Instant Fail, or give it a shot? Rear bumper ding fix.

[GA42.0T]

So my rear bumper is pretty mauled with lots of scratches and small dings. But one in particular is big enough to be noticed at a good distance and from most angles. A body shop quoted me $425 to fix and a Pops-A-Dent dude can't fix easily because it's plastic.

Because 1) it's a bumper and is going to get dinged, and 2) because it's already not in pristine shape, I'm not concerned with getting it perfect. But I was thinking of at least addressing the big dent.

So I was thinking of removing the bumper and going at it with a heat gun and something to gently, slowly press the dent out.

I can see that the ding is along a horizontal crease, and I haven't done body work before, so I don't expect pro results. But I'm thinking that if I'm careful I could at least get it looking better.

So should I give it a shot? Can I make it look worse? Any tips. Again, the game plan would be to slowly heat it up and gently press it out with some rounded something-or-another.

http://i765.photobucket.com/albums/xx298/tallfishbellsouth/Audi%20randon%20junk/RBumperdingC.jpg

http://i765.photobucket.com/albums/xx298/tallfishbellsouth/Audi%20randon%20junk/RBumperdingB.jpg

http://i765.photobucket.com/albums/xx298/tallfishbellsouth/Audi%20randon%20junk/RBumperdingA.jpg

[b6nukka]

The heat gun should work if it doesn't just dont bother.

[rvca3112]

My previous car was a Volvo s60r. My brother backed into my rear bumper with his chevy dually. The trailer hitch went into my bumper roughly about 1/2 inch. When I went for the repair, the auto body shop told me rather than replacing my whole rear bumper at 800 dollars plus installation ((Volvo bumpers come pre painted from the factory)) that he would heat the plastic up and push it together because plastic has a "memory". Came out good enough to people who didn't know about it. Yours should work just fine.

[mr shickadance]

make sure you heat up a big piece of the bumper and not just the ding because when you start to push the plastic back to its orginal spot if parts of the bumper are not heated up around it the paint could chip n flake off of the bumper

you dont have to heat up the whole bumper just maybe like 3-4 inch radius around the ding

[GA42.0T]

the auto body shop told me rather than replacing my whole rear bumper at 800 dollars plus, he would heat the plastic up and push it together because plastic has a "memory". Came out good enough to people who didn't know about it. Yours should work just fine.


make sure you heat up a big piece of the bumper and not just the ding because when you start to push the plastic back to its orginal spot if parts of the bumper are not heated up around it the paint could chip n flake off of the bumper

you dont have to heat up the whole bumper just maybe like 3-4 inch radius around the ding

Nice! Thanks for the encouragement and tips. Think I'll give it a shot after Thanksgiving. Will update with results/pics.

[beantown]

Good luck.

[crazytex21]

when did this happen, jamison? i don't remember seeing this the other day when i was talking about stealing your boot lid at the golf course. let me know when you are jumping on it and i will come out and give you a hand. literally, only one hand. the other hand will be occupied with a beer.

[porkchops!]

Yeah, it definitely will work. If you are super careful, I guarantee it'll come out good enough that other people won't notice it being there ever. Of course it won't be perfect, but like you said it is just a rear bumper. Like others said, just make sure you take your time, heat up a good 3-5" radius around the dent, and slowly work your way from around the edge of the dent.. eventually getting to the middle.

One other thing you want to watch out for is OVER heating the bumper. This will cause the paint to bubble.. you don't want that. In order to make sure that doesn't happen, just have patience. Start with minimal heat, and work slowly up to the point in which you see some movement. Don't let it get any hotter than that.. just work slowly and give it some rests. Would help to be in a heated garage/basement or something as well.. not outside in the shit cold.

Good luck, let us know how it goes [up]

[GA42.0T]

when did this happen, jamison? i don't remember seeing this the other day when i was talking about stealing your boot lid at the golf course. let me know when you are jumping on it and i will come out and give you a hand. literally, only one hand. the other hand will be occupied with a beer.

What's up big boy! Yes, it was there. It's on the lower half, so it's not glaringly noticable, but at the right angle, it sticks out like a sore thumb. It's actually been there since I bought the car. I didn't inspect the car worth shit when I got it. I was so excited, I just gave it a quick test drive and started negotiating.

I'll definitly let you know when I'm ready to go at it. Will call Miki and Luke too. Thinking of taking a day in early Dec and taking over Jason's shop. Got a cupra lip to install, this bumper fix, and maybe let him to my brakes. It'll be fun!



Yeah, it definitely will work. If you are super careful, I guarantee it'll come out good enough that other people won't notice it being there ever. Of course it won't be perfect, but like you said it is just a rear bumper. Like others said, just make sure you take your time, heat up a good 3-5" radius around the dent, and slowly work your way from around the edge of the dent.. eventually getting to the middle.

One other thing you want to watch out for is OVER heating the bumper. This will cause the paint to bubble.. you don't want that. In order to make sure that doesn't happen, just have patience. Start with minimal heat, and work slowly up to the point in which you see some movement. Don't let it get any hotter than that.. just work slowly and give it some rests. Would help to be in a heated garage/basement or something as well.. not outside in the shit cold.

Good luck, let us know how it goes [up]

Excellent! Thanks so much for the encouragement and tips! All this is great info. I'm going to bullet out all these tips and print them up.

Will update with results!