I have a friend who has painted for somewhere around 30 years and he is always telling me that I am doing things wrong and tries to convince me to do it his way, I told him my information comes from this forum only and he said you can not believe what they tell you. I am getting ready to repair a heavy scratched front plastic bumper cover on a subaru forester, My friend said to use evercoat rage to fill lows then 2 k primer and paint. I told him that I follow what you guys tell me and that is it, I said that I use SEM plastic bumper repair to fill over epoxy primer then 2k and go from there. He said I must have fell on my head when I was a baby! I would much appreciate one of you guys to verify that my process is the way to go and should the Rage be used on plastic bumpers?
BODY FILLER ON PLASTIC BUMPERS?
- Thread starter JC Daniel
- Start date
SpencerW
Promoted Users
Most fillers aren't intended for plastic repairs. Body filler is normally for steel, galvanized steel, zinc coated steel, SMC, fiberglass, and aluminum. I'd probably use Evercoat Poly-Flex or similar for a plastic bumper if you're just filling scratches/gouges and follow up with priming.
Chris_Hamilton
Trying to be the best me, I can be
Nearly every Collision Shop I've worked at over the years has used regular 2 part glaze on bumper covers on the bare plastic. Never seen anyone use regular body filler though. Is it the best way or correct way? No but it does work and glaze will hold to plastic. It will crack if it gets flexed though, but like I said in another thread if it flexes that means you have hit something with the cover. Any repair done with glaze should only be minor. Filling gouges etc. UPOL Stronghold is a good filler for plastic and would be a better way to repair one.
It really all comes done to the job though. Low end stuff, glaze it and be done with it. High end stuff that pays, do a more proper repair.
It really all comes done to the job though. Low end stuff, glaze it and be done with it. High end stuff that pays, do a more proper repair.
Jim C
Oldtimer
same here. i have used filler/glaze but only when the repair is super thin. anything more than a skin coat then i have used evercoat polyflex in the past with good results. all the sportbike fairings i used to fix and paint many years ago would be filler. once mounted they dont really flex a whole lot. same as a bumper really. adhesion has never been an issue. on a bumper though i would do a quick flame treatment before apply any filler.
crashtech
Combo Man & Mod
The middle way is to use something like SEM "Bumper Bite," it's a poly putty that is supposed to stay flexible. It's like Evercoat Polyflex but we had trouble with the Polyflex going bad in the jug. I recommend the pouch, seems to last longer:
www.semproducts.com
Anything more than a deep scratch, where the filler is going to be more than 1/16" and we will use SEM 39767 first. The TDS says 1/8", but I think they are too optimistic.
Your friend sounds like he's stuck in a rut of mediocrity. You don't need to go down that road with him. He will resist you doing better because it will make him look bad, but that's on him, not you.
Bumper Bite™ Flexible Glaze | 40489 | SEM Products
Bumper Bite™ is a two-component flexible polyester filler that quickly fills sand scratches, pinholes, and other minor imperfections on many automotive substrates.
www.semproducts.com
Anything more than a deep scratch, where the filler is going to be more than 1/16" and we will use SEM 39767 first. The TDS says 1/8", but I think they are too optimistic.
Your friend sounds like he's stuck in a rut of mediocrity. You don't need to go down that road with him. He will resist you doing better because it will make him look bad, but that's on him, not you.
anotheridiot
Member
I only use the 3M 35887 on flexible bumpers, you get to buy the mixing nozzles and the special dual tube caulk gun too.