FiveLiterCheater

A couple weeks ago, I came back home and noticed someone nailed my rear bumper and obviously fled the scene. Anyways, I was gonna go through insurance but the deductable just isn't worth it as I can pretty much buy a new bumper and have it sprayed for the same $$. Avoiding that route, I figured I might as well take off the bumper and see what I could do with it.

To my surprise, there is zero paint damage, it was just pushed in and taken off the clips. I managed to push the dent out by hand, but the creases along the rear don't really match up and you can still see that it was hit. Don't get me wrong, it looks 1000x better than it did before, but things like this bother me I'm gonna call up some shops tomorrow to get some quotes, but is it even possible to reshape the bumper? The damage is in a horrible spot, right under the tail light area where all the creases meet.My friend said once they lose shape theyre pretty much finished but i'd like to get some other opinions before I buy a new one.

-J

Gfaze

It would probably cost just as much trying to repair the bumper as opposed to buying a new one to replace it with. I don't think it'll be worth it.

FiveLiterCheater

Damn...I was hoping it would cost around 75-100 tops....new bumper will set me back $225, then getting it sprayed for 250-275.

Is there anything else I can do to the bumper? I'm going to try heating it up then lining up the creases myself...

Gfaze

That seems like a lot of money to paint a bumper. I'd shop around for a better quote. I suppose you can try heating it up but I wouldn't hold my breath.

alexSU

iTrader: (3)

Try looking at junk yards or something. I know they probably don't have to many TLs around but still worth it.

Car-parts can be another place to find one.

KaMLuNg

iTrader: (5)

if it is in an akward spot, it may be hard to fix... if you need to get the new bumper painted, you may just be better off letting a body shop fix it and then paint it...

FiveLiterCheater

Well I fixed the bumper looks brand new! Remade the clips and everything haha

As far as forming it went, I used a heat gun and super heated the bumper from the back and molded it with one of those roller things they use for painting corners. Took a couple hours but there's no way you can tell I even got hit! I eeven managed to polish out 95% of the scratches

alexSU

iTrader: (3)

Nice

gatrhumpy

iTrader: (1)

Pics?

gatrhumpy

iTrader: (1)

You must have been excited.

I was too last night after I fixed a scratch in my wife's Civic's hood. It was bothering me. It was too deep to buff out but I could not justify painting it again because of a scratch. I decided to take a chance.

I taped off the scratch. In other words, I only taped the edges of the scratch, so when I went to go put touch-up paint on it, it would fill in only the scratch, and not the surrounding paint. I used blue painters tape for this because of its superior bendability.

I then painted the scratch, making sure there was no rust in the scratch, using touch-up paint.

After three days of letting it dry, I then wet-sanded it, in one direction, using MeGuier's Instant Detailer and 2000 automotive use sandpaper. I went very lightly on the surface as to minimize the damage to the surrounding clearcoat.

After it was perfectly smooth, and I could not feel the touch-up paint bump any more, I wiped away the debris using a microfiber cloth.

I then used MeGuier's Ultimate Compound to buff away the wet-sanded marks. I was amazed when the scratch had disappeared. I was excited. I went into my house jumping up and down, because I had never done that before.

Me: "I'm so excited honey! I just fixed a scratch on your car! You can't even tell that it was even there!"

Wifey: (Blank stare.)

Me: "You owe me some action."

Wifey: "I'll call the dog over."

phee

iTrader: (5)