Auto, Car, Truck Body Repair, plastic bumper flexible part repai

Modern Cars and Plastic

Vehicles today have a lot of plastic on them. Car bumpers and entire front ends are often made of plastic. The good thing is they don't rust or weigh a lot, and they can mold plastic into any shape they want. The structure of the car can be plain old tubes and I beams, and the shape can be lightweight plastic.

The downside is that even a light bump in a parking lot will at least scratch the paint, and often will tear the plastic bumper cover.

A NEW COVER CAN COST $400 TO $1000 !!!!

Fortunately many of them CAN be repaired if the proper technique is used. The bumper shown below has a tear in it from a parking lot incident.

Good 2 part adhesives are available at a body supply store. Dupont makes one, SEM makes one. They are called problem plastic repair material. They dry fast and sand like bondo.

On a crack you can't just glue it back together and expect it to hold. Reinforce the back of the tear with pieces of sheet metal. Use countersunk pop rivets to hold the sheet metal in place. Before riveting, rough up the back surface of the bumper and put on a liberal amount of plastic repair material.

Body shop suppliers now have adhesive patches to repair the backs of plastic bumpers so you can avoid the pop rivet and sheet metal method if you want. After this first stage is dry, grind down the tear into a "V" shape. Rough up the entire top surface and apply a liberal amount of repair material.

Sand down and feather, and it's ready to paint.

Here's a neat site for free instant online body estimates

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Thank you for visiting the ECONOMECHANIX WEB SITE. Please feel free to comment. We also serve the surrounding communities of Alachua, High Springs, Hawthorne, and Newberry! Gainesville has been my home since 1974, and I've loved Gvl and the Gators since I came here in the fall of 1974 to attend the University of Florida. I loved it so much I stayed and opened my car repair business. Originally it was out of the back of a 1963 Chevrolet wagon, but in 1977 a fellow mechanic and I opened an auto repair shop with actual walls, etc. I stayed in the same location for 26 years, and recently moved my operation to property I bought 15 miles east of Gainesville. I am doing most all the repairs myself now, having reduced my overhead from $1500 per month to practically nothing. I do work by appointment only. I mostly work only on my established customers cars, but I will occasionally take on new clients. E-mail me and I will either make arrangements to look at your car, or I will recommend you to someone who will.

George G. Scott, Jr.

Plastic Bumper Repair

Modern Cars and Plastic