repairing cut in front bumper cover?

[HoustinoJillian]

ok so i just picked up a new front bumper cover today (thanks YAHTEC) anyhow, i'm going to take my current cover off, sand it and repaint it. my question is this: after i swap back to my (repainted) old one, i plan on fixing the spare up as well, so i can sell it again and recoup some of the money. there's 2 3 inch long cuts, one on both sides, below where the fog lights are. i'm wondering what kind of patch/compound i should use to repair the bumper (since it's flexible plastic i'm assuming bondo or jb weld is out of the question) anyone good with repairing plastics?

 

[CerberuS]

Id call for advice in a local body shop.

But if i recall well , its black stuff they pour behind the crack , and it hardens. They use that to repair fiberglass as well (18 wheeler hoods)

Donno how its called tho.

 

[excidere]

3m makes a great selection of epoxys that work great on repairs like that!... I know the duramix 40/40 is what we use, but that gets pretty hard.

 

[HoustinoJillian]

my plan was to tape over the front, and pour/ whatever the repair(epoxy) from the back... is that standard procedure? or should i do something so theres a bit more to sand on the front (for a smoother finish)

 

[Venom SHO s7]

Do you have a ny pics of the damage?
If the "cuts" are all the way through the bumper, then you'll have to patch it from the back, then fill in the gouge on the outside of the bumper.

If they're just deep gouges, then you can smooth out the gouges with a DA (320 grit would work fine), do a skim coat of filler GLAZE (not regular bondo), block it, and put several coats of primer on that.

 

[YAHTEC]

The holes are all the way through from what I remember, the car bottomed out and the fog light brackets cut into the bumper.

 

[HoustinoJillian]

all the way though.

 

[Venom SHO s7]

In that case, i'd go to a 'wesco autobody' store, if you have one near by, and look into the 3m plastic repair they have. Problem is, most of the stuff they have, you need an air gun that squeezes/mixes the hardener and material, making it possible to apply. Not to mention i dont think the repair stuff is very cheap.

 

[isusho]

I have the EXACT same cuts in mine from what it sounds like. I don't know where mine are from (they have been there since I bought the car) but I have the same problem in fixing them, a bit off topic.

 

[MYSHO1]

mud it and ship it

 

[HoustinoJillian]

mud it and ship it

huh?

im looking to fix it up so i can sell it for (hopefully more than) i bought it once i'm done using it.. i dont rip people off

 

[excidere]

It depends what materials you use, what procedure you should use. When we use epoxy I usually tape the back for support till it dries. The reason for not taping the front is you may get low spots and or air bubbles... if you work from the face side you can avoid those. Smooth the epoxy in with a mud knife or the like. After it cures I come back with a dual action sander and feather it out... seal and prime!

3M had an online video that was like 15 mins about fillling bumper scrapes/scratches... Ill see if I can find it again

Edit: http://shows.implex.tv/3MTV/Root/AAD/945/preflight.htm

 

[CerberuS]

Wow thats a pretty neat video for the do-it-yourselfers

 

[glass]

I had a cut under my driver's side foglight and I used BONDO's flex bumper repair kit that I bought at Advance auto parts. It was a two part kit and has held up very well. I backed it up with some thin sheet metal on the inside of the bumper cover and secured it with some screws that I countersank and covered the screw heads with the BONDO kit.

 

[smokin joe]

bondo glass works good for the back side because it has fiberglass in it