Almost all bumpers of the new car models already shine in the body color as standard. And yet there is still flexible plastic under the paintwork. And when when parking or driving into the garage such a stylishly polished bumper comes into contact with anything, everything suddenly becomes terribly expensive.
Today's bumpers are not the same as they used to be.
The barbells that used to be heavy with chromium did not like abrasions at all. Yes, the dent could be easily removed with professional hammering, but it was much harder to repair cracked chrome than peeled plastic.
Talented DIY enthusiasts can pick up traces of close third-degree encounters with sandpaper, special putty for plastic and spray can of varnish.
A heated garage is absolutely necessary for this cosmetic operation, otherwise the putty will not react sufficiently and the varnish will not stick to it. If the bumper is not dismantled on the body during repair, we have to cover all the surrounding parts of the car with newspapers, to protect them from unintentional spray of paint.
If the plastic bumper takes more serious "wounds", we will immediately notice the clear advantages of plastic compared to the chrome of the past: dents can be pushed out, and the torn out internal fasteners can be re-glued.
Repair begins from the outside:
• najpierw grubo zeszlifowujemy lakier wokół „rany”,
• wgniecenie mocno podgrzewamy dmuchawą (np. for removing paints), then stuff it from the inside with a round wooden block,
• schładzamy uszkodzenie,
• szlifujemy drobne nierówności,
• natryskujemy szpachlę do plastiku (e.g. Primer), wait for it to dry, we putty and smooth it.
Now for the internal fastening:
• miejsce pęknięcia oczyszczamy i odtłuszczamy,
• natryskujemy Primer i odczekujemy aż wyschnie,
• straighten the bracket and glue it to the bumper with two-component glue,
• lekko dociskamy wspornik, so that the glue can actually "catch" it and keep it for a few minutes,
• taki specjalny klej świetnie nadaje się także do trwatej naprawy mniejszych pęknięć i rys,
• do większych uszkodzeń można zastosować specjalne wzmacniające arkusze waty szklanej.
Materials for such repair are available at specialized chemical stores. They are much cheaper than a new bumper. So it still pays off to fix it instead of throwing it out.
The question of varnishing remains. If someone is not satisfied with the varnish from a can, may return the bumper to the painter. But it costs at least 200-300 zlotys.