Friday, October 21, 2011

I Fixed my Own Bumper!

Bumper, before---

Ugh, it's a tad unsightly, that hole which I'd like to claim was a bullet- you know, to up my street cred, but which was actually caused by an ill-placed sign.

Who fastens signs with 8" screws anyway?
I can't be too upset, because the rest of the bumper looks just as bad. 

Part of thinking that you can do anything, frequently results in me thinking these def skills extend to my car. The trees at the end of the driveway and any bushes near the trailer and that cinder block pile that I plan to turn into an outdoor firepit—they’ve all got a shellacking of car paint. Most of the time I’ll be pulling out of the garage and not crank the wheel enough. My thoughts along the line of, “I’m in a car, it’s made of metal, Really, should I have make this a two point turn to avoid a sapling?  Most of the time the mental answer is, "No. Barrel through."

My husband wants to trade in the SUV and to make it fetch the highest price he’s planning on getting a new bumper. It will cost $200 if we put it on ourselves. He thought the putting it on ourselves would appeal to his DIY wife. He underestimates me. 

In this post I will show you how to papermache a bumper and save yourself $200.  Just don't let her get wet. Or near a kid with a bat and a blindfold.

Just kidding. I'm going to dabble in bodyshop/ MAACO work.

STep 1) Buy tube of bondo bumper repair.
I've actually had this thing sitting around for about a year. But I never trusted myself to do an adequate job, so I've put it off. Now I've got nothing to lose. If the bumper does end up looking worse, then I will let the hubby buy a new one. Having nothing to lose has givne me the freedom to try all kinds of crazy projects.  Did I tell you I put in marble countertops. I did.

Step 2) sand down the area needing the bondo. This was the entire bumper for me.







3) mix up the bondo and work fast. smooth flat and wait until dry. Then sand smooth.

4) Next paint match. On the inside panel of your door is all sorts of helpful information including paint and trim color codes. Armed with these I headed to auto repair shop and my buddy, Ed, called in an order for the exact color I needed. It came in a spray can and included a clear coat. It cost $24.





5)Mask off areas you don't want to paint and spray.

Car bumper after---




Hooray! nothing but dirty, now.

2 comments:

Sara Beth said...

I had no idea how to cover these dang 40 gauge holes until now thanks that worked great. Now how do I remove a very bad smell from trunk?

Trisha said...

What can't you do? You are absolutely amazing. Love you and miss you!