I was replacing the fog light bulbs when I noticed how loose the bumper was. When I pulled it to investigate I noticed the passenger side mounting bracket was busted. The areas shown in yellow are all broken. Its barely holding on. Is this repairable?




Another question, the trim piece that wraps the passenger side is also broken. The plastic studs broke off. Ca this be fixed too?




Thanks,
David

 

[93rev2sev]

ebay search for "emblem tape" is your friend on the trim piece. Use something that has a little foam cushion since the trim is flexible. Make sure you clean the surfaces as directed. Use a razor to shave off whats left of the studs. This way you will be able to lay the tape down in one continous strip.

Tape off the finish and use a little simple green followed by a solution of ammonia and water. Rinse it off and let it air dry thoroughly before applying the tape to the fender.

ebay search for "flexset epoxy adhesive" + a search for "Mini Auto Body Rasp Set" will give you everything you need to fix the cracked plastic. Walmart or autozone should even have a product called "Plastic Weld". It's a 2 part syringe epoxy; that works just as well. Score the plastic with some 40 grit emory cloth before epoxying.

 

[trainguy1989]

ebay search for "flexset epoxy adhesive" + a search for "Mini Auto Body Rasp Set" will give you everything you need to fix the cracked plastic. Walmart or autozone should even have a product called "Plastic Weld". It's a 2 part syringe epoxy; that works just as well. Score the plastic with some 40 grit emory cloth before epoxying.

Do I need to take the bumper cover off to do this? All the plastic weld rivet looking things that actually hold this mount the bumper itself are busted too.

 

[trainguy1989]

My local auto parts store has plastic weld and emblem tape. Why would I need a Mini Auto Body Rasp Set?

 

[93rev2sev]

Well, if the bumper and cover are off now, I'd take the opportunity to separate the cover from the bumper and go over everything, but if you can get to where you need to get - without doing all that, then go for it.

 

[93rev2sev]

When you epoxy the crack and it all hardens, you won't want to have to resort to sand paper if you need to shave down the bead of epoxy for clearance.

I'm not saying you'll need to for sure, since it's not in front of me...there might be no need for it at all, but everyone should have a set of rasps or files if they're working with plastic.

 

[trainguy1989]

Just out of curiosity, are those actually rivets holding that mount to the bumper?

 

[93rev2sev]

More like a weld/rivet hybrid, I think.

 

[93rev2sev]

You can use a non SHO bumper and just replace the whole thing. There will be marks on the inside where you are to cut a hole for the side marker lights and the lower lip will need to be cut for clearance to the fogs.

Then, just slip your cover over it.

 

[SHOtime2511]

Ive got a gen 1 bumper sitting on the side of my house I'd offer it up free if you were closer.

 

[NoSlo]

Plastic weld works, my front bumper ate some pothole and got cracked around the foglight mount (gen 2, so the whole front bumper and grille is one piece.) The bumper is thermoplastic, so after some propane torching to get it back in shape, I wire brushed the inside of the bumper to really rough it up, and used plastic weld epoxy to fix the crack and to put some metal reinforcement bars in the back, which has held up to all the curb scrapes I've thrown at it so far.