A dented bumper can really ruin the look of your car, and they can be especially annoying to fix. Auto shops will charge you hundreds of dollars just to fix simple dents, and that just may not seem worth the price, if the damage isn’t affecting your car’s performance. So instead of using a professional service, you may consider auto bumper repair yourself. Repairing the surface isn’t that difficult, and practically anyone is capable no matter what level of expertise you have with automotive work.
The first you’ll want to buy some form of auto bumper repair product, so that you can begin fixing your vehicle. Because the bumper is usually made from plastic, you won’t be able to knock out a dent the same way that you could on a different car surface. The best way to go about auto bumper repair is to fill the dent with some sort of filler, so that it appears as though the damage never occurred in the first place. You can find all sorts of adhesives at any department store’s automotive section. Typically any type of repair adhesive will cost you around $5 to $15 depending upon the type you choose, and the amount that you buy.
But before you can apply the auto bumper repair solution, there’s some preparation steps that you will need to take. The first of which will be removing the bumper entirely, so that you can perform the work more easily. Usually this will mean using a ratchet to completely remove all bolts connected to the bumper. If you aren’t familiar with vehicle work, you’ll want to refer to your owner’s manual to figure out the locations for taking the bumper off, and then reinstalling later. From there you’ll be able to move the bumper to a more convenient work area, but remember, they can be heavy so you may want assistance when carrying the object, to ensure you don’t damage the surface further.
From there you’ll need to sand down the entire area around the dent, as well as the dents themselves. You’ll need to do this until the surface is completely smooth so that the auto bumper repair solution can really take hold. If the area isn’t completely smooth, then the filler can’t take hold properly and could fall off over time, as your vehicle is exposed to the standard bumps and jostles you would expect from the road. A good way to check the quality of your surface, is to run water over the sanded area, when the water runs directly off without leaving droplets, you know the area is properly smooth.
From there you’re ready to apply your auto bumper repair filler, and usually you’ll want to do this one coat at a time leaving about 10 to 15 minutes for each coat to dry. Then simply keep applying coats until you have a spot that sticks out from the dented area. Then when the filler has completely dried, you can simply sand down the new bump until it fits in with the rest of the bumper seamlessly. Then you’ll simply want to apply some sort of touch up paint, and your auto bumper repair is complete.