Bumper Skin Crash Repair

[galaxy]

sooooo...I could go into detail about how this happened, but it would be irrelevant. The main question is how would you guys repair this?? Can they fix the plastic? Does this call for a whole skin replacement? All those questions? I don’t want to live with it. I want to fix it. And yes, I can do the R&R myself, but curious what’s the best approach. I’m not going to take it and leave it to the whem of a body shop if all they’re going to do is R&R the skin anyways. Thanks guys.

Sponsored

 

[Tomster]

A good PDR guy can do ABS plastic as well. I see some of the paint is damaged, and maybe, just maybe it can be touched up and wet sanded. Spraying the whole bumper would be $$ and then the stripes.....

 

[Western Stang]

sooooo...I could go into detail about how this happened, but it would be irrelevant. The main question is how would you guys repair this?? Can they fix the plastic? Does this call for a whole skin replacement? All those questions? I don’t want to live with it. I want to fix it. And yes, I can do the R&R myself, but curious what’s the best approach. I’m not going to take it and leave it to the whem of a body shop if all they’re going to do is R&R the skin anyways. Thanks guys.

Some times and only some times if you pour boiling hot water on it you can get it to pop back then touch up the paint..

 

[galaxy]

$488 for a brand new bumper skin, if I have to go that route. Hurts, but not as bad as I thought it'd be.

Last time I had something repaired was a damaged wing on my Focus ST. Some damage repair and paint was $250 and they did a darn good job. Based on that experience, can't imagine it would be much, if any, more than that with the skin off the car.

Some times and only some times if you pour boiling hot water on it you can get it to pop back then touch up the paint..

Yea, I've seen that, but I don't think it will work on this. I know what you're talking about and I don't think this is that type of dent. But I will give it a try for sure. Yea Tom, just that one small spot of paint damage. If it were just that and no dents, I'd try touching that up and live with it. Oh well...shit happens. I'll at least drop by the shop and get an estimate and see what they say about any possible repair on it.

 

[galaxy]

Swung by the body shop today. My guys said this totally a repairable damage. Even said as good as this skin fits, he’d surely on this one shy away from a new skin and trying to get it to fit right. Long story short, I stand to save ~$300 getting this one repaired. Whatcha think?? Worth the shot?

 

[SVTinAR]

I would say it's worth a shot - they repair that type of damage every day. Not sure if this is a dealer body shop but I've had very good experience with the Ford dealership body & paint shop near me.

 

[BlackandBlue]

It’s plastic. It can be repaired like it was never there. Plastics have a memory when heated correctly.

Little touch up paint and clear. Wet sand and buff. It will disappear.

He will fix it.

 

[galaxy]

Done! Thanks guys, I shall go this route.

Now the suck of replacing the two stripe sections. Don’t think that will be salvaged, and those suckers are pricey for what they are. Heck, that stupid small section on the top of the bumper is just over $100 even from WhiteBearLakeFord!

 

[galaxy]

Repaired, not replaced. Local Ford dealer body shop nailed it. Absolutely ZERO reason to shell out money on a new bumper skin for this repair. Figure repair vs replace saved me ~$2-300 in the end. Picture doesn't do it justice. It looks like it did to begin with. I did have to bring it home and do some touch up polishing, but that was to be expected. No body shop is gonna finish out the paint to my final standards. But they nailed the repair and the paint job. No filler or anything like that was used. All original skin repaired with heat and whatever tools they use. I threw in a good tip on the side and bought all the guys lunch so they take their time and do it right. And just as a side note...the light showing the orange peel in the license plate area looks worse in the pic than it really is. And it's only in that area. The entire surface of the bumper came out just as it was before the damage and matches the car.

 

[SVTinAR]

That looks great.

 

[galaxy]

Paint guy said ~30 days before any type of wax or coating, AND before putting stripes back on. You guys agree? Seems long, but maybe....

 

[Jetnoise]

Paint guy said ~30 days before any type of wax or coating, AND before putting stripes back on. You guys agree? Seems long, but maybe....

That's good advice I think...can't hurt.
The true testament to your original question of repair or replace shows or doesn't show the ugly for a couple of years. Not 1 week. I believe White paint is more forgiving than some other colors as well.
I'm assuming you footed the bill on this repair.

 

[galaxy]

I did pay out of pocket, yes. And the dealer gave me a lifetime warranty on the repair. I expressed my concern about future paint failure on these plastic parts. He saw my car (I took the bumper off myself for the repair) so they knew how picky I am, and knowing how dealership techs get paid, that’s also why I gave them a fat tip on the DL to take their time and do it right.

I assume then the time delay is to allow for any offgassing to occur? The paint is obviously cured and hard enough to polish.

 

[J-Stang]

I did pay out of pocket, yes. And the dealer gave me a lifetime warranty on the repair. I expressed my concern about future paint failure on these plastic parts. He saw my car (I took the bumper off myself for the repair) so they knew how picky I am, and knowing how dealership techs get paid, that’s also why I gave them a fat tip on the DL to take their time and do it right.

I assume then the time delay is to allow for any offgassing to occur? The paint is obviously cured and hard enough to polish.

Hey Galaxy, you are correct, the 30 days is to allow for offgassing. If you wax or seal it could turn cloudy and haze over. I learned that the hard way with my 15' GT 4 years ago when I had to have some bumper work done. Thanks for sharing your experience!

 

[ameapm2000]

Repaired, not replaced. Local Ford dealer body shop nailed it. Absolutely ZERO reason to shell out money on a new bumper skin for this repair. Figure repair vs replace saved me ~$2-300 in the end. Picture doesn't do it justice. It looks like it did to begin with. I did have to bring it home and do some touch up polishing, but that was to be expected. No body shop is gonna finish out the paint to my final standards. But they nailed the repair and the paint job. No filler or anything like that was used. All original skin repaired with heat and whatever tools they use. I threw in a good tip on the side and bought all the guys lunch so they take their time and do it right. And just as a side note...the light showing the orange peel in the license plate area looks worse in the pic than it really is. And it's only in that area. The entire surface of the bumper came out just as it was before the damage and matches the car.

Looks good.

Sponsored