Can a Mustang bumper fascia with a 1 inch tear be repaired?

Question

I have a '97 Mustang with a small 1 inch tear in the bottom lip (it snagged on a piece of re-bar sticking out the top of a parking lot concrete block...then tore when I backed off of it). Can the tear be repaired.....vs the high $$ cost of replacing it? Any and all suggestions are welcome, even the funny ones.

Answer 1

Is it repairable, yes. But not by the methods that are spoken here. I do these repairs daily for a living. You can even buy the products online if you do body work/painting yourself.

The product is a ribbon of plastic as the bumper is and it has fiberglass hairs in it. You cut the tear area by 1/8" just to create a clean surface that is not torn. You then score the edges with a knife. Then using a soldering iron or a modelers heating tool, you actually melt the ribbon into the bumper as if your were welding or soldering. Heaping extra on of course.

Then once dry, matter of minutes, you DA sand the area down and remold it as best as you can. Now the plastic is sealed and healed and as if new. Just placing bondo or filler over a tear will result in it breaking once bumped. A plastic weld will hold as if new.

Then from this point its just a matter of a skim coat of bondo/filler to get the exact shape, primer, paint, clearcoat, done.

If the tear is big enough, I have even cut out the entire damaged area and then cut off scrapes from junk bumpers and welded it all into place then finished it like a normal job.

Most body shops aren't into the plastic welding as they are old school taught. Call up used car dealers and find the local touch up paint (cosmetic) companies in town, a few of them I am sure will offer the service. As we automotive cosmetologists is who invented this process to begin with years ago.

edit: some pics of a tiburon I did last wk

http://rutroe.wordpress.com/files/2007/08/dscf6663.jpg
http://rutroe.wordpress.com/files/2007/08/dscf6666.jpg

Answer 2

Your best repair option depends on where the damage is. I've carefully cut away material around tears in bumper covers, basically re-contouring the edge so the damage is no longer apparent. A good body shop can use a specialized heat gun and plastic filler to 'weld' up cracks if there isn't a huge gap. You might want to check the salvage yards and see if you can get a deal on a used one, although for some strange reasons junked Mustangs tend to all have their front ends smashed. And of course there's duct tape.

Answer 3

So are you speaking concerning the bumper disguise it is an component of the physique and what maximum individuals could evaluate the bumper or the undercarriage disguise that protects the radiator below the bumper? in case you broken the physique then i could only advise getting a sparkling one. there's no telling how stable glue would be and that concern could fall off at any 2d. If that's the undercarriage disguise than i could say the comparable concern - or only forget approximately concerning the priority. I had the undercarriage masking rip off my Toyota MR2 and in no way had an issue in 3 years of employing it. i think in case you force on dirt roads and have a extreme probability of rocks getting up in there, you're able to choose to swap it, nevertheless.

Answer 4

Yes it can be repaired, many really good bodymen do this with a special process when done correctly the repaired area is undectable as having been damaged

as for the cost or what they charge to do this I do not know... I've never had one done for me personally

I've just seen vehicles personally before and after repair was done including the area having been repainted

Walt

Answer 5

Yeah you can fix it with Bondo...but if it is underneath where it is hard to see I really wouldnt worry much about it....My husband is a paint and body man and he fixes stuff like that all the time!

Answer 6

yes, If the tear will line up correctly there is a puddy that you can use to fill in the missing chips then you will have to buff it out.