Any defect in the car's coating that appears is a reason for the owner's mood disorder. Do-it-yourself plastic bumper repair can save more than one thousand rubles.
The content of the article:
The age of the vehicle does not really matter. The bumper is considered the most vulnerable part of the car, since the part is located in front, and, in fact, performs protective functions, it is also subject to all sorts of factors of influence.
But mostly these are minor damages associated with the destruction of the paintwork, while it loses its appearance. But also, over time, a small scratch develops into a large focus of corrosion processes. Therefore, it is not recommended to delay the repair. Do-it-yourself repair requires knowledge of recovery techniques and equipment.
Equipment required for operation
Before carrying out an independent repair of a plastic bumper, you must stock up on theoretical knowledge and prepare the necessary tools.
You will need:
- Electrodes;
- Specialized hair dryer. It can be used to easily repair dents with little effort. Suitable for building with temperature control;
- Furniture stapler. It is necessary to strengthen the seams;
- Fine mesh soft alloy mesh. When repairing the bumper, it is applied to the seam;
- Heat sealing machine. The device has become quite widespread, both among amateurs and among professionals. With its help, the damaged areas are soldered;
- Scotch tape, putty, bumper paint. These funds will be needed at the stage of gluing, puttying and, accordingly, painting;
- Grinder with abrasive action. Applied at the end of the job.
Preparation for work
Repairing plastic bumpers on your own shouldn't scare even beginners. If there is a great desire, the work will not take much time. However, you should read the instructions carefully before starting it. It will be useful to watch training videos on the topic. The technique for repairing a plastic bumper may vary depending on the type of material. There are polyurethane, polypropylene and fiberglass substrates. Damage, its shape and features are of great importance.
Damage can be roughly divided into:
- Dents. Distinct surface deformation;
- Cracks. Through destruction. As a rule, with further inactivity, they increase;
- Scratches. They can be superficial, damaging the paint layer and deep, destroying the plastic base;
- Break of structure;
- Breaking formation.
Repair of plastic bumper
Soldering is carried out in the presence of cracks. The process is carried out from the back side, pressing the parts as much as possible. The resulting seam is reinforced with a construction stapler, or with a mesh, which is soldered as reinforcement. It is advisable to perform the operation on the front side, for this you need to remove the paint with a grinder, otherwise it will not allow the plastic to melt normally. Further, the front side is sanded to prepare for puttying and painting, we will not consider these points.
Quite an effective method using electrodes. You will need flat electrodes, they are sold in car dealerships. In this process, heating is carried out with a building hair dryer. A wide soldering iron is also required. First, a mesh is soldered to the joints, then electrodes are placed on top of it, the melting of which occurs by heating with a hairdryer. The temperature is about 600 degrees.
Liquid plastic is used to restore surfaces resulting from cracks or deep scratches. Thus, the surface is leveled. An increase in temperature is not required in this case. The main thing that is needed is to determine the type of material. After the substance reaches the desired state of hardness, it will need to be sanded.
Bumper painting after repair
We will not consider this point in detail, it is just worth pointing out a few little things. If painting is done with a spray can, then you should not expect the color to match perfectly. It will be brighter, richer. The thing is that when time passes, the paint fades. This is taken into account when selecting paint for bottling. Several colors are mixed into a jar, after which the desired combination is obtained, obtained on a computer. And even this is not a guarantee that the color will match.
Video: how to repair a plastic bumper yourself:
Today I will tell you how to repair a bumper with your own hands. This article will save you money. Many people know that bumpers are different in shape and composition of material.
My personal opinion, the bumper does not particularly have the function of protecting the car. More he gives the attractiveness of the car.
There are many ways on the internet. I will explain to you a method that is proven, reliable and simple. And suitable for any newcomer to bodywork.
Bumpers come in different types of material:
- Made of plastic.
- Fiberglass.
In this manual, we will talk to you about repairing a plastic bumper.
We need the following tool:
Soldering iron (I saw on the Internet many people write that you need either 60 watt or 80 watt). We need a 100 watt one. I will not tell you where to get it.
Iron backing for the bumper shape.
I usually take a small spherical shape. Why, you ask? In order to protect yourself and not injure your hands. Suddenly, accidentally melt the bumper or slide off. And so that when heated with a soldering iron, part of the bumper does not lose its shape. I have highlighted the main tool in the photo with red circles.
Iron mesh for reinforcement (Small cell).
It can be purchased at the store. Or you can take the simpler route and disassemble the old carburetor fret air filter. What I did.
Air filter, from a carburetor car.
Epoxy resin.
I take such a kit as in the picture. There are different firms. There is a more budget option. It includes a hardener, fiberglass and the resin itself. Compared to conventional epoxy. This material hardens faster.
Maybe someone has stale old epoxy. Then you can just buy glass fabric. I'll show you what it looks like.
What are the defects of the bumper and we will figure it out in stages:
- Small crack (all parts of the bumper are intact, a crack has formed).
- Not enough bumper parts.
- Bumper dent (no paint defect).
Cracked bumper.
Bumper without native parts.
Dent bumper.
And so all of the above is ready for you. We decided on the complexity of the work. Found a suitable workplace. Let's get started ...
We remove the bumper.
We also clean it from dirt, so that it would be more pleasant to work with it. We remove the parts from the bumper, if necessary, for more convenient access from the inside of the bumper to the problem area.
We warm up the soldering iron. Cut the mesh into small squares of about 1 cm by 1 cm. More is possible.
1. If you have a small bumper crack:
1.1 Compressing the crack with each other as much as possible, we begin to solder pieces of mesh with a soldering iron, with a step of 1.5 - 2 cm. It makes no sense to reinforce the entire problem area.
The brazing of the mesh takes place in this way. That when deepening through the tanks and through the mesh cells, molten plastic comes out. It needs to be smoothed around the entire perimeter of the mesh piece. It turns out our mesh is inside the plastic and it becomes invisible. Well, maybe small parts.
Important! When working with plastics, consider its thickness. You can overdo it and burn through the bumper. If the bumper is thin, then it is better not to take risks and not strongly upset the mesh.
It is also necessary to solder the mesh pieces at the beginning and end of the crack. To prevent its further spread.
Never solder the outside of the bumper. It is possible in the event that it is not possible to make soldering from the inside of the bumper.
After good quality soldering, you should have a thin line on the outside, in which there is no paint. In practice, I don't paint this part. If I do it for myself. The crack becomes like a small scratch. I see no reason to spend money and time painting such a scratch. Well, this is everyone's business.
1.2 Go ahead. After the plastic has cooled down. I take a piece of sandpaper, grit number 60 or 80. And I begin to clean out in random order, the whole place where the soldering was done. On the inside of the bumper. This is done in order to then apply epoxy resin with glass fiber. And that everything would be kept as tight as possible. If this step is not followed, the epoxy will fall off.
Then we cut the fiberglass fabric into different pieces of about 2 cm by 2 cm, and it will not be worse for more.
Apply the first coat of epoxy. We lay the glass fabric on the damaged area of \u200b\u200bthe bumper, overlapping in a different order. And we begin to saturate it. If more layers are required, then we do the same with other layers.
We can say that the repair of the cracked plastic bumper is over. After drying, you can assemble and install the bumper on the car.
Attention! You also need to take into account the place of damage. If this is a part, for example, in the middle of the bumper, then 1-2 layers of fiberglass are enough.
If this place is at the bottom of the bumper on the "Skirt", then it is better to put 2-4 layers of glass fabric. Will give strength to the damaged area.
2. If you do not have enough bumper pieces:
We carefully clean the part where there is no piece. From the outside of the bumper we put cardboard or thick paper, then we circle. Cut out the outlined shape.
Attention! You need to find or ask your friends an old unnecessary bumper or a part of it. Preferably the same thickness as yours. It is not critical if it is different. There will simply be an overuse of material when painting if you find a thinner one. And more time wasting if it's thicker than yours.
We apply the finished shape and outline it on the unnecessary part of the bumper you found. Cut out carefully. I personally do this with a grinder with a small cut-off wheel.
We insert the finished part into the native bumper and do the work point by point as with the crack.
3. Bumper dent:
When compared with the previous stages. This is the fastest and easiest way. But you need to understand how the plastic will lead when heated. You need to try not to spoil the paint with varnish.
For this method you will need:
- A bucket of cold clean water and a large sponge.
- Industrial dryer. If not. Then you can take a regular hairdryer from your wife or girlfriend.
From the inside, we begin to evenly heat the dent. Also new facets formed. If the defect is not significant, then the dent should straighten itself. If everything is more complicated, after moderate heating, you need to gently squeeze out the dent. And then cool the work area with a sponge with cold water. Noticed small irregularities? You can repeat the procedure. Here you have to look at the eye.
Well, that's all. All success. I look forward to your comments and questions.
The bumper of the car serves not only to give the whole silhouette a certain completeness, but also to protect its main components and assemblies from minor mechanical influences. In minor accidents, the bumper, both front and rear, suffers first. Do-it-yourself repair of a plastic bumper in this case is feasible, and it is done quite simply.
The most common cases when bumper repair is required are the following:
- Scratches, paint chips, paint peeling;
- Dents and similar defects that have formed as a result of any chemical reactions;
- Cracks;
- Breakdown of the bumper, that is, the moment when a hole appears in it due to the spalling of a separate part of it.
Repair to remove scratches from paintwork can be called the simplest and least expensive in terms of time and money.
Recovery stages
So, whatever the damage caused to the bumper, do-it-yourself restoration work will consist of the following stages:
- Preparing the bumper for work;
- Working with the inner surface;
- Face alignment;
- Priming a leveled surface
- Establishment of defects after alignment;
- Sanding the filled surface;
- Re-filling (if necessary);
- Bumper painting.
Preparing the bumper for work
Preparation consists in dismantling the body element, washing it and cleaning it from dust, dirt, and other contaminants.
In addition, before direct repairs, you should choose a method that is influenced by the material of manufacture of the body element.
If there is no such information, then you can find it out by looking at the inside of the bumper itself. There may be the following designations:
- PPTV or PP - polypropylene;
- PUR - polyurethane;
- GF15, GF30, PAG6, ABS are hard plastics.
I must say that if the element is made of fiberglass, then there will be no marking at all.
After determining the material of the element, the old paintwork is removed from the damaged place.
Working with the inner surface
If there are cracks or broken pieces of plastic or fiberglass, do-it-yourself repairs begin from the inside. This can be done in two simple ways:
- Using a conventional soldering iron;
- Using special electrodes.
The soldering iron heats up to the desired temperature and soldering begins. The sting is carried out along the seam, along the crack. In this case, it is necessary to ensure that the molten plastic moves into the groove.
It is necessary to solder the entire seam completely, and not in its individual places.
After the pre-soldering with your own hands is completed, the seam is additionally fastened with metal staples using a construction stapler.
To give such a seam even more strength, soldering is carried out through a metal mesh, which is "soldered" into the surface of the bumper, connecting the two halves together on different sides of the crack. I must say that it is best to repair only polyurethane body elements with a soldering iron and a mesh.
Today, more and more often you can find the so-called electrodes, which are designed for plastic and have a rectangular cross section.
Do-it-yourself work with them is carried out using a construction hair dryer. There should be a special nozzle with a size of 2 to 10 mm.
If you are working on a bumper made of fiberglass or hard plastic, then you simply won't be able to solder it. In this case, do-it-yourself repairs should consist in the process of gluing individual elements.
The step-by-step instruction looks like this:
- Working with edges, that is, removing protruding villi. This can be done with a grinder;
- Combining details. They need to be fixed. To do this, on the front side, ordinary tape is glued at the seams, which will hold the individual parts in place;
- After that, it is necessary to prepare a mixture of epoxy resin, that is, add the hardener in the required proportion to the resin itself, and stir;
- From the inside, the entire seam is lubricated with a prepared compound. In addition, it is necessary to lubricate an area of \u200b\u200b5 cm on each side of the crack;
- The same composition impregnates a thin fiberglass patch, which is applied over the crack;
- It is necessary to put several such "patch" of fiberglass until their total thickness becomes equal to the thickness of the bumper itself;
- We wait for some time until the "patch" is completely dry;
- Using the grinder on the front side, we make grooves along the entire length of the crack;
- Then we fill them with fiberglass, which we pre-saturate with an adhesive;
- We wait for time to dry and grind the surface.
Face alignment
Bonded and putty bumper
After working on the inside, it is necessary to completely align the front.
To do this, the adhesive tape is removed, if it was there, and grinding is performed using a special power tool or sandpaper. The grain size in this case is better to choose P240 or even P200.
Further work
I must say that the front side can also be soldered, as is the case with the fiberglass bumper.
A groove is also made on the plastic, which is filled with a repair mixture.
After that, a layer of putty is applied to the seam with your own hands. Naturally, you only need to use a special putty for plastic bumpers.
After the layer of putty has dried, it is carefully sanded to achieve a perfectly smooth surface.
At the end of this work, a layer of primer is applied to the sanded surface.
Any paint is applied to the dried primer that does not match the color of the bumper itself. It will show all the unevenness of the putty.
If there are such irregularities, then the paint is peeled off, and this place is putty and sanded again.
If there are no flaws, then the paint is simply cleaned off with sandpaper and a layer of primer is applied.
Only after that the bumper is polished, that is, its forms are displayed. The filled and primed place is covered with a layer of a special solvent - the base.
Paint of the desired color is applied to the base, and then varnish. On this, do-it-yourself bumper repair can be considered complete.
Besides the fact that the bumper has a protective function, it also serves as a decorative element of decoration. It is not surprising that it is so important for us to keep him in good condition and provide him with decent care. Even being damaged, it is quite amenable to repair, and already on this you can save several thousand rubles, instead of purchasing a new product. The presentability of the appearance of the front bumper is lost over time, because today they are made of flexible, but fragile plastic. Experts classify several types of damage to this element:
- cracks, which are considered rather unsafe damage. During operation, due to constant vibration loads, they increase in size, and this can be accompanied by unpleasant knocks;
- scratches - as a rule, they begin with small ones, but they constantly grow larger, eventually becoming cracks;
- dents - appear as a result of mechanical stress and lead to the creation of other deformations;
- various chips that occur after contact with sharp hard objects.
Preparatory work
Each type of damage requires an individual repair method and an algorithm for its implementation. However, before doing this, the product must be prepared at home. First, the bumper is removed from the car - this is done in order to make it more convenient to work with it. After that, it must be thoroughly cleaned of dirt, dust, oil residues, bitumen and others.
The damaged area of \u200b\u200bthe product plus an additional couple of centimeters are cleaned of primer, paint and varnish residues. It is necessary to carry out these works, both from the outside and from the inside. The bumper material (front or building) should now be installed. It is believed that they are all made of plastic, but each has its own markings, which can be seen on the back. These are propylene, polyurethane foam, various styrenes and others. If there is no marking, then the product is made of fiberglass or fiberglass. In any case, you can find the relevant information on the Internet. 
Repair technique by "home" welding
One of the most reliable repair methods is the welding of bumpers using electrodes. As you may have guessed, we need a hair dryer and special flat electrodes, which you can buy in the auto shops. Let's get down to work:
- It is necessary to check the compatibility of the electrode and the material used to produce the cracked bumper. The best thing is to find a piece of the old analogue to test.
- Trying to weld on a strip of electrode. If it holds securely, then we can pick up our damaged bumper.
- Find the crack and start to weld it from the middle to the edges. As soon as the center is processed, we close up the nearby areas.
Simplified recovery option
You can resort to a method that is simpler from the point of view of equipment and implementation. For him, we need to stock up on an electric soldering iron, a grinder, an electric drill and metal staples that are used in staplers. This option is less reliable, but the brackets should be welded with an assistant. We adhere to the following procedure:
- With a drill with a small drill, we drill holes along the edges of the damage so that it does not expand further.
- Bring the deformed areas together and glue a piece of tape.
- We turn the bumper with the inside up.
- Now the soldering itself begins. We carry out a soldering iron along the crack itself, continuing to work from the inside.
- Now we take a pack of staples from the stapler with tweezers or round-nose pliers and begin to weld them with plastic. This should be done carefully to ensure a reliable connection.
- You can turn the product right side up.
- The same procedure is carried out for the "face", with one difference - staples will not be used here.
- It's time for grinding. We take a typewriter and a circle of type P240 in our hands. Carefully smooth out irregularities. If necessary, you can remove the plastic hairs with a lighter. Additionally, rivets can be installed for strength.
And here is another, by the way, the most budget option.
As you can see, dear friends, welding a bumper at home is not something outstanding. If you carefully approach the question, you can do it yourself, and use the saved money on fuel for your car. In the future, I will try to please you with new practical materials on the topic of car repair and maintenance. I recommend subscribing to blog updates. I was with you
The reason for the damage to the body kit may be careless driving, a traffic accident or hitting an obstacle. A damaged part spoils the appearance of the car. Therefore, it is important to know what to do when the bumper is cracked and how to repair it yourself.
Depending on the degree of damage, methods of restoring a damaged body element of a car also differ. Crack repair is performed using:
- Putties
Small chips, scratches and microcracks must be covered with putty.
- Gluing
Allows to repair small cracks.
- Sealing
It makes it possible to restore the body kit after receiving severe damage and the appearance of large cracks.
- "Welding"
A plastic patch is applied. The method is applicable if the bumper is severely split and holes appear.
To carry out the work, you will need the following tools and materials:
- Hair dryer and soldering iron.
- Brass mesh, staples from a construction gun, or metal tape.
- Wide and narrow rubber spatulas.
- Putty.
- Epoxy resin and fiberglass patch.
- White-Spirit, acetone or alcohol-based cleaners.
- Spray gun.
- Plastic solder.
- Primer.
- Grinding machine and circles to it, or a bar.
- Sandpaper of various grain sizes.
- Mini drill or drill.
- Clamps.
- Paint in a can or in a spray can.
Bumper preparation
Damaged bumper, better to dismantle. This will allow for more efficient and reliable repairs. In general, the list of preparatory work before restoring the body kit is as follows:
- The body protection must be thoroughly washed and dried.
- The damaged area must be sanded and sanded. You can remove the paintwork with a grinder. In addition to the directly affected area, sanding should be done 3-5 centimeters near the cracks.
- Degrease the work surface. The procedure will need to be repeated after removing each layer of paint.
- The edges of the cracks must be sharpened in the form of the Latin letter V.
- Using a drill, drill out the crack on both sides. This will prevent it from spreading to the entire detail.
After the preparatory measures have been carried out, you can proceed directly to the repair.
The bumper must be thoroughly washed. To do this, use a soapy solution. In some cases, automotive detergents are used. For drying, use a tool such as a hair dryer.
Soldering large cracks
If the bumper has burst badly, then it is sealed. The operation allows you to give the damaged part a second life. However, you need to know how to solder a crack in the body kit. The operation is carried out in stages:
- Securing the two parts of the body kit. For this, clamps are used. The two soldered surfaces are tightly attached to each other and securely fixed in this position.
- Soldering from the outside of the bumper. Do not leave large gaps between stitches.
- Reinforcement of the damage site. Carried out from the inside of the bumper. Mesh or staples are soldered into the structure. This step increases the strength of the weld.
For soldering, it is recommended to use a powerful soldering iron (at least 100 W). The tool must be held in such a way that it does not burn through the plastic. It is also worth purchasing a device with a wooden handle (the plastic one will melt after a long operation of the tool). For a more precise soldering, the tip can be sharpened and cleaned.
After soldering, the body kit is ready for further use. Only, it will remain to give the restored part an attractive appearance.
Using a hot air gun
When repairing severe damage, use a construction hairdryer. With its help, the edges of the cracks are melted, as a result, in place of the burst part of the body kit, a strong and reliable weld appears. To make the design more durable, use plastic strips 1 cm thick. They can be purchased separately or cut from an old donor body kit.
When soldering, use the same type of plastic from which the bumper is made. Otherwise, the seam will turn out to be non-monolithic, which will lead to the rapid destruction of the structure.
The method is effective in the absence of some parts of the body kit, serious cracks and holes.
Bumper bonding
Small cracks can be sealed. This do-it-yourself bumper repair method is most popular with motorists, as it is technologically simple and effective. As an adhesive, a special plastic adhesive, acetone, and liquid plastic is used. To obtain a polymer seam, a two-component composition 3M is used.
When gluing, you need to tightly fix the bumper, otherwise, the halves may shift and the symmetry of the part is broken. You will need to wait until the adhesive is completely dry.
Acetone gluing is performed as follows: a substance is applied to the crack, as a result of which part of the plastic dissolves, forming a strong seam. Later, it is treated with a 3M adhesive. Allow to dry and mask traces of body kit restoration.
Alternative! Medium damage can be sealed with a mixture of glue and soda. To do this, you need to tightly connect the split parts, pour soda along the entire length of the crack, and apply glue to it. As a result of a chemical reaction, a strong seam is formed.