Bumper cover repair

[weebl]

So my wife called me while I was at work yesterday, and said the front bumper was ruined. The way she was describing it made me think a whole corner was ripped right off, or at least snapped. Likely from bumping a snow bank, or from another vehicle in a parking lot. My five year old son was convinced it was when she bumped a snow bank.

Anyway, when I saw it, it wasn't anywhere near as bad as she described. Crack is about 5 to 6 inches long, right hand corner, pretty much from the middle of where the bumper cover cruves from the front to the side, running from the bottom to the fog light opening. I was able to wiggle the pieces so that nothing is sticking out, and if I hold it together, it matches up nicely and cleanly (only a hairline visible), but of course, it won't stay that way by itself right now (I didn't try too hard to get it to align just yet).

The vehicle is a 2006 Toyota Sienna. I've seem some repair techniques online, particularly the 3M system info video on youtube. Looks straightforward, though time consuming and I have no idea what the materials will cost. If I can do a good sturdy patch from the inside only, leaving the hairline paint crack on the front, I'd be happy with that. Not looking to spend a fortune, and I will be waiting until spring before I start fiddling around. Not big on a repaint idea (either replacement bumper cover, which I think is unnecessary, or repaint the existing repaired cover). In my experience, repainted bumper covers never seem to hold the paint well, then of course there's the added cost of having a body shop paint it.

Anyone attempted such a repair successfully? I realize there are several types of plastic used, so of course if it is a plastic specific method, I'd need to figure out what exactly Toyota uses to make their bumper covers.

 

[Trav]

Repairing them is relatively easy if its not too bad.
You need to remove the cover and grind a V on the crack from inside.Grind the surrounding area and fill with repair material.Let it dry and sand it flat,grind the whole surrounding area with a dremel tool.
From the junk yard grab a small piece from a damaged bumper then cut it slightly larger than the crack,grind both sides rough and use the repair compound to affix it over the crack,let dry and spread repair material over the whole area.

Sand the front of the cover slightly and use a little of the repair material to fill any defects,finish sand.

Use a plastic adhesion promoter spray just before using primer,duplicolor make on in a spray can for about $6.
prep is everything,i have painted covers with base coat clear coat years ago that still look perfect today.

Sand with 400 and use duplicolor self etching primer (green) before using the normal primer.use prepsol in between all coats and finish with base/clear.

You can plastic weld them but that's a whole different procedure and requires some equipment.

I use this stuff.

http://www.sjdiscounttools.com/sem68422.html

 

[bepperb]

I've done more than I'd care to admit.

I've done fiberglass from the inside and left the crack when it was in an inconspicuous area. That worked well. I've also bought them from a junkyard in a matching color and while I haven't found a place online that does them, the ebay seller aircardcorp has also done me right (they will paint and mail you a bumper, this is all they do and they do a good job, my painted Accord bumper (on my third in 56,000 miles) was ~250 shipped). The caveat of either of those options is that some colors (black, dark grey) are easier to match than others (most others).

Changing the bumper cover is a five minute job, the hardest part of which is finding enough cardboard to cover the floor as to have a surface to hold the bumper before you get it on and not scratch it. Painting a bumper isn't something I'm brave enough to do myself. Last tidbit, buy some of the push connectors you are sure to break while doing this.

 

[weebl]

Thanks! Sounds like I should be able to do a patch from the inside on this. Do I need to match the plastic type for this (i.e. scrap piece of bumper) or could I use a plastic patch like those made by 3M with this glue (or maybe 3M's version for better compatibility)?