Date: Mon, 22 Nov 1999 14:02:30 -0800
Reply-To: Max/Joyce Wellhouse <maxjoyce@IPA.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Max/Joyce Wellhouse <maxjoyce@IPA.NET>
Subject: Re: Fixing the glass bumpers(long)
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Been meaning to post this for a while;
Some idiot PO welded a cheap ass trailer hitch on my 90GL's rear tow hooks
and virtually prevented me access to the motor(welded on rear engine support
bar also). Grinding all that off and trying to make the tow hooks look
stock again, I noticed cracks in both of the bumper bolt holes on the
bottom. Having a little expertise in epoxy/kevlar/composites but more
experience than knowledge, I set out to reinforce these holes.
Grinding down the area of the damage, I saw little evidence of any fiber
content in the bumper, just a couple strands near the cracked parts.
Proceeded to laminate 3 correspondingly longer and wider layers of kevlar
seam tape over the holes folding it over the lower bumper edge and then add
3-4 layers of military S-glass(much denser and stronger than the E-glass you
buy in a poly pouch at FLAPS. put handi wrap over the wet laminate and
worked the air bubbles out(technique called contact- bagging) and then took
some stiff abs plastic sheets(1/4" I think) on top of both sides of the
handi wrap and and clamped the crap out of it. The epoxy set in 5-6 hours
and the handi wrap more or less prevented the epoxy from bonding to
un-sanded abs plastic. If you want to mask off the undamaged area, you can,
but my experience with this bumper was that areas not sanded chipped off
pretty easily and bedsides, you're going to grind it down anyway.
Re-drilled the holes after sanding down the lumps on the edge formed by the
end of the plastic pieces where the excess resin oozed.
If I had to do it over again, I would've not wrapped the kevlar around the
bottom edge of the bumper as kevlar doesn't sand, it abrades and is
difficult to finish smoothly. Total repair area was about 8-9' wide and
pretty much the depth of the bumper. Drilling through the kevlar made me
aware of how strong this fix was.
If you're fixing bumper damage, the kevlar is probably not necessary, but
I'd use the best fiberglass and resin you can afford. I can see using
kevlar on the inside ofthe repair for strength if the break is all the way
through, but add more glass than you think you'll need as it's easier to
grind down the excess than to have to go back and re sand and add more
later. I'm not a body shop guru on anything, and my experience comes from
laminating these materials in boat repairs, especially canoes and kayaks.
Recommended materials: Gougeon Bros. West systems epoxy #105 resin and
205 or 206 hardener(difference in cure time). A quart of it and the
measuring pumps will set you back about $40. Glass is available from John R
Sweet in Mustoe VA 540-468-2222. He sells the resin as well although a
local marine supply house in larger communities may stock it. You're on
your own for painting and finishing. I simply mixed in graphite powder in
the resin to get a dark gray color. You can add white and black resin
colorant as well to get it close if cosmetics are not critical.
At $450 for a new bumper, I can buy a lot of material and grinding discs. I
use a metal headed Makita 4" grinder with guard removed(risky) to get into
those tight places.
Sorry this ran so long, but verbose is my middle name. P-mail me if you
have further questions.
Dimwitted Moose and Flying Squirrel
-----Original Message-----
From: dave <dave@251.ORG>
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Date: Monday, November 22, 1999 8:11 AM
Subject: Paint code for gray fiberglass bumpers
>Does anyone know the paint code for 87+ gray fiberglass bumpers? This
>is on an 87 Wolfsburg, the bumpers look like they are close in color to
>the body, Vesuve Gray Met., but may be a little darker.
>
>One more, I am going to be fixing some cracks in the bumper before I
>paint it (front bumper), has anyone repaired the fiberglass bumpers
>before? If so what did you use? I was thinking a standard fiberglass
>repair kit and a lot of sanding. Thanks.
>
>dave
>dave@251.org