scrappydog

I managed to catch the nearside corner of my front bumper on my gatepost (doh!). It put quite a few deep gouges in it, but I *think* it's repairable. Does anyone have any tips on how to go about this? i.e. what type of filler should I use on a bumper? Should I cut the gouges bigger before filling? etc...

Cheers,

Andy

the big yim

the main point when repairing plastics is not to use anything too course when sanding it. it will cause the plastic to go 'furry' which i a nightmare to get rid of.
the best thing to start with it to get a sharp blade (stanly knife) and cut off any raised edges of plastic.
then sand it all down with p400 sandpaper and a block. to make sure you get any high spots out.
then dry it all off. making sure its completly dry or the filler won't stick.
i usually find the best approach on bumpers is to just fill the gouges on the first skim of filler. so on the second one it gives you more of a level playing field to work with.
i find that spraying the filler with a black aerosol when you think its spot on, then sand the surface, this will show any small holes or low spots.
there are special plastic fillers you can use which are more flexible, so they move with the plastic. But any filler should be ok to use.
then prime, flat with 800. then 1200 and paint.
sorry for any bad english but im still a bit drunk .
hope this helps and feel free to ask me anything else. been reparing bumpers for about 9 years now.

struv

yep hes rite about the plastic going furry. wot i usualy do is da the scratches with p80 then p180 to remove as much of the scratch as poss. then fill the remaining ones with eazy 1 filler. block out with p180. when your happy its a1 prime with bodyline 2k primer wich will seal in any furry bits and give you a good key. let it go off over nite then sand again with p180 and celly prime. about an hour later wet flat the primed area with p800 and the rest with p1200. dry and mask off panel wipe and tack off mix up appropriate base coat and initialy colour up the primed area then dust it over the coated up areas and the adjoing areas (ie blowing it in). when its dried off a little tack off and apply two coats of 2k laquer job done

scrappydog

great advice guys!

Cheers,

Andy