Bumper Smoothing

[sonic6n2]

Right.....I've recently got myself a replacement rear bumper (it came with some scuffs and has a little crack in the bottom which I'm going to fix, probably melt the crack with a soldering iron or fibreglass it, not sure yet) but anyway back to the main point....

progress on the bumper is not much lol, after i got home from my exam i managed to get both of the bump strips out, took about 20 minutes to get both the left side and right side out, once i got a couple of clips off i found a method to take the rest of easily and quickly lol

Tools Used:
http://img24.imageshack.us/my.php?image ... 111324.jpg


Before (click images to enlarge):
http://img11.imageshack.us/my.php?image ... 312.th.jpg[/img]
http://img26.imageshack.us/my.php?image ... 320.th.jpg[/img]
http://img26.imageshack.us/my.php?image ... 321.th.jpg[/img]

In Progress (click images to enlarge):
http://img4.imageshack.us/my.php?image= ... 321.th.jpg[/img]
http://img8.imageshack.us/my.php?image= ... 321.th.jpg[/img]
http://img8.imageshack.us/my.php?image= ... 327.th.jpg[/img]

After (click images to enlarge):
http://img11.imageshack.us/my.php?image ... 111326.jpg

http://img25.imageshack.us/my.php?image ... 11326y.jpg

http://img26.imageshack.us/my.php?image ... 111336.jpg


next step is sanding the area where the bump strips were (the black bits) and the area around the bump strips

can anyone give me any advice ? should i plastic weld in some plastic and recess it a bit so that i can fill on top (after sanding of course) or shall i just go all out and use body filler/bumper filler or fibreglass and slowly build it up and then prep for paint ?

i thought i might aswell give it a go and see how hard it is to smooth a bumper plus i wanna learn how to do it, so I'm kinda teaching myself lol, the recess on the 6n2 bumpers aren't as deep as the recess on the 6n bumpers, i thought they would have the same kind of recess.

but anyway, ill keep you all posted on the progress, tomorrow i should be sanding the whole bumper, getting it ready for filling

can anyone give me any advice ? should i plastic weld in some plastic and recess it a bit so that i can fill on top (after sanding of course) or shall i just go all out and use body filler/bumper filler or fibreglass and slowly build it up and then prep for paint ?

cheers for any help/advice anyone can give

[kipper]

doing exactly the same as me. i got a replacement rear bumper to smooth myself and now gonna redo another bumper.... long story.

i totally removed the black bits by cutting them away with a jigsaw and then having the open space to weld. if u dont wanna do that u can try to use the plastic from the bump strips and weld it across. i personally, cause i got a rear and front bumper to smooth i got a another bumper to cut up to use as welding plastic if that makes any sense.

cant fibre glass it tho it wont stick properly .....

u could always sand the black bits to roughen it up then put some fibre glass in the recess and then leave it bit below the surface then use a bit of filler to smooth it of......

[sonic6n2]

doing exactly the same as me. i got a replacement rear bumper to smooth myself and now gonna redo another bumper.... long story.

i totally removed the black bits by cutting them away with a jigsaw and then having the open space to weld. if u dont wanna do that u can try to use the plastic from the bump strips and weld it across. i personally, cause i got a rear and front bumper to smooth i got a another bumper to cut up to use as welding plastic if that makes any sense.

cant fibre glass it tho it wont stick properly .....

u could always sand the black bits to roughen it up then put some fibre glass in the recess and then leave it bit below the surface then use a bit of filler to smooth it of......

yeah im gonna sand down everything, gonna sand it to FOOK!, but quick question, what kind of plastic did you use to weld ? does it have to be the exact same plastic ? like, cutting up a bumper and then using that ?

[8080]

I took the strips at that stage and cut off the curved edges, so I was left with a "belt" of plastic, same width as the raised center part of the recess.

Then I held the belt at a 45 degree angle to the bumper recess and heated up the angle with a heat gun. It all melts together sticks nicely. There's a risk you might distort the bumper tho if you give it too much heat, or press the belt into it too hard.

Then I went along and blended in the edge of the belt with the edge of the recess. Using a soldering iron and the offcuts from the bump strip as filler.

I left the recess in place to keep strength in the bumper. I think kipper's way is fine though

And that's where I left it last year, never finished. It's very strong though and I can twist the bumper no problems. My bumper needs final filling, but I can't be arsed, I've a Scirocco on the way

what kind of plastic did you use to weld

It's pp-epdm. You'll see it stamped on the back of the bumper and rub strips. It's hard to get this type from plastic suppliers, so just cut up another bumper / strip

[kipper]

thats y i said about i got yet another spare bumper but i smoothed my front bumper as well so not as bad.

if ur lucky someone might have some spare plastic hanging around that u can have/buy.