Can you properly fix a plastic bumper that has a rip in it?

Hey it's me again. Remember the neighbor boy that I am trying to help? He's got the 1996 Acura Integra. We just noticed that it has been hit in the rear bumper, and while the dent came back out, there is a nice rip in the plastic bumper. How do we fix this without buying a new bumper? Are the Amazon kits worth anything?

Is it too good for the Drift Stitch?  

This is my own Prius that has hit a raccoon not once but twice.  Repairs after the first hit looked great.  Now looks rough after the second hit.  

What's most important and what I really wanted you to know is...  See at the extreeme right of this lower picture, there is a very simple drill hole in the plastic at the end of the crack.  This is an old fiberglass trick.  That drill hole then terminates the continuancy of the crack getting larger.  

Wasn't there an article in the mag about this very topic not so very long ago?

Edit:  I did manage to find this gem from a few years back...

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/plastic-bumper-repair/23064/page1/

Edit edit:  And this!

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/articles/repair-cracked-front-spoiler-seven-easy-steps/

John Welsh (Moderate Supporter) said:

This is my own Prius that has hit a raccoon not once but twice. 

What are the raccoons there made of? 

In reply to L5wolvesf :

This is rural Ohio...corn and soybeans!  

In reply to John Welsh (Moderate Supporter) :

Drilling a hole like that is an even older metal worker's trick that the fiberglassers stole

There are plastic welding and repair systems out there, but like any bodywork the end results will depend as much on the user than the tools used.  And then it'll need to be painted.

Thanks guys! This should work well!

If it doesn't have to be perfect (repainted), then it's pretty easy to make a repair with fiberglass on the back side of the bumper. Do not attempt to do it on the car. You have to remove the bumper and do it inside to have good results

Not too long ago Mike on Wheeler Dealers had a segment on one of the shows showing plastic welding and repair. Sorry don't remember which car/ episode. Might try google search.

This is his first car, so perfection may not be required. It all depends on how much work he plans on putting into it, and how much money a 16-year-old kid will have

You can weld a bumper using a soldering iron.  Do most of the work from the backside if you can, then jst a bit on the front you can smooth out before painting over.

Do it outside and wear a mask to reduce fumes.

I have fixed motorcycle fairing cracks with a paste of baking soda and super glue.

L5wolvesf said:

John Welsh (Moderate Supporter) said:

This is my own Prius that has hit a raccoon not once but twice. 

What are the raccoons there made of? 

Racoon+lowerish car= cracked bumper cover. That Mustang brought back memories. But mine was a darker color and hid the drifter stitch better.

Mr_Asa said:

In reply to John Welsh (Moderate Supporter) :

Drilling a hole like that is an even older metal worker's trick that the fiberglassers stole

Drilling a hole is how you stop a crack in a horse's hoof. That knowledge could precede metal working, maybe including even the bronze age.

Now you guys are reminding me of the 2001 Accord my wife used to have and love ... on one of the rare occurenced that I was allowed to drive this car, I unfortunately popped a nice fat raccoon myself, breaking the plastic front bumper cover below the air inlet.  Curiously enough, a spare scrap of pressure treated decking wood fit PERFECTLY in the internal channel, and coupled with a couple of bottom mounted stainless steel screws made for a nearly invisible, stronger than stock repair.  Wife never noticed  ...

In reply to Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) :

My petard! I am hoisted!

John Welsh (Moderate Supporter) said:

In reply to L5wolvesf :

This is rural Ohio...corn and soybeans!  

A lot of corn and soy beans I presume

Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) said:

Mr_Asa said:

In reply to John Welsh (Moderate Supporter) :

Drilling a hole like that is an even older metal worker's trick that the fiberglassers stole

Drilling a hole is how you stop a crack in a horse's hoof. That knowledge could precede metal working, maybe including even the bronze age.

The real question is if it preceded the bronze age than who the berkeley made the drill bit?

Olemiss540 said:

Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) said:

Mr_Asa said:

In reply to John Welsh (Moderate Supporter) :

Drilling a hole like that is an even older metal worker's trick that the fiberglassers stole

Drilling a hole is how you stop a crack in a horse's hoof. That knowledge could precede metal working, maybe including even the bronze age.

The real question is if it preceded the bronze age than who the berkeley made the drill bit?

I'm not saying it was aliens, but......

I fix urethane bumper covers with a not stapler and 3M products.  Keep in mind that unlike the hard plastic used on the front of the BMW in the GRM article you need a different more flexible material for the bumper cover you're working on. The two part repair materials are roughly $50.00 a tube so unfortunately to do a nice job will cost a bit.

Here's a Civic bumper cover I did just to show the process. The cover was not actually worth fixing because (unlike your '96 Integra) a new aftermarket one was cheap AND readily available so I put a new one on the customers car which was getting a full paint job. Later on I fixed the OEM cover in my spare time to document the process and then sold it on CL (with full repairs disclosed) to cover materials and some of my time, but it certainly wasn't really worth fixing.

You can press the repair products out of the twin tube cartridges onto a mixing board like you would use for body filler and mix it. You just don't use the special mixing tip and push the plungers an equal amount with a thick rod of some sort, NOT a screwdriver. I have the special guns but use an old bicycle seat post when I don't want to use the mixing tips.

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A different job but displays the hot stapler usage nicely on a front air dam that met a curb. I really want one of the nice plastic welding set ups but they're big money and you really need to be using it almost daily to pay for the equipment. I have seen where people heat up the staples with a heat gun and quickly press them in to the plastic with pliers. Not as accurate but gets the job done.

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Pic below shows how you can use the hot staples to repair (or recreate) mounting tabs. Pics below are of a hard plastic wheel well flare mounting tab repair using the 3M material used in the GRM BMW article for hard plastics. The staples really strengthen the repair. Make the new tab area, then sand flat, then install staples, then trim outside and carefully create new mounting hole

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pirate said:

Not too long ago Mike on Wheeler Dealers had a segment on one of the shows showing plastic welding and repair. Sorry don't remember which car/ episode. Might try google search.

Actually the episode is 419 and originally aired 9/9/20 and just so happens to be airing now on Motor Trend TV. It was the repair of a Saab front bumper.

I used Epoxy on my Vettes front bumper.  PO had hit a tire on the interstate prior to selling and cracked the front worse than OPs pic.  Epoxy in between after cleaning then ran my finger on the outside to smooth like finishing silicon caulking.

I have murdered hundreds of cones autoxing over 5 years since then and the epoxy is still holding.

baking soda and super glue.

I dont know i missed this all my life. Or last time i heard it it bounced off and didn't register in my brain. I've been doing a lot of superglue stuff lately and this now seems like a super useful thing to know!