So today, I started some prep work on my front bumper. I shattered one side in my accident a few months back, and seeing as it's a one-off piece (Kaminari lower, molded to a shaved upper panel, then extended and widened) I figure I have to fix it. Here's how you do it, you'll need:
Angle grinder
Dremel, for small, tight areas
And an operating table
The last one is the good side, and it's still in rough shape. Anyways, first order of business is to create a small gap that we can fill with resin. I do this by using the angle grinder to knock down all the jagged edges, and start smoothing out cracks at the same time. Remember that the resin is literally a liquid polyester plastic when you lay it down; it will fill gaps, but it will also run like a bastard if there's no substrate for it to adhere to. You can also fix that by thickening the resin with talc...more on that later.
^That looks pretty horrible, but again...we're working with liquid and sheets of substrate. Not too hard to fill.
Next, we have to feather back the surfaces close to the broken edges. Again, my weapon of choice is an angle grinder...I roughed up about an inch on the outer surface, and about two inches on the inside. This provides a surface that the resin can sink into before adhering as it cures; it's also a good guideline for cutting fiberglass mats and woven cloth for reinforcement. In the first pic, I'm comparing the roughly prepped bumper to the unprepared piece that attaches there.
^Much better fit. I also took the time to grind a little more off the edge, widening the gap to fill by about 1mm or so. It's just much easier to blend the two together when the two parts don't actually fit tightly together.
That's about it for today. Stay tuned for more as I finish prep work and start bonding the pieces back together, and fab up a new extension for the busted side.
Angle grinder
Dremel, for small, tight areas
And an operating table
The last one is the good side, and it's still in rough shape. Anyways, first order of business is to create a small gap that we can fill with resin. I do this by using the angle grinder to knock down all the jagged edges, and start smoothing out cracks at the same time. Remember that the resin is literally a liquid polyester plastic when you lay it down; it will fill gaps, but it will also run like a bastard if there's no substrate for it to adhere to. You can also fix that by thickening the resin with talc...more on that later.
^That looks pretty horrible, but again...we're working with liquid and sheets of substrate. Not too hard to fill.
Next, we have to feather back the surfaces close to the broken edges. Again, my weapon of choice is an angle grinder...I roughed up about an inch on the outer surface, and about two inches on the inside. This provides a surface that the resin can sink into before adhering as it cures; it's also a good guideline for cutting fiberglass mats and woven cloth for reinforcement. In the first pic, I'm comparing the roughly prepped bumper to the unprepared piece that attaches there.
^Much better fit. I also took the time to grind a little more off the edge, widening the gap to fill by about 1mm or so. It's just much easier to blend the two together when the two parts don't actually fit tightly together.
That's about it for today. Stay tuned for more as I finish prep work and start bonding the pieces back together, and fab up a new extension for the busted side.
