,
It will take about an hour for the epoxy to cure enough to shape (it was a very humid day when we did this, so it actually took longer). It will look wet, but if you no longer leave fingerprints when you touch it, it has set.
Finally, it’s time to do some shaping. Sand back any excess epoxy until it is flush with the plastic. We got a bit lazy and and didn’t sand it completely flush as we wanted to really ensure these parts aren’t coming apart again. We also re-drilled all of the mounting holes (a 5/16” drill bit is the perfect size for many mounting clips). The passenger side of the bumper had split into the exposed area of the bumper. We had to put a bit of epoxy on the painted area. It is visible, but only if you REALLY look for it. Since you’ve been so good and read up to this point, here’s a good video that shows how to do this and just how nicely it can look when all is said and done.
Voila! Bumper fixed! It took a full day of sanding, puttying, sanding, and shaping, but the end result is fabulous. Even if this was covered under insurance (which would have also been insurance fraud and lawyers are way more expensive than bumpers), the deductible would have still been three times what we spent repairing things ourselves.
Even the completely shattered bolt holes came out nicely. These are the most important out of all the holes we fixed since they hold the bumper to the fender itself. They have to be strong to support the weight.
The very next day, we took the MS3 all the way to Indianapolis for some of our 500 coverage. Yes, we camped the night instead of staying in a hotel like a civilized human being. Isn't the world of media glamorous? The freshly repaired bumper held up wonderfully, no longer flapping in the breeze. Had we left this bumper alone, there’s a good chance the flapping would have caused even more damage and required us to replace it completely.
How strong are our bumper repairs? On the way up to Indy, not 12 hours after we bolted the bumper back on, we hit a goddamn possum on the highway. It was 5am and still dark, so we didn’t see it until the last second. The impact was hard enough to blow a hole right through the plastic belly pan beneath the engine. That possum was eating his wheaties! An impact that hard should have destroyed our freshly repaired bumper right? Wrong. The bumper is still perfect, despite the damage under here. Pretty impressive if we do say so ourselves.
