Hopefully this is in the right forum....

Anyway, I kissed a grand cherokee a while back. Low speed incident, but the front of my car basically went under his. Anyway, no damage other than the hole that got knocked in to my front clip. I went to a body shop and they said it isn't fixable. I wanted to get a second opinion to make sure these guys aren't just trying to make a quick buck. If it is fixable, any estimates on how much it would cost? And if not, any recomendations on where to buy a new one from? Thanks a bunch.

Pics: http://members.tccoa.com/brahma101/hole/
FYI: Pics are around a meg a piece. I can make them smaller/take more if needed. Thanks again.

 

After beening on here for a while without registering, I registered JUST to help you out here... Yes its 99% possible to fix your hole, it would require fiberglassing the back side and using filler on top, shouldnt be the hardest job but you want it to be extrememly flat/perfect with the rest of the bumper...

Your going to have to take the bumper off for this, and on side note after a while the fiberglass backing might crack... but we used to build golf karts designed for off roading, so when we hit some "big jumps" with them and cracked the plastic bodies we would fiberglass the backing and it would hold up just fine until a few years and many jumps later.

 

Fixing that would be too much trouble and I doubt fiberglass would hold up to the flex of that plastic bumper, just get a new one. I'm betting that the golf cart plastic is way more rigid than GM plastic.

 

I was just giving an idea of how well it held up, and considering it didnt flex is the reason for it cracking...

The question was if it is fixable, yes it is fixable... wether its worth the work or not is up to the owner.

 

I think that you could fiber glass the back of that, just a small patch, its a pretty hard part anyways so there shouldn't be much flex.

If you came by one second hand though I would definally take that over it, since its going have to be repainted anyways.

 

I think you took my reply the wrong way, it's all good buddy

I didn't say it would not work, I said I doubt it would work.

 

I knew what you meant, didnt mean to sound like I was disagree-ing but just I guess was having a bad morning or something... one of those days.

Yeah if you found a bumper Id go with it too, but who knows...

 

thanks guys. i guess i'll just look for a new one.

 

awesome. i'll check it out. i'm actually home in san antonio for the summer...but i might just have to make a special trip. thanks.

 

Usually, flexible bumper covers are made of a urethane resin. Urethanes are thermoset materials vs thermoplastic. Thermoplastics can be re-formed by using heat or by dissolving with a solvent. Thermoset plastics (like polyesters, epoxies, urethanes, phenolics, etc) can't reconnect their molecules. This trait makes their repair more difficult--but not impossible. Success of the repair depends on the quality of your surface prep, since it is only held in place by an adhesive bond. Is your bumper repairable?--maybe. It depends on the size, location, and stresses that the area will have put on it.

As was said earlier "fiberglass it", is not too far off of the actual repair technique. There are kits available for the type if repair you need. It is very similar to the way a fiberglass repair would be performed. The difference lies in the type of resin used. Most common fiberglass resins are too rigid to be used on a flexible urethane component. They would likely separate from the urethane if flexed. You would need a resin that matches the urethane in flexibility to get the highest degree of repair success.

Sorry for going on for so long....But try something similar to these products.

http://products3.3m.com/catalog/us/e...eme_us_aad_3_0


I would try the repair--but not paint it right away. Watch the repair for stability. If it holds, paint it. If not, you would not be out the money of the paint job. Hope this helps.

 

you gotta get the 3M Automix 5895 Plastic Repair thing. Its epoxy based and soft and flexes. just sand the whole area around there. Make sure u get the edges of the hole and stuff smooth too. Then wipe the whole area with rubbing alcohol to clean it. Mix up the Automix and put it on there. Wait for it to dry up and sand it all smooth with 200 grit sandpaper.

Its not really hard of a job to do but takes practice.

 

I think i might try the repair myself, and if i don't like it, i'll just look for a used cover. thanks again for the replies.

 

if you repair it it would probably last few weeks.better get a new one or used one

 

The one I repaired lasted the life of the vehicle, and was undetectable unless you looked at it from the back side. The vehicle color, black, is the most unforgiving. Total cost was considerably less than replacement.