In detail: do-it-yourself bumper repair soldering putty primer from a real master for the site my.housecope.com.
Greetings dear readers!
Let's talk about the technology of filling and painting plastic car bumpers.
Plastic car bumpers require special materials that are different from those used for repairing metal body panels.
Plastic bumpers are flexible and more prone to vibration. Therefore, the bumper filler must also be flexible. The use of a filler not intended for repairing bumpers may cause further cracking.
So which putty should you use? Any manufacturer of putties has a special putty for bumpers. For example, from Novol it is Bamper Fix. Some manufacturers now have a carbon fiber putty (black). It is intended not only for body repair, but can also be used for plastering plastic. It is durable and elastic at the same time.
I will clarify once again that the putty for repairing bumpers should not only be strong (for example, as a putty with fiberglass), but also elastic.
Fiberglass mat and epoxy kits are not recommended for repairing plastic bumpers. The same can be said for fiberglass putty.
On the Internet, you can still find videos showing how to repair a plastic bumper with a resin kit with a fiberglass mat. This is contrary to all technologies for the correct repair of plastic bumpers. It is quite possible that such a repair will last for some time, but at the slightest impact it will surely crack.
Video (click to play).
Correct bumper repair should include heating and straightening the deformed areas, and sealing the cracks with special hair dryers and filler rods made of the same material as the bumper being repaired (see the article “repairing plastic bumpers”). Further, as described above, special elastic putties are applied.
The principle is that if you need to paint a new, uncovered plastic bumper, you must first prime it with a special primer for plastic bumpers. To do this, you just need to degrease the bumper, it is not necessary to grind the plastic, but it will not hurt (see more details here). After priming, wait 5 to 20 minutes and apply the paint. Also, before applying acrylic fill primer to the repair area with areas of “bare” plastic, it is required to prime with a special plastic primer (see photo).
The special plastic primer is one component and does not require dilution with hardener. It is sold in two versions: for spraying with a spray gun and in a spray can. It does not require sanding.
Some new bumpers are sold with a pre-painted gray primer. Such bumpers must be treated with fine sanding paper or gray adhesive tape and painted immediately.
If you want to prime a repaired bumper containing areas of "bare" plastic with acrylic filler primer, you also need to prime the bare plastic with a special primer for plastic, and then, after a while (it is better to check the instructions), prime it with acrylic primer. ... After hardening, the acrylic primer must be prepared for painting by grinding with a fine abrasive, degreased and painted.
Most modern car bumpers are made of polypropylene (PP). This plastic has a low surface energy, which is not very good for coloring. This metric affects how the paint will flow and adhere to the part. The plastic primer acts on a chemical level and increases the adhesion of the paint to the bumper. If the "bare" plastic bumper is not primed with a special primer, the paint will not last long and reliably. You may have noticed cars on which paint from the bumpers will peel off in clumps. Usually these are taxi drivers who save on repairs and turn to unskilled craftsmen. This is exactly the case when no special primer was used before painting the bumper. You can also read the article on “preparing a new bumper for painting”. It describes in detail the subtleties of preparation, which make it possible to exclude the occurrence of problems during painting and further operation.
If the bumper is factory-painted, then when repainting it in a different color, you need to make the old paint matte with a fine abrasive, degrease and paint. In this case, priming is not necessary. Should be primed with filling primer only in the presence of minor defects.
Previously, special additives were popular to increase the elasticity of the paint. One of the drawbacks of such additives is that they affect the shade of the paint. Now most often they use the same paint as for painting the body, but the plastic bumper is pre-primed with a special primer, which was described above, which increases the adhesion to plastic. The shade of paint on the bumpers, however, may differ from the body. This is especially noticeable on light colors with a metallic effect. You can read about the reasons for this discrepancy in another article about the difference between the color of the bumper and the color of the body.
Pole assembled McLaren F1 with his own hands from scratch
Today we will talk about how to conduct do-it-yourself repair of plastic bumpers (both front and rear bumpers). After all, sooner or later driving a car along city streets, bumpy roads and "traffic jams" will do its job, and you will receive a portion of damage to the car bumper. In principle, this is what you need to do to soften a blow or hitting an obstacle. But the repair and painting of the bumper can be forced measures when its age exceeds all the terms. By and large, DIY bumper repair the process is not complicated! Consists of four simple procedures.
DIY bumper painting - quite a simple procedure, which practically does not differ from painting the body. You just need to understand the technology.
We'll take a look at how to paint a plastic bumper.
You should know that there are 2 types of bumper painting - full and local. The difference between them is only in the area and the amount of materials used. Local painting does not require dismantling.
What materials and equipment might you need?
The main tool is an orbital sander. In its absence, it is easily replaced with an electric drill with attachments.
A “sandwich” or foam adapter will help connect the sole of the machine to the abrasive disc.
Soldering iron and sandpaper. Please note that the soldering iron must have good power in case you need to weld cracks, for example.
Solvent or white spirit.
Putty, paint, primer and varnish.
When repairing a bumper at home, it is not always possible to use a sander, you can take sandpaper.
Do not forget about safety precautions when repair of plastic bumpers... Buy a mask or respirator that will come in handy when working with a spray gun.
And now we will talk about how to prepare a car bumper to painting.
First, wash the surface thoroughly and try to remove tar and grease stains. Use special chemicals to clean the plastic bumper.
Then treat the surface with thinner or white spirit.
The next step is cleaning the surface with a sharp object. You should remove any loose pieces of old paintwork.
At home, you can either solder or glue the bumper. But it is best to solder seam!
Grinding plastic bumper
Prepare the plastic bumper for further work using a sander with a disc # 240.
Do everything carefully, especially carefully clean and smooth the corners and, of course, chips. Where it will not be possible to walk with a typewriter, work by hand, the more you get the best result. The main thing is to use a coarse skin - p120. Sand the seam carefully.
The appearance of the bumper after grinding.
When done, blow air over the surface of the auto bumper. Please note that if you find a crack after this, immediately repair it on both sides with a soldering iron.
