Cracked my splitter :( - any suggestions?
12 March 2011, 09:39 AM
#1
Cracked my splitter :( - any suggestions?
Cracked it on a speed bump on the way to the work this morning...
It looks like a proper fibreglass one (was on the car when imported from Toyko) not a cheapy HT plastic one.. Any bodyshop gurus out there? possibly fix or is knackered? it has split right through... 
It looks like a proper fibreglass one (was on the car when imported from Toyko) not a cheapy HT plastic one.. Any bodyshop gurus out there? possibly fix or is knackered? it has split right through...
12 March 2011, 09:49 AM
#5
Scooby Regular
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: Disco, Disco!
Posts: 21,825
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
It is a straight forward fix by the look of it.
Get a fibreglass kit and reinforce the back of it with a couple of pieces of the matting/resin then fill the hole and flat it ready for painting key the back and make sure it is clean and roughed up to ensure a good bond. If you are not good spraying then take it to a body shop or ask chips away to paint it for you. the costs are in the repair and prep rather than the painting. Do that yourself and save the money
Get a fibreglass kit and reinforce the back of it with a couple of pieces of the matting/resin then fill the hole and flat it ready for painting key the back and make sure it is clean and roughed up to ensure a good bond. If you are not good spraying then take it to a body shop or ask chips away to paint it for you. the costs are in the repair and prep rather than the painting. Do that yourself and save the money
Last edited by The Zohan; 12 March 2011 at 10:58 AM.
12 March 2011, 10:16 AM
#6
cheers fellas, glad its repairable...didnt want to get a replacement plastic one then have a new series of holes to drill to fit it...unless the blob bumpers come with holes ready for it?
ill investigate fibreglassing and probably do the repair myself...but not the paint
ill investigate fibreglassing and probably do the repair myself...but not the paint
12 March 2011, 10:18 AM
#7
Scooby Regular
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: Disco, Disco!
Posts: 21,825
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
cheers fellas, glad its repairable...didnt want to get a replacement plastic one then have a new series of holes to drill to fit it...unless the blob bumpers come with holes ready for it?
ill investigate fibreglassing and probably do the repair myself...but not the paint
ill investigate fibreglassing and probably do the repair myself...but not the paint
Last edited by The Zohan; 12 March 2011 at 10:27 AM.
Trending Topics
12 March 2011, 10:55 AM
#8
Scooby Regular
iTrader: (8)
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Burnley, Lancs
Posts: 513
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
id take a diff approach speaking from experience.
Bumper back
You need to key the back area, i.e with a knife or grinder so that the bond has something to key to. Make the area large enough so that you can properly reinforce the area. I would then cut a piece of ally to suit to bridge the crack.(5-6mm ally plate) Fix this in place with tiger seal and let it set solid. once set cut off any surplus and tidy the area. Then do as stated in the above posts and bridge over the whole lot on the back with fiberglass. I would however use a fiberglass paste out of a tub or squidgy tube that you add activator to rather than the matting as its easier and less messy and just as strong. Let this set up then tidy up the back with a 'flaaper disk' or gringing wheel. When happy paint the back with just matt or gloss black or paint to suit car colour and thts the back and reinforcing sorted. Dosen't matter what the paint looks like on the back as long as its covered as it will make the repair less obvious.
Bumper front
You need to grind down the cracks on the front to make like a v shape between each side of the carck so that the whole thing looks like a v. This then needs bridging with the same fiberglass you used on the back with the same principles as stated above about the keying and prep etc. Once you have preped and glassed the front and let set, tidy it up, weather a flapper or grinding disk or heavy grade paper is needed. The end result after glassing is take make sure that all cracks are filled with fiberglass and that no part is pertruding above. if any part of fiber glass is lower that is perfectly acceptable and better as you will get more filler in.Once happy and all sharp edges have been removed you need to prep fro the filler. Sand all the area that you need to fill with 240 or 320 grade paper to ruff up. you will need to sand an area bigger than the crack so that the filler can adhear. Once done your ready for filling. I recomend an easy sand body filler as its easier to sand as the name says and puts less stress on the repair as you wont have to press on as hard. Fill the carck with a spreader or spatcular. Take time to get it as soomth as you can and as neat as you can as this will make the sanding easier. Once its set, your ready for sanding. you will need to use a 'soft sanding block' to avoid you causing any unwanted divets in the filler/original paintwork. Once sanded, if your happy apply a thin coat of primer and assess the situation again as this will show up any holes or divets better to the naked eye. If there are divets repeat the filling process untill happy. you will need to sand the filler to key in if this is the case.
Once happy you will need to dand the whole area you want to paint and the filler you have done with the soft block. Work your way through the grades down to about 600 grade. Once your happy with the area and finish, wipe with a lint free cloth and either pannel wipe or standard thinners.
Your then ready for priming. Choose a decent quality primer. Spray the area in thin coats (best to follow the instructions on the tin). Thats that. its then ready for chips away to do thier bit.
As said in previous post as you can see, its the prep work that takes the time. If you are local to me id give you a hand doing it but don't know if you are or not. hope the guide helps.
Bumper back
You need to key the back area, i.e with a knife or grinder so that the bond has something to key to. Make the area large enough so that you can properly reinforce the area. I would then cut a piece of ally to suit to bridge the crack.(5-6mm ally plate) Fix this in place with tiger seal and let it set solid. once set cut off any surplus and tidy the area. Then do as stated in the above posts and bridge over the whole lot on the back with fiberglass. I would however use a fiberglass paste out of a tub or squidgy tube that you add activator to rather than the matting as its easier and less messy and just as strong. Let this set up then tidy up the back with a 'flaaper disk' or gringing wheel. When happy paint the back with just matt or gloss black or paint to suit car colour and thts the back and reinforcing sorted. Dosen't matter what the paint looks like on the back as long as its covered as it will make the repair less obvious.
Bumper front
You need to grind down the cracks on the front to make like a v shape between each side of the carck so that the whole thing looks like a v. This then needs bridging with the same fiberglass you used on the back with the same principles as stated above about the keying and prep etc. Once you have preped and glassed the front and let set, tidy it up, weather a flapper or grinding disk or heavy grade paper is needed. The end result after glassing is take make sure that all cracks are filled with fiberglass and that no part is pertruding above. if any part of fiber glass is lower that is perfectly acceptable and better as you will get more filler in.Once happy and all sharp edges have been removed you need to prep fro the filler. Sand all the area that you need to fill with 240 or 320 grade paper to ruff up. you will need to sand an area bigger than the crack so that the filler can adhear. Once done your ready for filling. I recomend an easy sand body filler as its easier to sand as the name says and puts less stress on the repair as you wont have to press on as hard. Fill the carck with a spreader or spatcular. Take time to get it as soomth as you can and as neat as you can as this will make the sanding easier. Once its set, your ready for sanding. you will need to use a 'soft sanding block' to avoid you causing any unwanted divets in the filler/original paintwork. Once sanded, if your happy apply a thin coat of primer and assess the situation again as this will show up any holes or divets better to the naked eye. If there are divets repeat the filling process untill happy. you will need to sand the filler to key in if this is the case.
Once happy you will need to dand the whole area you want to paint and the filler you have done with the soft block. Work your way through the grades down to about 600 grade. Once your happy with the area and finish, wipe with a lint free cloth and either pannel wipe or standard thinners.
Your then ready for priming. Choose a decent quality primer. Spray the area in thin coats (best to follow the instructions on the tin). Thats that. its then ready for chips away to do thier bit.
As said in previous post as you can see, its the prep work that takes the time. If you are local to me id give you a hand doing it but don't know if you are or not. hope the guide helps.
Last edited by biggazvr6; 12 March 2011 at 11:01 AM.
12 March 2011, 11:46 AM
#9
fellas this is much appreciated
Biggaz - big respect for the offer to help1 unfortunately although being a cheshire boy im a South Londoner these days..but thanks for the how to guide, looks like its a toss up of self repair or it may just be cheaper and less time consuming to replace it with a plastic one? I do like it painted but i can imagine it happening again with the roads of London town so may leave it plain....
would we say plastic would be the better option over fibreglass?
Biggaz - big respect for the offer to help1 unfortunately although being a cheshire boy im a South Londoner these days..but thanks for the how to guide, looks like its a toss up of self repair or it may just be cheaper and less time consuming to replace it with a plastic one? I do like it painted but i can imagine it happening again with the roads of London town so may leave it plain....
would we say plastic would be the better option over fibreglass?
12 March 2011, 11:54 AM
#10
Scooby Regular
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: Disco, Disco!
Posts: 21,825
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
fellas this is much appreciated
Biggaz - big respect for the offer to help1 unfortunately although being a cheshire boy im a South Londoner these days..but thanks for the how to guide, looks like its a toss up of self repair or it may just be cheaper and less time consuming to replace it with a plastic one? I do like it painted but i can imagine it happening again with the roads of London town so may leave it plain....
would we say plastic would be the better option over fibreglass?
Biggaz - big respect for the offer to help1 unfortunately although being a cheshire boy im a South Londoner these days..but thanks for the how to guide, looks like its a toss up of self repair or it may just be cheaper and less time consuming to replace it with a plastic one? I do like it painted but i can imagine it happening again with the roads of London town so may leave it plain....
would we say plastic would be the better option over fibreglass?
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
shorty87
Full Cars Breaking For Spares
19
22 December 2015 11:59 AM