Probably the most common SMART Repair I do are Mobile Bumper Repairs. This week I had a good one to get my teeth into…
Toyota Auris front bumper – Before, front 3/4 view
A lovely old gentleman had hit a wall & was really cross with himself. “I’ve bumped my bumper a bit…do you think you can sort it out for me?” As soon as I saw it I knew that it had had a previous repair, by the cracked body filler falling out. How much damage would be under the paint from the previous repair? How much more old filler will fall out during heating & reshaping the lower bumper? Was I going to be able to get it line up properly again? Would we need new parts like a new locating bracket, where upper corner of the bumper had broken away?
Toyota Auris front bumper – Before, front view
Broken upper locator bracket
A Body Shop would definitely want to replace the bumper, a pretty big expense I knew my customer wanted to avoid. I was sure I could make it a lot better, so It was time to the to work. First job was to jack the car up & find out exactly what was damaged underneath.
The impact had not only put a large dent in the lower bumper, it had damaged the under tray too. Infrared Heat Lamps aren’t just good for drying paint…. they are excellent at heating up plastics. I was able to straighten the under tray enough to line up bolt fixings again. This released the tension pulling the front bumper away from the upper wing locating bracket. The fact I could now get the upper bumper corner to sit near the correct position was good news. It meant I now knew for sure it was worth carrying on with the repair for the gentleman.
Toyota Auris front bumper repair – Reshaped & in primer
The upper bracket had broken but luckily the bits were still there. I was able to repair & reinforce the broken section. Once I had straighten the inner wing a little, the bumper fitted back almost like new! More heat from the lamps to reshape the dent, followed by skim or 2 of fresh filler & it was primer time.
While that was drying I found the paint code on the vehicle VIN plate. Popped that code into my onboard computer formulation system & mixed up the paint. All that was left to do was apply a few coats of basecoat silver & clear lacquer ….we were done!
Toyota Auris front bumper repair – Paint drying under lamps
Toyota Auris front bumper repair – After, front 3/4 view
It’s nice to do a job where you can see your customer has made a real saving over a body shop. I was able to repair this car for less than most car insurance excess!! My customer was really happy with the end result & that’s the main thing…. another job jobbed!!
If you have a bumper scuff that needs repairing…..
