I get to the parking lot after a day's worth of hard work and, like many of you, walk around my car just to appreciate its beauty (you know who you are). Except this time I found this. Motherb*tch! !@$@!#%@!^




I don't even want to bother to try to figure out what/how that was done. I think I can remove the bumper and simply hammer that thing back out. The paint is almost 100% fine. Now, I'm technology inclined, not a handyman type of guy, but I am willing to give it try.

I found a thread on this forum on how to remove the bumper. How should I go about pushing that dent back out? Is the bumper plastic soft enough that I just push on it with my hands? If not, then what do you suggest I use to hammer that thing back out given everyday tools (I don't have that many tools in my garage)? I imagine I need something that won't apply too much pressure on a small spot, but something that's bigger and that will spread the pressure around. (like using a hammer to hit something that in turn hits the bumper)

Any other tips? Thanks for any advice.

The worst it can happen (I think) is that I'll just have to take it to a body shop, which will do the same thing and repaint bumper.

 

Before anyone says anything: Yes, that is snow, and yes those are summer tires. :-) It snows very little around here, so it's not worth to drive snow tires on dry pavement most of the time. :P

But back to the issue at hand...

 

most people heat it up and push it out.

 

DAAAM, it looks really really cold! Brrr...Also, that's kinda cool!: there are icicles on there!

Hey Other Hero.

 

Ah, didn't know that. Would a space heater facing that part be enough? I hope I don't have to put it in the oven (like headlights). :P

 

i think ive heard people use hair dryers, hah

 

cant u just lift the rear up and try to push it out from under?

or do u have a rear diffuser in the way? anyways, hows the paint? are there any fine crack?

 

cnaman,

Last night I looked at it more carefully. There's a small empty space that my hand fits in, but I don't have anything to lift the car other than the jack that comes with it and I'm not sure I want to be pushing against the car while on that thing.

Yes, there is one spot with fine cracks where the plastic bent too much.

 

u won't need to heat it... it will pop right out with ease. there's a lot of flex to the plastic.

 

Is our fender made of the same material? I'm just curious to see if I might be able to remove a dent I have in my passenger side fender the same way?

 

fenders are made of metal.. if the dent is small and not sharp you will be able to tap it out using a hammer.

 

maybe the reason for heating it is to soften the paint so it doesn't chip/crack when it flexes back...I imagine the cold doesn't help it..so at least gettng it back to room temperature would be better than ice cold. Just a thought.

 

^very wrong...especially if it is cold. best and safest way to do it is to remove the rear bumper (it is not that difficult. it should be around 15-20 bolts.)

go to home depot/sears/harbor freight and buy a heat gun. heat up the bumper from the inside out. be very careful, because you can melt the urethane or burn the paint. take a towel and ball it up in your hand and push out the dent slowly.

your bumper will never look as good as new, but if you do this much of the repair yourself, you may be able to live with it. if not you have saved yourself much of the labor a bodyshop would have charged to fix the bumper. a shop can do the final adjustments and paint it for a cheaper price than if you just brought them the bumper as it is now.

 

I forgot to reply with my updates. I removed the bumper (it was fairly time consuming because you have to remove some bolts carefully/slowly in order not to damage the inner lining), heated it up and pushed it back out with bare hands. Putting it all back was very easy.

The plastic fiber was much softer after heating it up. Without heating it, it wouldn't have worked. I brought the bumper inside and used a space heater, set it to max and left it facing the bumper for 30 mins. I kept an eye on it so I didn't melt anything.

I'm very pleased with how it looks and you are right: The thought of "I fixed it myself" and the fact that I saved a few hundred bucks is nice. :-)

Now all that's left is a small "indentation." The paint cracked more as I pushed it back, but you can't see it unless you're up close. If I want it to look perfect again, I'll take out the bumper and just take that in. This way I'll do most of the labor of taking it out/putting it back on and it should be much cheaper.

I also took pics, so I can write a DYI guide on removing rear bumper and taillights.