FTO AUSTRALIA

need some advice here...

some dxxk scratch my front bumper (when his/her car takes off from the parked spot - i think) in capital theatre car park... its on the front passenger side just below the front of the quarter panel, the front bar also deform (got pushed in) a little.

the smash repairer quoted me $400 to repair as the whold bumper needs a respray...

to me, $400 is a lot of money just to fix that....so i was wondering if i should go source a 2nd hand front bar (in good nic of cos) instead

what do u guys think?? spend $400 to get mine repair or spend $xxx to get 2nd hand bar. btw my car is silver.

second hand bars will rarely ever colour match... because all cars even though they are the same colour are subject to different levels of exposure to the sun....

having said that...

when you respray your current front bar it will never match up 100% as well

^^ Yup. The paint oxidizes & fades. Most panel shops should be able to take a sample of the old paint & attempt to match it though.

$400 sounds a bit rich, but kinda right for your average 'retail' price. I think I got quoted $250 to redo mine & that was mates rates.

Same thing happened to mine, bastard took off.

Need respray myself.

you can prpbably pop the front bar back into shape with a hair dryer if it was the stock plastic one

BorepYano wrote:you can prpbably pop the front bar back into shape with a hair dryer if it was the stock plastic one

hahaha sif that works... the plastic is so thick...

jonowong wrote:

BorepYano wrote:you can prpbably pop the front bar back into shape with a hair dryer if it was the stock plastic one

hahaha sif that works... the plastic is so thick...

u'll be surprised, but of course a heat gun works much better lol

BorepYano wrote:

jonowong wrote:

BorepYano wrote:you can prpbably pop the front bar back into shape with a hair dryer if it was the stock plastic one

hahaha sif that works... the plastic is so thick...

u'll be surprised, but of course a heat gun works much better lol

Second that, it works like a charm ... heat gun is definitely better (get a cheap one from bunnings or supercheap ), & also better to heat from the inside of the bumper to avoid damaging the paint as much as possible & just gently kneed the plastic out to the desired shape with an old t-shirt over your hands & don't touch the hot plastic

the scratch will still need some paint on it though..

wow...thanks for the massive info..guys

Same thing happened to mine, bastard took off.

Need respray myself.

respraying yourself.....is the result any good...is it hard to do??

you can prpbably pop the front bar back into shape with a hair dryer if it was the stock plastic one

would the smash repairer be doing this for me including in the $400...

$400 sounds a bit rich, but kinda right for your average 'retail' price. I think I got quoted $250 to redo mine & that was mates rates.

yeah..ben....u always make me jealous with your mates rate....everyone should bring their mates (the ones that could give mates rate) to the next meet up, so that everyone else can get mates rate


mmmm...still at the end of the day..$400.... may be should save up till i can get a full respray....(think someone said $3000 could afford a full respray??)

Richy wrote:wow...thanks for the massive info..guys

Same thing happened to mine, bastard took off.

Need respray myself.

respraying yourself.....is the result any good...is it hard to do??

you can prpbably pop the front bar back into shape with a hair dryer if it was the stock plastic one

would the smash repairer be doing this for me including in the $400...

i think he meant that he also need respraying (his car not him lol)

i'm not sure if the smash repairer will do that, i can only assume that they will, and probably with a heat gun rather than hair dryer.

respraying yourself.....is the result any good...is it hard to do??

Can of matched spray paint - $30
Few sheets of wet & dry - $4
Getting the dent out with Hairdryer - Priceless

So yeh, give it a go spray painting it yourself If you succeed, you've fixed it for $34, if you fail, you will have it at least mostly, if not completely dent free & just have to pay the repairer to paint it so max $434 ... probably cheaper.

Quote:
you can prpbably pop the front bar back into shape with a hair dryer if it was the stock plastic one


would the smash repairer be doing this for me including in the $400...

Yeh, thats basically all he will be doing ... if he's a bit dodgy he will pop it out with heat gun & then he'll bog it, sand it back & spray over the top.. You may end up needing to use some bog as well if you do it yourself, depending on how smooth you can get it with the hair dryer & popping it back out..

If you spray it yourself, I would just try spraying the damaged area & blending in to the unpainted area.. if it sticks out like a sore thumb on the small area that you've painted, it would do even moreso if you resprayed the whole bumper... & you have nothing to lose, if it looks crap, get someone to do it professionally, or wait for a full respray.

so just prep the part that needs painting, sand, sand sand working you're way from heavy grade sandpaper to light grade, clean up the area with some prep sol or wax & grease remover, feather sand it out gradually around the edges of the area to be painted, do a couple of coats & then before clear coating it, maybe even sand lightly again with 2000 grade wet & dry
then give it a cut & polish & blend the edges into each other ... after that, clean it up again with some prepsol & clear coat it..

And if you have to use bog, make sure you roughen up the plastic surface when you're applying it, so that it has plenty of grooves to sink into & hold onto the surface better

mmm...seems like a nothing to lose diy for my situation...will give it a try when i get my car back.

thanks for the comprehensive instructions for the respray..mr charisma