Continued 3: Final

Here it is, adhesive and reinforcement completed on the inside and out,
a light coat of spray paint on the inside and it is ready for installation.


It is being left as is on the outside, the appearance of this repair will not affect
cosmetic condition of the vehicle. It is kind of a "Rat Rod" and adds to its theme.



It is actually in better shape now than it was before the accident.
No more baling twine holding the center bar up.
If appearance was an issue, the 8115 Panel bond could be leveled with
coarse sand paper, primed and painted for a flawless repair.



Ready for another round.

Continued 2

This is where the last post, (continued 1), ended.
A critical area has been prepared and is ready
for bonding with 3m 08115 Panel Bond.

The panel bond has been allowed to cure, about 4hrs, and
the original break has now been prepared to be bonded.

The bumper cover can now support itself, the bubble in the level is centered.

The outside is done except for a few small areas. It feels like one secure piece.

Now it is time to reinforce the inside.

Strips of SEM 7006 reinforcement tape has been cut and fit.

Close up of tape in place on prepared surface.
Note the coarse sanding and the open pores in the plastic.
This is necessary for maximum adhesion.

Put down plenty of 8115, and work it into the seem before
laying down the reinforcement tape.

More after it is cured!

Continued 1

Here is where the last post ended, the doner piece has but fit and the
areas that aligned have been bonded.

The piece has been completely glued and fits very well.



This area was broken before the mishap, the baler twine that is wrapped around it has
been holding it in place for a few thousand miles.
The break has been gouged out and cut back in to acomadate a few stands of the baler
twine (cleaned with enamal thinner), for reinforcement, this seems like a much better
idea than the stainless welding rod used previously.
The twine will flex, the welding rod will most likely help to pull the glue off the
material .

There was a mishap and this chunk of the front plastic bumper was torn completely off.

A local body shop owner advised that it could be repaired by gluing it back together with

3m 08115 Panel Bonding Adhesive and SEM 70006 tape.

Here are the supplies and tools used, remember this is a soft porous material. It requires coarse

cutting tools at fast speeds. Avoid heating the material and closing its pores, they are critical

for bonding adhesion.

Supplies were procurred locally, or can be bought online. There are no endorsements and

all products should be used in accordance with manufactures MSDS and TDS.

All common safety precautions should be used in addition to tool manufactures instructions.

After cleaning the bumper cover and piece with soap and water,(Dawn or Wisk laundry),

It was determined to be best to repair the cracks in the piece first.

Most instructions will advise to apply the reinforcement tape and glue to the back side first.

This didn't work well because it is difficult to work the tape and glue in place and keep the outside surfaces aligned.

Next the cracks were beveled out and the torn edges prepped.

A little material must be removed from the torn edge for proper fit,

the plastic is stretched and the edge is jagged and will not allow proper fit and alignment unless it is cleaned up.

Not all edges will properly align at once, remember that it was ripped off with a road sign and never will be perfect again.

However, if time is taken, and only the areas that line up well are "bonded" and cured before moving on,

the results will be surprisingly satisfactory.

Ready for 8115 Panel Bond, it is not necessary to have a dispensing gun. It is only necessary

to push out what you need in a cup and mix it by hand. It will take several days just to bond the outside.
Applying heat was tried but the plastic expanded too much and moved around when heat was applied

from a heat gun.

Close up of prepared splice.

First glue, filled the beveled cracks on the piece that has the reinforced tape on the back,

(big red circle).

The small circled areas lined up nicely, the rest of that edge can be done after the glue

cures. It all could not be held in place all at one time.

Looks pretty good for a piece of torn up junk, now to do more prep and glue up more

of the torn edges.

It took 3 different glue mixes but the refection show that it is aligned as good as can be.

This is a 23 year old piece of plastic.

A groove was ground for a piece of stainless welding rod, the small perpendicular grooves
are ground at an angle to help the bonding material hold.

Time to fill the hole, this piece was not recovered, a piece from a doner bumper will be used.

The doner bumper isn't great, but the piece needed is fine.

Start big, take your time.

Donar piece is fit and back side prepped.

Doner piece tapped in place, only a couple of areas align well enough

to bond at this time.

The areas align well.

A couple of grooves were ground and some strands of polypropylene twine (baler twine)

are embedded in the 8115 for reinforcement.

Waiting to cure so the remainder can be aligned and bonded.