Plastic Weld a Broken Grille Bar on a Bumper Cover

Many bumper covers are thrown away and replaced simply because the grille bars are broken. You don't need to replace the bumper cover when the grille bar can easily be repaired using one of Polyvance's nitrogen plastic welders.

Always wear proper safety gear while working!

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Products Used:

Note: This is a list of the Polyvance products that can be used to make this repair. This list does not include sanders, grinders, or other common tools you will need. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to call technical support at 800-633-3047.

• 6125 Tapered Burr
• Nitrogen Plastic Welder (several options available)
• Polypropylene welding rods
  Note: We used polypropylene here because it matched the type of plastic. Choose the rod that matches the plastic you need for your repair.

Video Notes:

• English Closed Captions have been provided for this video. Click on the CC button to turn them on or off.
• The length of this video is in no way representative of the actual time required to perform a complete repair and therefore should not be used for estimating purposes.

English Transcript:

Many bumper covers are thrown away and replaced simply because the grille bars are broken. Look at these broken grille bars to see what I am talking about. This video will demonstrate how to repair the broken grille bar on this bumper cover.

Use a tapered burr on a die grinder to grind a v-groove into the back of the grille bar and in the plastic where the grille bar connects to the bumper cover. Also grind a "T" in the plastic where the grille bar attaches to the bumper cover. The edge of a Roloc disc can be used if you don't have a tapered burr.

Hold the grille bar in place with tape if necessary until the repair is complete. This bumper cover is polypropylene, so we are using a polypropylene rod with the nitrogen welding system. Melt the rod into the groove that you just made, and be sure to melt the rod and the existing plastic together. Weld into the "T" that you created earlier. This strengthens the grille bar considerably. After you melt in all the plastic necessary for the repair, give the rod a twist to break it off. While the plastic is still hot, use the airless plastic welder to melt in the edges and shape the plastic.

Either wait for the plastic to cool, or speed up the cooling with compressed air like we did here. Some of the plastic may have curled around the grille bar during the repair. Use the airless plastic welder to shape the plastic from the front side.