Help!
A dip coming out of a garage snagged the back bottom piece of the bumper, just next to the exhaust pipe..looks like it sort of bent the metal a bit underneath, but worse, cracked the bumper itself. Is that something that can be filled in from behind or glued somehow...or do I risk breaking it worse?

Help! <img src="graemlins/crying.gif" border="0" alt="[crying]" /> <img src="graemlins/c.gif" border="0" alt="[ouch]" />

 

JPS, how odd. The exact same thing just happened to me and I was about to post the same question. Please let me know what, if anything, you learn and I will gladly do the same.

 

I had this exact same thing happen when the dealer sent out my already clean car to be washed after a service appointment. The lot jockey snagged the rear bumper cover on the drivers side just inboard of the exhaust tip. This peeled the cover back, put a 2-3" slit in the cover, and bent the metal underneath. It ended up costing them $2140 to replace the bumper cover, bracket, trim, etc. While it might be possible to repair a crack, I'm not sure how you would ever get the bent plastic to regain its original shape because of the "plastic" deformation it has undergone.

<a href="http://boards.rennlist.com/upload/rearbumpercover3.jpg" target="_blank">http://boards.rennlist.com/upload/rearbumpercover3.jpg</a>

Jason

 

JPS

You can have your bumper plastic welded. There are companies that do this service for the body shops in major cities. You can also obtain a plastic welder. However, after it is welded the bumper must be filled and smoothed. There are products like SEM that are made for this purpose. The problem with our cars is that on the rear bumper the heat that is present reacts with the new compounds causing shrinkage. I'd step up and pay the cost for a new bumper and sell your old one.

 

I have used a product called Fusor to repair and even reinforce the flexible plastic bumper covers on a number of vehicles. It is a two part, flexible epoxy adhesive that can be applied to the backside of the cover.
Just degrease the surface, rough it up with 80 grit sandpaper, mix and apply the material.

Depending on the extent of the damage, you may want to apply some flexible body filler to the front side and repaint the cover.

Fred

 

Any idea where to get Fusor?
Would that work from behind?

Here is some additional info: The crack is all the way through the bumper, much like the earlier posted pic. However, I can push it back into place with no visible lines, at least not without being close enough to kiss the tailpipe. Ok, that sounded gross, but you get the point. Anyway, I'm wanting to avoid the $500 insurance deductable and try to fix myself or have shop do a patch of sorts.

I'm thinking of this (and wide open to options)...fill the crack with an epoxy or super glue or something, then from behind, sand down the area and put fibreglass or some other sort of patch. If need be use clear coat from my touch up paint to fill in the crack or cover over the crack on the outside a bit.

Seems like net net is I would have a clear "seam" on the outside, made of clearcoat, and would avoid the deductable or making a claim.

Thoughts?

Thanks,

 

The Fusor product can be purchased from Eckler Corvette as its original purpose was to bond body and fender panels to these cars. It is plenty strong if you clean and rough up the area first. I normally tape the cover in place from the outside and do the repair from the backside.

When you are done, you might want to "live with it" for a few days, particularly if the repair is barely visible. Some times the touch up makes things worse. Good luck,

Fred

 

I just replaced my front bumper due to a small crease from some jerk parking with the braille method... Body shops were not very encouraging on fixing it with the plastic filler.

If anyone wants a damaged US Polar C4S nose to experiment with, I've got one sitting in my side yard, its yours for the asking. (including shipping)

p.s. I live in the Silicon Valley

 

I went looking for the Fusor, and found some other stuff that is smaller and seemed like it might be easier...I'll let you know how it comes out after the w/e.

 

Ya' know those neat international black and white ovals with the "D" . Stragically placed...voila!
A very continental and inexpensive temporary cosmetic fix. <img src="graemlins/xyxwave.gif" border="0" alt="[bigbye]" />

 

FYI if you are interested...instead of Fusor (thanks for the tip), got under the car, pulled the metal shroud back, bent the bracket back into place, then took the exhaust tip off. Then used Duramix Flexible Bumper repair on it from the back side. So far so good...might still have to put a bit of clearcoat on the outside of the bumper, but so far seems to be working ok.