The car is a means of increased danger. Every day there is a risk of getting into an accident. And it doesn’t have to be your fault: it’s possible that in one of the parking lots a neighboring car will hit you, or someone will not keep the distance. Often in such cases, the plastic bumper is damaged. He was the first to take the blow of a multi-ton machine. How to straighten a plastic bumper? About this and not only - further in our article.
Types of deformations
Today, there are several types of damage to bumpers:
- Insignificant. These are external chips, cuts or, in the worst case, dents.
- Significant, which is accompanied by a rupture of the structure, a break and cracks.
When repairing a plastic bumper, one has to weld a new material onto an old one.
Final success depends on the welding technology, the number of layers of new plastic and subsequent grinding. To make a high-quality recovery with significant deformation, you will need a considerable set of tools. There are times when the price for repairing a plastic bumper is higher than for a new assembly. Therefore, before performing such an operation, it is necessary to correctly assess the extent of the damage and decide whether to change the whole element or restore the old one.
How long will it take?
Plastic bumper repair is performed in one daylight, with the exception of significant deformations in the form of cracks and breaks. To restore such an element, you need several layers of new plastic for welding.
This is a more costly undertaking than removing a scratch on a plastic bumper. Minor deformations can be restored in 3-4 hours.
How is repair done
This operation must be carried out without haste, especially if a large number of dents are present in the structure. The bumper plastic is preheated. For this purpose, use a building hair dryer or a heat gun.
At the next stage, dents are straightened. After the bumper give time to cool. Next is putty. It allows you to smooth out all the existing bumps that were previously. Even the highest quality dent repair requires subsequent puttying. After applying it, the composition cools for 20-30 minutes. Then it is ground using fine-grained sandpaper. Then the plastic element is prepared for the primer - thoroughly degreased and painted. The final stage will be the application of a layer of varnish and further polishing. After that, the restored element will again be suitable for operation.
Repair under significant deformations - gluing and painting
If the structure is made of fiberglass, it is straightened by gluing - cold forming. In this case, special polyurethane adhesive is used. His choice should be taken very carefully, because a poor-quality product does not guarantee the long durability of such a design.
Gluing is carried out in several stages. The first is preparation. Before applying the composition, the surface of the deformed bumper is thoroughly degreased. To do this, you can use any solvent, gasoline, white spirit. If chips and cracks are found on the surface, they should be thoroughly sanded with sandpaper. This is necessary for better adhesion of the adhesive to the plastic. It is worth remembering that repair of a plastic bumper using this technology is carried out from the inside. After applying the adhesive, it is necessary to wait until it completely hardens. Next, fiberglass putty - the so-called “epoxy” is applied to the exterior of the structure. Perhaps each of us came across it. The glue is mixed with the hardener and dipped into a characteristic "burlap". Further, this entire structure is applied to the place of the formed crack. The epoxy dries within 1 hour (depending on the volume of hardener used). Then all the rough ends are leveled with the help of a skin. After the bumper has the proper shape, you can proceed to its primer and painting. It must be applied with a spray gun at a distance of 30 centimeters. Otherwise, the accumulation of a large amount of paint will cause sagging, which will not affect the final result in the best way.
Heat welding
This recovery method is used if the bumper is made using the technology of hot molding of plastic. Thanks to heat sealing, it is possible to effectively remove not only chips, but also large cracks, and even holes.
To do this, use plastic (a similar composition as the bumper itself) and welding equipment. The bumper is placed on a flat surface - the torn parts take root to each other and thermal welding is performed from the inside.
The plastic used as a “substrate” must be of good quality - the strength of the repaired structure depends on its structure. After welding, the external surface goes through three standard stages - puttying, primer and painting. How much does a plastic bumper repair cost at a service station? The price of such a service starts at 5 thousand rubles. It includes soldering, puttying and local painting.
Lamination
If there is a dent in the plastic bumper, after which a crack has formed, restoration is carried out using lamination. This technology is often used on cars of Korean origin, where polyester resins are used to make bumpers . It consists in combining chips from two sides with their further gluing. This is done on the inside, as in all other cases. To make the structure as strong as possible, it is reinforced with a special mesh. Next put a layer of putty and paint.
By the way, this technology is used when it is necessary to restore a lost piece of a bumper. In place of this "hole" form a grid that will follow the contours of the factory element. The finished surface is coated with putty and cleaned.
At the same time, such mandatory points as degreasing and primer are observed. The latter serves as a kind of "substrate" for the primary layer of paint. If the repair of the plastic bumper is made qualitatively, the product will withstand the high pressure wash. However, after painting, the layer must be dried for 2-3 days, that is, do not wash the area with water.
Conclusion
So, we found out what technologies are used to repair a damaged car bumper. The process is very complex and always ends with full or local painting. Therefore, to make it with your own hands, you must have at least a compressor with a spray gun.