Customizing this "rice" bumper

[Danube_3KGT]

So my side skirts and rear bumper were damaged when I purchased my car and I recently ran into a good deal with a full kit (only paid 300.00 for all 4 pieces) and so I picked it up, but the front bumper is a little to "sharp" for my taste. I was wondering if anyone had any tips or good how tos on modding bumpers. I have been interested in fiberglassing and stuff and figured it might be simple enough to kinda round off some of the sharp edges or eliminate some parts.

picture of the bumper
http://i1109.photobucket.com/albums/h426/Danube_3KGT/front.jpg

and ideas would be great, I don't really need a new front right now, but mines kinda rough and so i figured this might be an opportunity to mess with fiberglassing and maybe make this some what decent.

Thanks in advance,
Chuck

[Chris@Rvengeperformance]

if you could smooth out the ridges I think that would help.

[Danube_3KGT]

me to.. thats really my goal, not really anything to extreme but just to kinda round some edges. I don't like the real sharp edges and I think thats what kills the kit. Just don't match the lines of that car

[DocWalt]

Fill in that silly scoop.

I don't have any tips on how to do it though, sorry.

[nodoze]

well a good compound to work with thats basically like bondo for fiberglass is this stuff called kitty hair will allow you to build up very quickly and take areas down. another thing to do would be to cut at the edges of the spikes or whatever and basically remove them. then using small fiberglass strips dip them into your resin and apply. but on the back side of the hole your filling make sure to put tape. it gives it a semi ridgid area to hold to while curing. then when sanding your body filler get a moldable sanding block to help you keep the contour you want. from looking at the pictues the ridges look to be interagle for bumper support and removing them all at once would cause parts of it to sag so do like 10 inch sections at a time but wait to do your sandign and sculpting till you have completely replaced the ridges with fiberglass so that way you can get a consistant curvature

[Danube_3KGT]

So put to much on purpose then just sand it down to what I want. Just cut the tips of the "fins" off then put a lump of resin on top of it and sand them down more rounded?

[nodoze]

yea you alway want mor on than what you need. and dont put it on to much before letting the first layer cure properly. and the lump of resin has to be used with fiberglass strips , wear gloves...

[nodoze]

with some patience and practice your could make that bumper look good and smooth

[Danube_3KGT]

well the only reason im even interested in doing this is cause its a spare.. I've heard goggles, a mask and sleeves are a very good idea with fiberglass.. What do I use to make sure it doesnt stick? with the vent on the nose I could cut out a cardboard shape of the hole and then just fiber glass on top of it right? put the cardboard in the hole then lay fiber over the cardboard overlapping the bumper now and the board then just bondo and sand to make it completely smooth?

[zelstin]

Before you do anything to it, I would bolt it up and see if it even comes close to fitting.

[IPD]

just looking at it, i see 3 ridges that need to be smoothed out to even have a prayer of looking good. keep in mind that even if you make it perfect, FG will crack if you look at it funny. and as mentioned, double check fitment before you even bother.

be sure to have a LOT of ventilation. be sure to scuff it a lot so that the added material will stick.

[nodoze]

i would tape the cardboard on the backside of the cut out opening then fiberglass over it so you dont trap cardboard in their, lots of ventilation it may sound simple but you need alot of practice to make it look real good

[Danube_3KGT]

is there any thing i can do besides fiberglass to lower the chances of cracking?

[Psychotron]

My phone wont load the pic of the bumper but let me bust a myth for you. Fiberglass is not destined to crack, the reason why fiberglass has a bad rep is because a bunch of retards have just slapped the bumpers on the car with a few bolts and then they flex and crack. If you secure it to the car so it has zero flex top, bottom, and sides then you will be fine.

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[bluzvr4]

iv heard of people undercoating the back side of it to add strength

[nodoze]

another big thing in the "cracking" is you have to put a flex additive in with the paint helps keep the paint from cracking.

[Danube_3KGT]

well if it matters I have a splitter from skillard on its way in.. so i might be able to support the bottom of the bumper some? I planned on installing it the same way a regular one would go on.

[Danube_3KGT]

with the vent on the top i could do the expanding foam in the hole, then sand the foam down flush, then use fiber glass resin to make it hard and just come in behind the bumper and either cut out the excess fiberglass and foam or just leave it and body putty over the resin right?

[anyonebutme]

Burning it and getting it on video is not an option, I take it?

[Danube_3KGT]

something like this? but without the little lip
http://i1109.photobucket.com/albums/h426/Danube_3KGT/done.jpg

compared to
http://i1109.photobucket.com/albums/h426/Danube_3KGT/front.jpg

[Psychotron]

with the vent on the top i could do the expanding foam in the hole, then sand the foam down flush, then use fiber glass resin to make it hard and just come in behind the bumper and either cut out the excess fiberglass and foam or just leave it and body putty over the resin right?

Not quite, expand foam, sand or cut that smooth to the bumper, lay down some painters tape over the foam because resin eats through foam, scuff the bumper all around the scoop with 80 gritt, cut a piece of fiberglass matt about 1.5" bigger than the scoop area, mix resin and dab it into the fiberglass matt on the bumper till its soaked but not dripping wet wait 24 hrs to fully cure, block sand smooth 80 grit, go over with body putty, block smooth till its seamless. If that sounds like too much work it probably is. Like somebody said before fit the bumper to the car first to see how well the sides and top fit to the hood and lights

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[IPD]

something like this? but without the little lip
http://i1109.photobucket.com/albums/h426/Danube_3KGT/done.jpg

if that's the end result, it's still fugly. gotta remove the ridges on the sides.

p.s.

i'll politely disagree with psycho. seems like every single person i've seen install a FG bumper that uses the car for anything more than a trophy...eventually had regrets or problems with the bumper. even if getting "zero flex" is possible, it's a car. the frame is going to flex a little bit. now adding a splitter is a great idea, because i can assure you that if you drive it long enough, you'll curb the bumper in a parking spot--especially if it's lowered.

[Danube_3KGT]

if i was to do the foam thing and try to round it off kind of like trons front bumper. so I just put a lot of foam on the bumper and sand it and cut it to the shape i like, then place like a trashbag over the foam, wax the bag and start laying fiber glass and painting resin on the sheets?

[Psychotron]

if that's the end result, it's still fugly. gotta remove the ridges on the sides.

p.s.

i'll politely disagree with psycho. seems like every single person i've seen install a FG bumper that uses the car for anything more than a trophy...eventually had regrets or problems with the bumper. even if getting "zero flex" is possible, it's a car. the frame is going to flex a little bit. now adding a splitter is a great idea, because i can assure you that if you drive it long enough, you'll curb the bumper in a parking spot--especially if it's lowered.

I will agree to an extent. You have to take better care of a car with fiberglass parts but what most people over look is that the parts were created for people who race and "trophy" cars which are not driven daily so if you use fiberglass parts on anything else thats the risk you take

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[Danube_3KGT]

well my car will be a daily driver and cracking something i am worried about.. are there not any other options?

[IPD]

well my car will be a daily driver and cracking something i am worried about.. are there not any other options?

plastic weld the stocker. my future project is an amalgamation of 3 different bumpers.

[Danube_3KGT]

theres not really anything wrong with my front one i just figured if I could mess with this one and see what happens

[nodoze]

you always have to add copious amounts extra then what the end result will need its a rule of thumb for body work. if it was me i would cut the scoop out trim the piece you cut out adhere it to the open hole from the back side and then build your fiber glass up. then sand it down .

[Danube_3KGT]

so, ill start with deleting the scoop.. just cut the scoop out, and take a piece of cardboard and put wax on it (ive heard to put wax on it to prevent the fiberglass from sticking to the board) then just cut the fabric sheets about an inch bigger then the hole on each side and lay on a sheet and brush it with resin, lay on a sheet and brush with resin, and repeat to desired thickness. then sand it down to fit the basic shape and put bondo on top of it, then sand the bondo flush, and repeat bondo until its completely smooth

[J. Fast]

I think it actually looks pretty functional but needs some edge work. There's an air diversion compartment for everything if you were intending on using it that way. FMIC, radiator, brakes, drivers side oil coooler, passenger side power steering cooler. It's good that it's adding a ton of surface area to the front of the vehicle with diverters to pickup downforce too. I doubt it was built with the intention though so I'll bet it'll crack. Maybe you could vac bag it with a carbon fiber when you're done smoothing it out and it would hold.

Sometimes functional and ugly cross paths, when they do it's fugly! That thing is fugly!

+1 on fiberglass cracking when you look at it funny. It's definitely not structural.