The bumper is dented, what should I do? The process of removing a dent on a plastic bumper

One of the common situations, especially in winter time years, dents appear on the car bumper. They arise in the process of “collision” with snowdrifts. Even a small interaction like this can result in a decent amount of money that you will have to pay at a car service for its restoration. But it’s easy to straighten a plastic bumper with your own hands. Need to purchase necessary tools and get acquainted with the stages of work.

Removing a bumper dent is done using the following tools:

electric kettle;
small magnet;
construction hair dryer;
thermometer.

Surface preparation

Before straightening the bumper, you need to find out exactly what it is made of.

If the bumper material cannot be heated, then squeezing out the defect with your own hands will be problematic, and in this case it is better to seek help from body repair professionals.

For example, you should not heat an existing welded seam on a bumper, nor should you heat a fiberglass part.

To remove a dent, you must first remove the bumper and construction hairdryer slightly warm the surface. At the same time, the water in the kettle is heated to a temperature of 40 degrees. Heated water is poured over not only the defect itself, but also an area with a radius of 20 cm around it. Then you need to heat the water again to a temperature of 50 degrees and repeat the procedure.

Straightening

Do-it-yourself bumper dent removal should begin immediately to prevent the water from drying out. The magnet must be brought to the surface and moved in different directions. Moreover, even if the bumper is plastic, it will be magnetic, since the paint applied to it contains a large number of metal particles.

WITH inside With our hands we gently press the dent to straighten it to its previous position. This way you can help the magnet and simultaneously distribute the force over the entire surface of the bumper. To remove a dent, you do not need to press too hard with your hands, as this can damage its coating.

Once recovery is complete, do not immediately remove your hands. You should hold the straightened surface for several minutes to fix it. new uniform.

But that's it restoration work not finished. To remove a dent completely with your own hands, you need to heat the water again to a temperature of 35 degrees and pour it over the bumper. This procedure is carried out several times, and each time the temperature drops by 8 degrees. When the water temperature is 15 degrees, the bumper is left to dry in a cool and dry place. Here it should lie for 48 hours, after which it can be reinstalled in its place.

Repairing complex dents

It happens that deeper dents appear on the bumper than those left after contact with snowdrifts. The reasons for their occurrence can be different, ranging from children playing with a ball to road accidents. To level out such a dent, it is not at all necessary to contact specialists. All work can be done with your own hands.

There is an effective and simple method. To straighten a dent, you will need a powerful hair dryer, which heats the area around the damage for a couple of minutes. Next, the heated dent is sprayed with a can of compressed air until traces of frost from the liquefied air appear. Afterwards, you should wait for the frost to disappear and observe the surface straightening on its own. All that remains is to wipe the dent until a natural shine is formed.

So, you can always fix a dent that appears on the bumper with your own hands, which will save significant cash.

How to remove a dent on a bumper

We remove dents on bumpers ourselves.

It is very easy to damage a plastic car bumper. And the most annoying thing is that even the smallest dent spoils the appearance of the car and at first glance requires professional repair in a specialized auto repair shop. It is worth noting that even minor repairs to dents on the bumper in a car repair shop can require significant financial resources. Do you think it is possible to remove a dent on a bumper yourself?

Many car enthusiasts like to maintain their car themselves, as well as perform minor Maintenance of your vehicle. But, unfortunately, not many people can boast of knowing how to repair minor damage to both the front and rear bumpers without outside help.

Fortunately, there are ways to remove a dent without the help of specialists. But first, you need to determine whether the bumper can be restored independently. To do this, inspect the bumper for torn chips, cracks and similar defects. If the bumper has a crack and is generally badly damaged, then, unfortunately, you will not be able to restore it yourself. In this case, you need to seek professional help.

If, as a result of an accident, the car's bumper only has a small dent, then you can try to fix it. Before proceeding with the restoration, it is necessary to remove (if any) any remaining foreign paint or dirt from the bumper. To do this, use various paint removers. For example, nail polish remover (use carefully as you may damage paintwork car - for this, the cleaning process should be as short as possible in time). WD-40 cleaner can also help you remove dirt. Another old proven method for removing paint or dirt from a bumper is to use brake fluid, which, like nail polish remover, must be used as much as possible. a short time. Despite the precautions taken when removing paint, you can still slightly damage the layer of varnish applied to your bumper. In order to restore the shine to the damaged area, you need to polish it using special products that are sold in many car dealerships.

Unlike dents on iron body parts, repairing damage to the bumper is not particularly difficult. We offer you a proven method that we found on the Internet that will help remove a dent on the bumper.

To begin removing a dent you will need: rubber gloves, a kettle of boiling water and a large bottle (or pan) of cool water.

Removing a dent on the bumper

One of known methods removing dents with a hair dryer.

To remove a dent, you need to gradually start pouring boiling water from the kettle onto the damage.

Plastic is a flexible material and can easily change its shape when heated. As the hot water heats up the area where the bumper is damaged, the dent will decrease and subsequently disappear completely, and the bumper will return to its original appearance.

At the moment when the dent completely disappears, it is necessary to fill the defect area cold water so that the plastic cools down to temperature environment, which will lead to fixation of the bumper geometry.

Remember that the process of cooling the bumper after restoration is extremely necessary, because if this is not done or the damaged area is not cooled sufficiently, the dent may be restored.

Unfortunately, dents on bumpers are different and not all defects can be repaired so easily. Bumper damage often occurs in difficult areas. For example, on a bend or on the edge of a part. In such cases, using simple boiling water may not completely remove the dent. To do this, you need to crawl your hand from the inside of the bumper and press on the dent (you can use wooden block, if it is problematic to reach with your hand) after or during treatment of a complex damaged area with boiling water.

Other less quick way To remove a dent from a bumper, use a regular powerful hair dryer to dry your hair. But, as a rule, this method takes much longer (more than 20 minutes) and is not always effective.

But even after removing the dent with a hairdryer, you must cool the damaged area in order to fix the plastic in this position.

This way you can save several thousand rubles by using just a few liters of water to repair a dent on your car.

Welcome to the kuzov.info blog!

In this article I will tell you how to fix a dent on a bumper. Let's look at several ways to heat a bumper and the correct sequence for straightening a dent.

Pressing from the reverse side can be considered the easiest way to straighten a dent. However, for a plastic bumper, if you get to the back side or even remove it, it will be difficult to push out the dent due to the rigidity of the plastic. Extruding a dent on a plastic bumper is made easier by heating it. The rules given in this article will help you straighten a deformed bumper without causing additional damage. It is impossible to restore a bumper to new condition by simply pushing out the dent from the inside. Usually scratches and small creases remain, which require further puttying, priming and painting. However, if everything is done correctly, the bumper will look 90% better even without painting.

Preparing the bumper for repair

Wash and dry the damaged part of the bumper before repairing.
It is not always necessary to remove the entire bumper to fix a dent. You can remove the protection from below or loosen the fender liner to gain access to the back of the dent. Thus, it will be more convenient to press on the dent from the back side when the bumper is fixed.
Again, if the bumper is removed, it becomes possible to heat the back side of the bumper. This makes heating more even.

Bumper heating

To straighten a dent, you need to properly remove all the stress created by the deformation. This can be done by heating the plastic and applying the right amount of force. When heating a dent, you also need to heat 10–15 cm around it. By doing this, you relieve the tension in the area around the dent created by the impact.
For heating, you can use available means such as a hair dryer or boiling water. Other means that help to more evenly heat the entire deformation zone at the same time are exposure to an infrared lamp (drying), as well as dipping the damaged part into a bath of hot water. We will consider all these means below.
Consider the thickness of the plastic before applying heat to the dent. On some modern cars, the plastic is very thin and can easily overheat.
If the plastic is not hot enough, the deformation will not ease and, when straightened, will return. On the other hand, if you overheat the plastic, it will become much more difficult to repair. It will stretch unnecessarily when pressed. When plastic is overheated and on the verge of melting, strength and elasticity deteriorate as it cools. Therefore, it is important to heat the bumper to the correct temperature and not overdo it.

There are cases when stronger heating of the plastic is necessary in certain places. For example, to remove folds formed during deformation.
When using a hair dryer, you need to heat the bumper until the surface is hot when touched. The ideal temperature for heating the bumper is between 160–200 degrees. When heating the bumper, you need to hold the hair dryer nozzle close to the surface to control the heat, but no closer than 10 cm. Move the hair dryer evenly at a moderate speed to properly warm up the plastic. Excessive heat may cause the paint to bubble. At this temperature, the plastic can change shape with moderate force. Don't forget that you need to heat not only the dent, but also the area around it. When using a hair dryer, use its highest setting. A hair dryer is best used on medium settings. If the dent is large, then you can use two hair dryers. It is better to have a second person help.
When using hot water to straighten a dent, you need to boil a full kettle or pan of water. Hot water will make the plastic more flexible. Such heating will not last long, so you need to do everything very quickly. You need to get to the other side and press. We will look at dent correction in more detail below.

If a dent has formed on the ribs of the bumper, then after heating you need to press directly on the ribs.

To straighten the dent, the bumper can be immersed in a bath of hot water (80–90 degrees Celsius) for several minutes. Part of the dent may return on its own, but the rest must be straightened by hand after removal from the bath. To remove any remaining deformation, you can apply local heat with a hairdryer set to the desired temperature.
Infrared drying can be used to heat the damaged area. Drying can be considered a less accessible heating method, but effective. It is used in body repair and car painting. Drying softens a large area, and the dent becomes pliable and all stress is relieved. No matter how deep the dent is, it will heat up evenly and return easily without significant effort. In addition, if the plastic is well heated, there is less chance of small cracks appearing in the paint after straightening.

How to fix a dent on a bumper?

When the desired temperature has been reached, you can begin squeezing out the dent. For large dents and small waves, a gloved hand works well. For sharper dents, creases, or to restore edges, a wooden block can be used. If you can’t get your hand through, use a long block with a rag wrapped around it.
The plastic cools down quite quickly, so you need to maintain the temperature to keep it pliable.
When straightening a dent, it is best to start from the outer part of the dent and work towards the deepest part. The deformation stress is concentrated at the edges. Relieving the tension will allow the deepest part of the dent to straighten out easily. If the area with stiffening ribs is deformed, then you need to press directly on these ribs.

Sometimes a shallow dent in a bumper can be straightened out by applying heat and then applying pressure to the raised areas formed along the edges of the dent. This way, you don't even need to push out the dent from the back side.

Straightening out a dent sometimes requires direct, steady pressure. In other cases, smoothing may be required. There is no need to be afraid to press with force, but if the plastic does not give in, then you need to heat this area some more.
Some dents are easier to fix than others. Sometimes several editing steps are required.
You can use a hairdryer to spot heat the remaining creases or holes.
Once you have straightened the dent to the desired shape, holding it from the back side, fix the result with a wet rag. It will cool the bumper and the shape will remain unchanged. The rag should be applied around the dent.
After straightening the dent, the bumper can be put back in place and the remaining defects can be polished, or a brush can be used to touch up scratches. Deeper scratches and uneven surfaces require puttying, priming and painting.

Sanding, puttying the bumper and preparing for painting

When sanding your bumper, don't be afraid to use coarse sandpaper (P80 or P60). This paper will remove paint and cut off small raised areas that are otherwise difficult to remove. Puttying and sanding with a finer abrasive will help get rid of rough scratches in the future. To slightly smooth out the lint that forms after sanding with coarse sandpaper, you can use a gas torch. You need to move the burner quickly so as not to overheat the plastic. You can read more about the technology of puttying a plastic bumper in the article “technology of puttying and painting plastic bumpers.”

3 ways to fix a dent on a bumper

The bumper suffers most often while the car is moving, since it is the first to be damaged when it hits an obstacle or an accident. That is why every car owner should know how to fix a dent on a bumper. Otherwise, he will have to completely change this expensive part, spending additional money and physical effort on it.

In addition, auto repair shops do not always undertake this work, since the design of modern bumpers is complex and, without experience working with products manufactured for cars of certain brands and models, it is very difficult to straighten a dent. That is why many car owners perform this procedure on their own, in their own garage, without involving professional auto repairmen.

Tools and materials

Dent on plastic bumper can be easily straightened, provided the correct and quality tools. Moreover, when doing such work with your own hands, it is important that the product being repaired is carefully prepared in advance. As for the complexity of the tools needed to straighten a dent, in many cases you can use by simple means that do not require investment large quantity money.

To repair a plastic bumper, ridding it of dents, you need to prepare in advance following materials and tools:

hairdryer When selecting it, it is imperative to pay attention to its power, which is why it makes sense to give preference to construction and other industrial devices that can heat up even thick-walled products well;
boiling water. It is used for the same purposes as a hair dryer, and sometimes instead of it. Boiling water has a gentle effect on plastic products and that is why they sometimes replace an industrial hair dryer. You can prepare it using an ordinary household electric kettle. You can bring it to the work site and prepare boiling water as needed;
a screwdriver or other metal object with a blunt end;
economic or protective gloves. They are necessary to protect your hands from burns if they are accidentally exposed to hot air or boiling water;
magnet for straightening metal parts or elements.

Preparing for repairs

A dent on a bumper can be deep or shallow, with or without damage to the paint layer. That is why, before starting to repair it, you must first inspect the damaged area and decide whether it is possible to carry out the repair in principle. If the bumper has cracks or other significant damage, repairing it is impractical and it would be better to buy a new product to replace the broken one. If the bumper looks slightly dented, it is quite possible to straighten it yourself.

In addition to a visual inspection, before starting repair work, it is necessary to clean the bumper surface from old paint and dirt. Since plastic is a fragile material, you should not use metal objects and emery. It is best to use special paint and varnish removers. In any case, they should not be aggressive. If you don’t have anything at hand, take regular brake fluid, but it is advisable to quickly wash it off so that it does not damage the paintwork remaining on the bumper.

Dent removal algorithm

Repairing a dent on a plastic bumper is carried out in accordance with the following algorithm:

the part is dismantled in order to have equal access to both its outer and inner surfaces;
The dent area is thoroughly washed and dried, ensuring that its entire surface is dry and clean on both sides. Traces of rust, dirt, and fungus that could interfere with the normal course of the restoration process are strictly excluded;
align the bumper after preliminary preparation you need a hairdryer, gradually warming it up. The entire repaired area must be uniformly heated to a temperature at which the plastic bumper softens, but there is no need to bring it to the melting point and you should press on it carefully during the work process. If this rule is not followed, the bumper will have to be repainted;
warming the product with a hairdryer, or watering hot water, pull out the dent with gradual circular movements, pressing on it from the side. It would be great if this type of dent straightening is done using a blunt metal object.
After warming up the bumper, you should wait a few minutes before straightening the dent, since under the influence of degrees high temperature, he can begin to straighten himself out, returning to his previous state;
after the part has taken on the old or received a new shape, and the dent has been eliminated, the bumper needs to be cooled at the site of damage using a wet rag, as well as a can of compressed air.

Remember that heated plastic is easily deformed, so you can only straighten it evenly on all sides.

What to do with difficult dents

It is easy to straighten the bumper if it is plastic and does not have serious damage, but if it is metal, it will be more difficult to correct the situation. To do this, you need a magnet that is magnetized to the edge of the dent. After this, it is heated with boiling water, pouring it over the surface of the dent. Next, the magnet is pulled towards itself with force, gradually moving it towards the center of the dent. As a result, it should at some point straighten out, making a characteristic sound. In the same way, level and metal parts on a plastic bumper.

If deep dents appear on the plastic bumper, use the original method. To do this, take a powerful hair dryer and use it to heat the area around the damage. Next, the heated dent is cooled using a can of compressed air until frost appears on it. After the frost melts, the dent should disappear, since the plastic should “remember” the shape it previously had.

In the same case, when the dent is located next to a repaired chip or crack, you should not restore the bumper yourself. In this case, it makes sense to contact a specialized workshop that performs body work. Here you will have damage of any severity and complexity repaired, even if it is located in problem areas.

conclusions

The design of the bumpers of modern cars and technical properties materials used for their manufacture make it possible to perform most repair work on one's own. To do this, you need to be careful and careful not to use unnecessary physical force and damage the bumper. However, complex dents should be entrusted to the attention of professionals, since they may be located in inconvenient places, or their independent removal may lead to failure of this element of the car’s structure.

The process of removing a dent on a plastic bumper

Even experienced drivers sometimes cannot avoid damage to the bumper of their car.

Fixing a dent on a plastic bumper

Driving with a dented bumper is not very good, so the problem will have to be fixed. You can do this by contacting a car repair shop or doing the repairs yourself. If you chose the second option, you will find detailed information about your necessary actions below.

Preparatory stage

There are several ways to remove a dent from a plastic car bumper with your own hands. But before you start repairing, you need to understand whether independent restoration is possible in principle. Carry out a thorough inspection to identify any damage. If the crack is too large, and the bumper itself is severely damaged, repairing it yourself is out of the question - you will have to go to a car repair shop. But you can easily handle a small dent and a couple of chips on the plastic bumper on your own.

Dent on plastic bumper

Before starting repairs, you need to carry out preparatory work. Remove old paint and dirt from the bumper. For this you can use special means to remove paint. Failing that, even ordinary acetone-based nail polish remover will do. As a last resort, you can use brake fluid, but it must be washed off as quickly as possible so as not to damage the rest of the coating.

Dent removal process

To carry out repair work to remove dents from a plastic bumper with your own hands, you will need:

rubber or construction gloves to avoid damaging your hands;
electric kettle or saucepan with boiling water;
large container with cold water.

Removing dents with boiling water

To straighten the bumper, you can use a special hair dryer or simply boil water in an electric kettle.

Use hot water to pour hot water over the bumper in the area where the dent has formed. The manipulations will need to be repeated until it warms up thoroughly. If you use a hair dryer, be careful. In case of severe overheating, the plastic may begin to stretch, or the paintwork may come off. That's why hot water even more preferable for a beginner.

Plastic is malleable, so as it heats up, the dent will gradually shrink and eventually disappear completely. The bumper will return to its original shape without much effort.

As soon as the damage completely disappears, the area where the defect was should be immediately filled with cold water. This way, the plastic bumper will cool down and the resulting effect will be firmly attached to it. The cooling process is important point in the bumper alignment procedure. This is especially true if you have been driving for a long time with a damaged one. The “memory” of the plastic bumper may have had time to change, and if the result is not fixed, the dent may appear again.

Unfortunately, some dents form in hard-to-reach areas and are not that easy to reach. For example, if they are on the bend or edge of the bumper. In this case, to straighten the bumper, you will need to physically impact the dent. The procedure in this case will be as follows:

gradually heat the dent from the outside;
take a blunt object (for example, a wooden block) and press on the inside of the dent in a circular motion to straighten the bumper;
if a dent has formed on the edge, then pull it out first;
Do not press in one place under any circumstances - a lump may form that will not be easy to remove.

If you use a hair dryer, it may take longer to restore the bumper. But this method does not always give a positive result. If you still managed to straighten the damaged area, do not forget about cooling with water. As a last resort, apply a wet rag to the former dent.

By the way, if the damage is minor, the bumper can even “heal itself.” Try leaving it under straight lines on a hot summer day sun rays. They will thoroughly warm up the plastic bumper, and the deformation will disappear. If this option does not help you, then you will have to heat it yourself.

Of course, it all depends on the type of plastic. If he belongs to the soft category, then the method given above will suit him perfectly. But with hard plastic things are a little more complicated. It bends with difficulty, so you will have to heat it almost to the melting point and press very hard.

ABS plastic deserves special mention. It heats up too quickly, so you need to be careful not to overheat. Otherwise, it will simply lose its shape, and it will be very difficult to restore the bumper.

Removing a dent from a bumper

As you can see, with such simple manipulations you can not only restore your car to its original appearance, but also save a significant amount of money. Just a few liters of water - and the bumper will be almost like new!

To “hook” and dent the bumper, as they say, it doesn’t take much effort. You can get a guaranteed dent on it even by driving into a small snowdrift. But restoring this part of the car in a car workshop is not at all cheap, from 4 thousand rubles or more. However, if you wish, you can straighten the bumper yourself. What do you need to have? An electric kettle, a hair dryer, a box or a garage with a temperature of 20 to 30 degrees Celsius is enough for us. You will also need a thermometer and a small magnet, as well as, as mentioned earlier, the desire and confidence to obtain a positive result.

Let's start by determining the material used to make your bumper. If there are “contraindications” to heating, you should contact a specialist. Although the installation of such bumpers is usually carried out on top-class cars, such as Ferarri, Chrysler, Lamborghini and the like. The bumper is removed from the car and begins to heat up. First, the iron is slightly warmed up with a hair dryer. Then the water is heated in the electric kettle to 35 - 40 degrees. This water is carefully poured over the bumper, namely the entire surface area of the bumper within a radius of 15 to 20 centimeters from the dent. After this, the water temperature is brought to 45 - 50 degrees and the procedure is repeated.

Without allowing the water to dry out, we begin to bend the heated bumper by bringing a magnet to the damaged surface. No need to worry if your car's bumper is plastic. It can also straighten out as a result of the amount of metal in the paint. The magnet should be moved from side to side. Using your hand to gently press the dent from the inside, we try to squeeze it out without using excessive force to avoid damaging the bumper cover. When you notice that the bumper has already straightened, you do not need to immediately let go of your hand. Hold it for one to two minutes. After this, you will need to heat the water, this time to 30 - 35 degrees and then water the bumper again. This procedure must be carried out several times, each time lowering the water temperature by 5 degrees until it is equal to 15 degrees. After the last watering, you should put the bumper in a dry and cool place, leaving it there until it dries completely. Thus, it must lie for at least two days. Then you can install the bumper again in its place. The appearance of dents on the body of a car is possible due to various types of accidents and incidents. It could be children playing with a ball, hooligans or road accidents. Automotive service technicians charge a high price for repairing dents on the body.

If you don’t have enough finances to repair dents at a car service center, there is a proven and effective method(and not at all complicated) in order to straighten the bumper yourself. To do this, we arm ourselves with an ordinary, preferably fairly powerful, hair dryer and, turning it on, heat the place on the body where the dent is located with hot air coming from the hair dryer. Heating should be done for one to two minutes or more (depending on the power of your hair dryer) before the metal heats up. We first stock up on a can of compressed air, which you can buy at a computer equipment sales showroom. There are many types of such cans, but any one will suit us. This can should be turned over and the surface with the dent heated with a hairdryer should be sprayed well until traces of frost remain from the liquefied air. This may take 20 to 30 seconds. Then we wait for the formed frost to disappear and simply watch the dented metal straighten. Finally, the dent should be wiped until a natural shine appears.

Many drivers have found themselves in a situation where, in a car collision, there are no casualties and they manage to escape with just the bumper. Meanwhile, repairing this part is not a cheap task, and sometimes you even have to purchase new element body kit But the bumper can be repaired, and it’s not at all difficult. Moreover, even large dents can be removed in just 5 minutes, and for this you will need something that is in every home.

Road accidents do not always result in totaled cars and casualties. Usually the situation is just the opposite, and most often the body parts of the car or just the bumper are affected. After a strong collision, the bumper shatters into pieces and is practically irreparable. But the plastic part can withstand a slight blow, after which only a dent remains. It is not always possible to straighten it, and here a simple tool that every person has in their kitchen will come to the rescue.

In order not to resort to the services of repairmen at a service station and save money, we will do the repairs ourselves. First, let's clean the damaged surface. In the event of a collision, paint particles from another car may be transferred to the surface of the bumper. It can be removed using chemicals. Firstly, this nail polish remover which every woman has. It is worth using it very quickly, since the substance quickly corrodes not only dirt, but can also ruin the original paintwork. The same applies to brake fluid, which also removes dirt and paint caused by impact.

But the use of liquid WD-40 less effective, but much safer, since “Vedeha” does not eat paint so aggressively.

Next, we proceed directly to removing the dent. To do this, you will need two containers: one with boiling water and one with cold water. Since the bumper is made of plastic, it softens when exposed to boiling water. If you spill hot water on a part, there is a chance that the bumper will return to its normal shape on its own. If this does not happen, you need to “help” him by sticking your hand under the bumper and “pushing out” the dent from inside the car.

When the impact site straightens, you need to water it with cold water. Then the plastic will cool and take the shape we need. If this is not done, the dent may “return” during natural cooling.

You can also use hair dryer, with the help of which the damaged area is warmed up. But you’ll have to “play around” with household power tools much longer than if you use boiling water.

Drivers should also know

A dent in a plastic bumper can be easily repaired if you use the right quality tools. Moreover, when doing such work with your own hands, it is important that the product being repaired is carefully prepared in advance. As for the complexity of the tools needed to straighten a dent, in many cases you can use simple tools that do not require investing a lot of money.

To repair a plastic bumper, ridding it of dents, you must prepare the following materials and tools in advance:

hairdryer When selecting it, it is imperative to pay attention to its power, which is why it makes sense to give preference to construction and other industrial devices that can heat up even thick-walled products well;
boiling water. It is used for the same purposes as a hair dryer, and sometimes instead of it. Boiling water has a gentle effect on plastic products and that is why it is sometimes used to replace an industrial hair dryer. You can prepare it using an ordinary household electric kettle. You can bring it to the work site and prepare boiling water as needed;
a screwdriver or other metal object with a blunt end;
household or protective gloves. They are necessary to protect your hands from burns if they are accidentally exposed to hot air or boiling water;
magnet for straightening metal parts or elements.

Preparing for repairs

In addition to a visual inspection, before starting repair work, it is necessary to clean the surface of the bumper from old paint and dirt. Since plastic is a fragile material, you should not use metal objects or emery for such cleaning. It is best to use special paint and varnish removers. In any case, they should not be aggressive. If you don’t have anything at hand, take regular brake fluid, but it is advisable to quickly wash it off so that it does not damage the paintwork remaining on the bumper.

Dent removal algorithm

Repairing a dent on a plastic bumper is carried out in accordance with the following algorithm:

the part is dismantled in order to have equal access to both its outer and inner surfaces;
The dent area is thoroughly washed and dried, ensuring that its entire surface is dry and clean on both sides. Traces of rust, dirt, and fungus that could interfere with the normal course of the restoration process are strictly excluded;
After preliminary preparation, it is necessary to level the bumper with a hairdryer, gradually warming it up. The entire repaired area must be uniformly heated to a temperature at which the plastic bumper softens, but there is no need to bring it to the melting point and you should press on it carefully during the work process. If this rule is not followed, the bumper will have to be repainted;
Warming up the product with a hairdryer, or pouring hot water on it, we pull out the dent with gradual circular movements, pressing on it from the side. It would be great if this type of dent straightening is done using a blunt metal object.
After warming up the bumper, you should wait a few minutes before straightening the dent, since under the influence of high temperatures, it can begin to straighten itself, returning to its previous state;
after the part has taken on the old or received a new shape, and the dent has been eliminated, the bumper needs to be cooled at the site of damage using a wet rag, as well as a can of compressed air.

Remember that heated plastic is easily deformed, so you can only straighten it evenly on all sides.

Separately, it is worth noting that in the manuals devoted to the topic: how to remove a dent on a bumper, it is specifically stated that some types of plastics have “shape memory.” It lies in the fact that when repairs are carried out a relatively short time after the bumper has received damage, it can return to its previous shape somewhere in 10-15 minutes after the end of heating the product. If the bumper is cooled in time, it will be fixed in a new state and will never return to its previous state. As for putting it back in place, this can only be done when the damper has completely cooled down and is not afraid of serious mechanical impacts.

What to do with difficult dents

It is easy to straighten the bumper if it is plastic and does not have serious damage, but if it is metal, it will be more difficult to correct the situation. To do this, you need a magnet that is magnetized to the edge of the dent. After this, it is heated with boiling water, pouring it over the surface of the dent. Next, the magnet is pulled towards itself with force, gradually moving it towards the center of the dent. As a result, it should at some point straighten out, making a characteristic sound. The metal parts on the plastic bumper are aligned in the same way.

In the same case, when the dent is located next to a repaired chip or crack, you should not restore the bumper yourself. In this case, it makes sense to contact a specialized workshop that performs body work. Here you will have damage of any severity and complexity repaired, even if it is located in problem areas.

conclusions

The design of modern car bumpers and the technical properties of the materials used for their manufacture make it possible to carry out most repair work yourself. To do this, you need to be careful and careful not to use unnecessary physical force and damage the bumper. However, complex dents should be entrusted to the attention of professionals, since they may be located in inconvenient places, or their independent removal may lead to failure of this element of the car’s structure.

Trouble in the form of dents is a common problem among car owners. This is not always the result of an accident. Sometimes spoil appearance Even hooligans can wield an iron horse, but it is not always possible to find the culprits and compensate for the damage. In this case, this is exactly how the bumper of a 2006 Nissan Titan was damaged. Since the dent was not too large, and the bumper itself was plastic, it was decided to fix this problem with our own hands.

Materials

Before removing a dent on a plastic bumper, prepare:

heat gun;
screwdriver;
round nose pliers;
small adjustable wrench.

Step 1. First, check whether you will need to remove the bumper or whether you can cope with the task of straightening the dent without this action. To do this, you need to turn all the wheels of the car in one direction and pass your hand behind the bumper. If you managed to get to the back of the dent, then the bumper does not need to be removed. If this turns out to be problematic, prepare all the tools for the job.

Step 2. For this car, removing the bumper was quite easy. It was necessary to stretch the plastic tabs and remove three bolts. True, we had to work very carefully, since the tabs turned out to be fragile. On a Nissan, in order to completely remove the bumper, you must first remove the grille and headlight. To do this, the fasteners of these parts were removed and the wires were disconnected.

Step 3. Place the bumper on the floor or other work surface. Turn the back of it towards you and turn on the heat gun, setting it to its highest setting. Place the tool at a distance of about 20 cm from the surface of the bumper. This is necessary so that the plastic does not melt during operation. For the same reason it's not worth it hot air point at one point, slowly move the gun along the surface of the bumper in the area of the dent.

Step 4. As soon as the plastic has warmed up well, and 3 to 5 minutes of exposure will be enough for this, carefully use the head of a screwdriver to press the dent in the opposite direction. You will not be able to completely remove the dent in one such manipulation. You will simply reduce its depth. To level the surface of the bumper as much as possible, you will need to heat its surface and push the plastic forward again 3–4 times. In this case, it was possible to achieve 95% removal of the dent.

Step 5. On the Nissan, in addition to the bumper, the headlight was also hit, which became clear when disassembling the car. A small crack appeared on its plastic body, but the issue was easily resolved with the help of superglue. The latter was applied to the damaged area in several layers.