Bumper fill?

[JHZR2]

Another question related to my 91. The interior is pristine, most of the car has decent paint. I have another thread on a couple surface rust spots.

But the car must have gotten bumped the right way to just crack some of the plastic.

The bumper is original, doesn’t look to be repainted, has an OE Daimler VIN sticker attached underneath, etc. I’d like to keep the original bumper because of this.

The issue is this small hole. I guess it got hit just right to crack it.

Obviously it doesn’t look great, but I’m hoping maybe some kind of fill may hide it well enough.

Not sure if some sort of filler that can be open to the air on the backside could be used. I’m not opposed to removing the bumper and building it up slowly, then sanding the outside smooth, then painting when the time comes… or something like that.

But looking for recommendations on what might work to have a decent job. A 5-foot repair. Not a concours repair or a like new repair necessarily, as I intend to keep the bumper covers and chrome with their patina.

So… recommendations?

Thanks!

 

[Trav]

That is not a very difficult repair, I will do a write up later tonight, i am working at the moment.

This one was not missing a piece but was seriously cut and damaged. It didn't take much work but the materials cost a bit.
I had to blend the paint in on the bumper because the OE bumper color was a little darker and I didnt want to mess with the deck lid or quarter panel.

 

[FT92]

has a similar tear in my Honda bumper. not all that hard of a repair to do. I used a heat gun, got it as close to original as i could then used a mesh screen behind the tear( the mess screen being expoxy on behind the tear ) then used Bondo to finish it up . bought a rattle can to paint ., took the color code to napa and the mixed thee paint , no one has ever been able to tell it was damaged

 

[atikovi]

But looking for recommendations on what might work to have a decent job. A 5-foot repair. Not a concours repair or a like new repair necessarily, as I intend to keep the bumper covers and chrome with their patina.

Body shop I use would charge about $200 to fix that if I took the bumper off along with the chrome trim, including painting that side of the bumper.

 

[nthach]

The difficult part would be backing the area to be repaired. Mercedes used some kind of urethane AFAIK in the 1980s, but that break looks like they used Xenoy or a similar polycarbonate or ABS-based plastic(back then, Bayer was one of the world’s leaders in plastics behind GE and ICI).

It’s not a modern polyolefin bumper cover but does require some finesse to fix, not a break out the plastic welder and flexible plastics filler job.

 

[Trav]

These are what I use to repair these, same as in the video.

Remove the piece and scuff the rear of it with some rough paper 36 grit is fine, you want to make some "teeth" for the product to adhere to.
Remove any dust and spray it with the 602EZ, this is very important, follow the video posted on how to apply the patch.
Scuff the top side with 80, spray the 602EZ and fill the top. an orbital sander works fine to finish it.

If you want a superior job fill any blems or scratches with flexible 2K (same as body filler) self leveling glaze, you can put a fine finish on this then prime and paint, rattle cans will be fine for this job. Never use "Bondo" on these repairs, it is not flexible and worse it absorbs water due to it being talcum based.

Amazon.com: U.S. Chemical & Plastics USC GarageTM Flexible Glaze USC-77704 : Automotive

Buy U.S. Chemical & Plastics USC GarageTM Flexible Glaze USC-77704: Putty - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

 

[JHZR2]

These are what I use to repair these, same as in the video.

View attachment 96411

Remove the piece and scuff the rear of it with some rough paper 36 grit is fine, you want to make some "teeth" for the product to adhere to.
Remove any dust and spray it with the 602EZ, this is very important, follow the video posted on how to apply the patch.
Scuff the top side with 80, spray the 602EZ and fill the top. an orbital sander works fine to finish it.

If you want a superior job fill any blems or scratches with flexible 2K (same as body filler) self leveling glaze, you can put a fine finish on this then prime and paint, rattle cans will be fine for this job. Never use "Bondo" on these repairs, it is not flexible and worse it absorbs water due to it being talcum based.

Amazon.com: U.S. Chemical & Plastics USC GarageTM Flexible Glaze USC-77704 : Automotive

Buy U.S. Chemical & Plastics USC GarageTM Flexible Glaze USC-77704: Putty - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

Thank you! This may be fun to try!

 

[Trav]

I like that kind of work a lot, it is only a little pricey for the first repair, the cloth and spray last for many repairs. I figure for a larger repair it cost me under $35. Some cars use aluminum brackets riveted onto the plastic and they come loose with a minor hit, this stuff adheres incredibly strong and reattaches them with no problem.