DIY repair methods for deep scratches/scuffs?

[HamToast]

I know that a bottle of touchup paint would work here but for me that won't cut it. I'd like something a bit more professional but still pretty damn cheap.

I was thinking of buying a bottle of touchup spray (I've heard that's available someplace) and doing a quickie paint-job in the damaged area. It's at the bottom rear right side of the bumper, not a very noticeable spot but I would like it to be even less noticeable. I'm thinking of sanding the area smooth (since the plastic is scuffed and scraped up fairly deep) and then doing a quick bondo swipe to level it all, then just go over it with a few coats of touchup spray and wet-sand to match as best as I can. Luckily the car is silver so it should hide the imperfections pretty well, especially considering the area that the damage is in.

Thoughts?

 

[rexdriver85]

Dr. Colorchip is a really good system. Factory matched paint. I know a pro detailer who uses it on his customers vehicles. I am going to buy it myself soon.
https://www.drcolorchip.com

 

[HamToast]

The damage is substantially more than just a chip, though. I wish it were just a chip. This is what I get for having fun and driving it like a rally car! Lol.

Its scratched into the plastic of the bumper and is fairly deep/wide. I'd say there are 4 or 5 close scratches about 1/8 wide that cover the area of a quarter, then several equally wide scratches spread down the bottom of the bumper. The scratches are about 0.5-1 mm thick.

 

[CanadianGuy]

Last i checked bondo is not flexible and a plastic bumper does flex in spots. The bondo may end up cracking. Other than that the rest of your idea should workif the paint matching is close.

 

[boombots]

Scratch the bondo. No flex. The spray cans are great. I painted a quarter panel, rockers, and a fender on a 96 buick. Looked great, color match was spot on.

 

[rexdriver85]

Yeah if it's that deep Dr. Colorchip won't work too well, post some pics so we can see. It does however match perfect and the more coats you apply the more it will fill in, it's pretty slick.

 

[C. love]

To do this right the bumper will need body work and reshot. The process is easy but you will need to have some experience to get it right. Bondo sucks; well before 3m bought it they did and bondo is the name of a company not the product. lol

You will need to do it right at a minimum these items:

plastic repair (the name eludes me but its 40-60 dollars for a two part tube)
glaze (its like filler--what you guys are calling "bondo" but its just for small imperfections)
base
clear
sandpaper-various types
doing this type of thing before helps too


option 2 is post a picture but I imagine its like a tiger scratched your bumper. you might be able to tape the area off spray the matched paint on (although its never 100% matching). then remove tape and it will look better but not perfect. If you dont have actual cuts into the plastic you can fix it alot easier. maybe even get away with touch up and buffing.

I guess what I am saying is post pics as there are a
thousand variables

 

[HamToast]

Totally forgot about bondo being so rigid, I had it on the mind because we use it a lot at work (yeah I know bondo is a brand but it's like calling tissue paper "kleenex" or glass cleaner "windex"). The plastic isn't cracked anywhere, nor is it cut, but it's gouged fairly deep. The gouges only seem to be in one spot though, right above the exhaust.

A picture for you to get a better idea.

 

[BostonDriver]

That's going to need sanding, filler and a respray

 

[HamToast]

I was prepared to sand and fill and paint, just didn't want to have to paint the entire bumper. I'm aware color matching won't be perfect but at least it'll look better than big scratches.

 

[Brick]

[MENTION=2994]HamToast[/MENTION] you could always plasti-dip that rear bumper black and not worry about color matching.

 

[Brick]

[MENTION=2632]Ham[/MENTION] Toast holy crap, I just realized you're in tehachapi. You need to show me some nice drives between tehachapi and kernville. You're practically my neighbor

 

[C. love]

That's going to need sanding, filler and a respray

^that. You can tape off that section and only spray that.


Also BONDO was complete garbage liken to calling burger steak...after all it all came from a cow right?

 

[HamToast]

[MENTION=1758]Brick[/MENTION] Caliente Bodfish, that's a real good drive that leads from hwy 58 to Lake Isabella. There's a few really fun routes that are only about 20 minutes near Tehachapi. Not real familiar with drives around Ridgecrest, any good ones?

And yeah, I was actually thinking about doing something like that with painting the lower part of the bumper black. I'm not sure if I'll like the look but at least for the short term it would look better than big ass scratches. I'm going to call around and get some quotes from local body shops too, just trying to get all my options in order.

[MENTION=225]C. love[/MENTION] Yeah I've never personally used Bondo, we have some good body filler at work (not sure of the brand, honestly. I know it's not Bondo) and everyone calls it Bondo so I'm in the habit of doing the same. We don't even use it for anything permanent though, it's all used for composite tooling.

 

[Old Guy]

Bondo Epoxy Bumper Repair, you can get it on Amazon for under $10. Its well rated, For the best results paint the entire section.