Fiberglass bumper repair??

[mazdaspeed777]

To all you fiberglass experts out there I am thinking about repairing my front bumper cover with some fiberglass and bondo my self. I have a tennis ball size hole in my bumper where a trailer hitch went through it:

And if you also see I also have a crack in the lower left hand side of my bumper(from a icey snow bank) that could probably be fixed with mostly bondo.

So my question is would the fiber glass have any problems sticking to my bumper and how would I go about repairing this damage?? I am thinking with the hole I could lay some fiberglass on the backside of the bumper and finish it off with some bondo on the front side of the bumper. So all your suggestion, hints, and how to's on this toppic would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance. Dan

 

[chuyler1]

Fiberglass doesn't stick very well to plastic. Usually people drill holes in a panel to adhere fiberglass to it but even that doesn't work out well if the piece flexes at all.

You are better off getting a small piece of ABS plastic and use some sort of plastic adhesive to glue it to the back. Then bondo the front and repaint.

however, if you are gonna go through the effort of having the bumper repainted then just get a new one. I assume you are trying to save money and not make a claim on your insurance but patching the hole is only a temporary solution and you won't get it looking new again.

 

[Kansei]

For reference, it's $197 for a new MSP front bumper cover from onlinemazdaparts.com. It's unpainted of course, don't know if it comes "ready for paint" though.

 

[mazdaspeed777]

For reference, it's $197 for a new MSP front bumper cover from onlinemazdaparts.com. It's unpainted of course, don't know if it comes "ready for paint" though.

Does that include the MSP lip, and shipping??

 

[mazdaspeed777]

Fiberglass doesn't stick very well to plastic. Usually people drill holes in a panel to adhere fiberglass to it but even that doesn't work out well if the piece flexes at all.

You are better off getting a small piece of ABS plastic and use some sort of plastic adhesive to glue it to the back. Then bondo the front and repaint.

however, if you are gonna go through the effort of having the bumper repainted then just get a new one. I assume you are trying to save money and not make a claim on your insurance but patching the hole is only a temporary solution and you won't get it looking new again.

Thats what I was worried about with the fiberglass not sticking to the plastic bumper. I wonder if I used all bondo with a plastic insert to fix the whole if it would crack. So yah I was going to do this to save some money. I have found several replacement bumpers that I can afford but then the shipping cost is about just as much as the dang bumper so I am kind of stuck here.

 

[Kansei]

Does that include the MSP lip, and shipping??

Doesn't include lip or shipping.. just the bare bumper.

 

[mazdaspeed777]

Doesn't include lip or shipping.. just the bare bumper.

Whats the point in getting the MSP version then if it doesn't include the lip??

 

[Kansei]

Whats the point in getting the MSP version then if it doesn't include the lip??

no orange sidemarker lights.. check www.flickr.com/photos/clauretano and search for a picture of my car on there (sorry I can't help more.. I'm at work, flickr is blocked)

you can kinda tell from this pic from a couple months ago:

 

[mazdaspeed777]

no orange sidemarker lights.. check www.flickr.com/photos/clauretano and search for a picture of my car on there (sorry I can't help more.. I'm at work, flickr is blocked)

you can kinda tell from this pic from a couple months ago:

Oh yah, thats right. I suppose it would be easyer to add the MSP lip later on as well. We will see how much shipping is. Thanks for the info though.

 

[mazdaspeed777]

So the shipping cost on that bumper would be another $125! on top of the $197 for the bumper for a grand total of $322! Plus I would have to paint it which would probably bring the grand total to around $400 or more. This is why I am trying to do this fix job my self cause I could probably only afford the $197.

 

[got_milk1998]

sont use fibreglass on your bumper it wont work well at all.....theres special products out there to repair bumpers...3m makes one and lord makes one, both really good products and easy to use if you follow the directions, im sure theres a bodyshop supply store or automotive store that you could find one of these products at....the 3m bumper repair is called Automix™ EZ Sand Flexible Parts Repair and the lord bumper repair is called Extreme Bumper Repair Adhesive #142 or #141

 

[mazdaspeed777]

^^^Sweet thanks for the product info, I will try and find some^^^ has anyone tried any of these products???

 

[chuyler1]

I think BigWoofer used that stuff to fabricate his door panels. I don't have a thread link for you though.

 

[got_milk1998]

most bodyshops use these products....i think SEM makes one as well, dont know the name though

 

[mazdaspeed777]

Ok, so I got this bondo wire mesh stuff that is sticky on one side for the hole and crack and was going to bondo over the mesh. Do you guys think that will work ok with the plastic stock bumper?? I also got the plastic bumper fix stuff as well

 

[exNeon]

i was quoted 250 for a msp bumper from my local dealer.
onlinemazdaparts would be a deal, but the shipping kills it.
interested to see how this goes, i also have a couple cracks.

 

[mazdaspeed777]

Yah, I will keep you guys updated on how this repair method works out. Will post some pics later. I might try and start the project this weekend. I will also be deleting the side bumper lights, and relocating the liscense plate to my lower grill so I can fill in the liscense plate bracket holes.

 

[mazdaspeed777]

Also do you guys know if Bondo spot putty would work on this kind of repair??