Plastic Bumper Repair

Step 6 Paint

When the repair is completed, apply two wet coats of flexible part sealer. After drying for 30 minutes, the fascia is ready for priming and painting. Prime the fender with two coats of any two-part primer-surfacer, making sure to let the primer dry between coats. Once the primer has hardened, dry sand the repaired areas with 400-grit paper to level it and remove any imperfections. Before spraying the bumper with basecoat, wetsand it and gently wipe the area with a tack rag to remove dust, then spray according to the manufacturer's instructions. You may need to repeat this process two or three times to cover completely. Once the base coat is dry (usually about 30 minutes), mix the clearcoat with hardener. Apply two medium clearcoats, allowing each to dry in between. After drying overnight, the fascia is ready to be reinstalled.

Comments

[Mexicoman]

Excellent article! As a semi-retired technical and 'how-to' writer I grind my teeth over the all-too-common confusing articles that get posted all over the Internet. The missed steps and poorly thought out or just lazy writing does little to follow a logical process. It can be a real a noggin scratcher and the meaning of some articles never can come through. Some...? perhaps most. Granted, clear writing takes practice, but it's more a product of examination than education. With so many articles and web sites written so disjointed it's a wonder we can learn/find anything of value from the Internet. Finally, someone who carefully examined his written process and insured the wording actually matched the steps regardless of who read it. Good Job! Quite refreshing. I'll fix my bumper now. Muchas Gracias !

[DanDaDad]

My neighbor fixes and even has built custom spoilers just with pieces from broken bumpers and a soldering iron. And they turn out fantastic and durable. He's probably made over 20 in the last couple years, and they are all still intact.

[billdan]

I would like to see an instructable on his method..

[pilaofhawaii]

I am INTRIGUED! Are you saying that flexible bumper repair is a matter of heating the substance and melting it together! Revolutionary, if so. Sure would like to talk with your neighbor. I want to experiment with customizing my Vette bumpers (retirement boredom!~)

[gomibakou]

Nowadays the majority of plastic bumpers are thermo-plastic or ... well i don't remember the name, but they only can be effectively soldered with heat or ultrasonic procesures. Don't try adhesives, i can promise they don't work and don't last longer.

Welcome to future world... expensive and hard to repair, use and diposable world...

[hoobatech]

you are correct, take a 40watt soldering iron and have at it, I've fixed many a broken bumper this way, its just plastic welding, first melt the cracked area together with a fine tip, making sure you get good penetration so the material on either side bonds together, then either shave some material from the bottom or somewhere inconspicuous and use them as a filler rod. harbor freight also sells filler rod and a plastic welder, though i have heard mixed results about it

[mwfaniej]

It works well with soldering iron--- i've tried it --- nice work

[killerjackalope]

Hmm I may have a nice concept for you for a spoiler, based on the bumper in photoshop, what year's your 'vette