AMG fiberglass bumper came loose off epoxy-mounted stock bumper brackets, need help

[vixen_w202]

This might sound crazy, but when I went to my local Walmart and got back to my car, I found my amg front bumper neatly placed in front of my car in the space but yanked off hard enough to pull off the hardened epoxy from the donor brackets from the old skeleton. So basically some nut thought it would be funny to vandalize my Benz and then I guess they tried to take it but realized they couldn't take it with them. This means I need something even harder than epoxy that will literally bond the plastic to the fiberglass permanently and never come off.....EVER. Thankfully the bumper is not damaged, but I have to remount and design the bracket system all over again.....

grrrrr.

What is even harder than say, JB Weld?

And for the record, Vandals or hit n' run drivers piss me off bad, however it went down.

[Vetruck]

That sucks, Sorry to hear the bad news. Im not the best at bodywork materials, but I have had a lifetime messing with fiberglass growing up around and racing corvettes. Is there any way you can just glass them in? I would suggest trying to surround the plastics with glass mesh.

[vixen_w202]

After a 2nd attempt it came off again........................................I almost wanna chuck this thing in the garbage bin..............

So damn pissed off.

[Goldeni245]

LOL, this is hilarious.

[vixen_w202]

LOL, this is hilarious.

Why in the heck do you find this funny? Please share it with the audience so we may all find this not so amusing moment for me absolutely f*cking hilarious.

I tried an even harder epoxy which still didn't work out...

EDIT: I'm sorry, just this is frustrating.

[mbsickness]

Hate to say it might be time to have a body shop mount the bumper as they have more adhesives and experience at their disposal. Sucks as I know you have spent many hours making this thing work. Maybe Sulaco can provide some tips as he is having a shop mount the same bumper on his 43. On the OEM C36 bumper the slides on each side are screwed into the cover and the center support is attached with expansion plugs

[vaspen]

rent a plastic welder maby that can work

or a shit load of zipties lol

also get that dam walmart video survaylance of the parking lot find that basterd and beat there face in

[vixen_w202]

Round three of re-mating my mounts, this time using a combination of the INDUSTRIAL STRENGTH version of JB Weld and Gorilla Glue per some recommendation from a friend of mine. Going to do them both and hope these things stay on till Kingdom come. Stay tuned.

[JRE320]

Hate to say it might be time to have a body shop mount the bumper as they have more adhesives and experience at their disposal. Sucks as I know you have spent many hours making this thing work. Maybe Sulaco can provide some tips as he is having a shop mount the same bumper on his 43. On the OEM C36 bumper the slides on each side are screwed into the cover and the center support is attached with expansion plugs

I totally agree on your suggestion. You are just wasting your money on glues and it's not gonna work. That's why it's so hilarious..

[Pagz]

I feel your frustration!,but epoxy does not stick to plastic.
I think the funny part is that it was laying neatly in front of your car ;), It could have come off at a much more inconvenient time or if it was ripped off could have been damaged.

If the bumper is fibreglass you will need to rough it up and epoxy on some mounts to then use with screws onto plastic, If the bumper is plastic then you will need to plastic weld on some thicker plastic and screw into it.

Do not go with any type of glue ,From experience gorilla glue works well under high momentary pressure however consistent pressure will pull it away over time.

[vixen_w202]

I feel your frustration!,but epoxy does not stick to plastic.
I think the funny part is that it was laying neatly in front of your car ;), It could have come off at a much more inconvenient time or if it was ripped off could have been damaged.

If the bumper is fibreglass you will need to rough it up and epoxy on some mounts to then use with screws onto plastic, If the bumper is plastic then you will need to plastic weld on some thicker plastic and screw into it.

Do not go with any type of glue ,From experience gorilla glue works well under high momentary pressure however consistent pressure will pull it away over time.

Pagz, the bumper is fiberglass and I am mounting to plastic.

I want to do this right, but unfortunately I have hit a dry spell with money (less hours at work) and it's either DIY somehow or keep rolling around without it which I think looks ugly. If I could take this into a body shop I would, but once again....money has gotten harder for me right now so forced to figure it out myself. I hesitate to drill into the bumper as it's already painted and I don't want screws to look tacky or even worse, crack the paint or damage the fiberglass shell.

[Vetruck]

[QUOTE=vixen_w202;182693] Do NOT use Gorilla glue. That will not work.

you need to use either fiberglass resin which is very easy to mix, or use a marine epoxy (the white stuff) that is made for plastic and fiberglass. I would highly recommend just using fiberglass resin, its far less expensive and best.

[MikeD]

Screw in some L-shaped metal brackets to the bumper support beam to hold the bumper at the correct height and screw the bumper into the fender liners with two screws with built in washers on each side. Alternately, you could put screws or a nut and bolt through the top corners of the bumper and run them through the holes that are in the bottom of the fender where it meets the front bumper.

When it comes to DIY, $5 and a little bit of thought goes a long way at the hardware store...

[Sulaco]

Soon as my shop finishes mine I will let you know bud

[svt ricco]

Try plastic weld too, it's made by jewels for plastic. Let us know... Walmart has it

[Pagz]

Make alloy brackets with tabs to fibreglasss over onto your exiting fibreglass bumper,form the bracket to screw to your plastic structure.

If you have time you could even form the alloy braket to slide onto the original rails which would negate the need for your plastic structure, The lumma front is done this way and works very well!.

[vixen_w202]

Well guys, I'm happy to say I took Vetruck's advice and got some Marine Epoxy. Was kinda messy stuff but worth it.

I realized the epoxy isn't the issue. Somewhere when I go full lock on one of the sides of the bumper it's rubbing against the tire/giving enough force to push the bumper off. Even the best epoxy or fiberglass isn't going to resolve that. Just gotta be careful for now not to go full lock on either side. Somehow I need to get that fixed.

Here's a pic of my car after a very brisk and liberating canyon run with the bumper reunited to the chassis. Was coming home from LA visiting family and Angeles Crest is the fastest way home that dumps into Palmdale. Big Tijunga is an absolutely blissful canyon to drive.

Took this at a rest point:

1442

[vaspen]

damit gata change meh boxers XD glad you got it fixed