Rubber Bumper Rehab

This article is part of the MG Experience Library – Body and Paint Section
Thanks to Dwain Fitzpatrick for writing this article. Published on 2006-04-02
The contents of this article are © Copyrighted and published under the following terms:
Released under the terms of the CC Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License

They now make a filler just for rubber (plastic) bumpers. I bought Evercoat Poly-flex for my car. When repairing a rubber bumper is is imperative to clean, clean, clean all traces of dirt, silicone, or other contaminants before doing anything. If you want to paint the bumper using real auto paint just add a flex additive to the paint.

I violated the rules of purists by painting my bumpers to match the car. I love the looks of it that way, your mileage may vary.

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"Rubber Bumper Rehab"
Article by Dwain Fitzpatrick – Published 2006-04-02

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Comments

Comments on Rubber Bumper Rehab –

Rubber Bumper Rehab rated 7.5 out of 10 based on 2 ratings and 10 user reviews.

Comment by Rick Ingram at 2005-12-17 15:54:37

I think it looks GREAT! I did the same on my 1974-1/2 GT. (But then, I really went spurious with a two-tone paint, silver over purple for the car!) rick

Comment by James Nelson at 2005-12-28 13:02:38

What did you use for a primer - or did you use any primer at all?

Comment by Dwain Fitzpatrick at 2006-11-24 08:29:10

The patch material, flexible primer, and flex paint additive are all available at your local autobody supply shop.

Comment by Terry Davis at 2007-01-01 10:02:52

I performed the same operation on the r'umpers of a 79 Midget.
For primer, I used black rubber bumper paint from a rattle can and then painted the r'umpers and the car with a single stage urethane. No flex additive used. No cracking, flaking or discoloration for over 5 years now.

Comment by Terry Davis at 2007-01-01 10:03:02

Rated this: 7/10

Comment by Jim Underwood at 2008-04-01 13:16:03

FWIW, On the flex additive. A PPG rep told me years ago that the additive is only designed to improve flexability for installation purposes. After the paint has fully cured for six months or so it becomes pretty hard. I've seen this myself on late model cars where I used the additive as reccomended. A year or so later I've seen the same vehicle that had obviously had an impact to the bumper and the paint cracked. The bumpers we have really don't flex much so myself, I would skip the flex add. If it gets hit, it will crack anyway.

Comment by Andreea Socolov at 2009-12-22 05:59:52

For this kind of mess you really need some roller mops for getting rid of the paint, you should warn your wives, I am telling you this because my husband always makes a big mess in the garage - he loves cars of course and I have to clean it up! So be nice and get one good mop for your spouse.

Comment by David O'Brien at 2010-03-19 06:49:26

Rated this: 8/10

I've been restoring my owm 78 "B" and undecided about doing the same thing to my bumpers. After seeing the photos I have to admit I am less inclined to do it now. It looks great but it's definitely not the look I'm after. I'm trying to get a "custom" look but not necessarily modern and the colour-match bumpers look too modern to me.
Two thumbs up for your work though. I'm glad you ignored the so-called purists and did it your own way. I love the boot luggage rack and it's given me an idea to make one with some teak or walnut slats inlaid.

Comment by Dave Rhine at 2010-08-01 09:21:42

Dwain

I like that look!

I've been considering doing that to my RB Midget & was just trying to find some pics, when I ran across your article.

I like it!

Comment by Samual Warn at 2011-02-22 22:23:04

I think it looks amazing!!!!
i like this look, thanks for sharing
regards, cars for sale

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