Repair help after Camry vs Feline

[BlueTundra]

Hello,

I’ve tried quite a few searches and haven’t found this information I’m looking for.

I have a 2009 SE. 70mph on freeway, what appeared to be a cat darted across 4 lanes then ran back and intersected my path.

It knocked out my lower grill, but luckily it (the grill) was resting inside and appears to have snapped back in fine.

The problem is I now have about a 4 inch tear on the bottom of the lip/spoiler/bumper. From 20 feet away, it isn’t noticeable. This is my work car and it has some battle scars, but I’d like to hide this one and keep it from getting worse. I’m not excited about paying the deductible, loosing the car for a week or so, then always comparing the paint match. With the miles I drive, the parking lots I have to leave my baby in and trucks and rocks on the freeway, I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before I really need some front end work and I’ll get it all done at once.

In the meantime, I’m thinking I could use some type of epoxy to reinforce the tear on the inside and add a brace at the bottom (held by hardware or the epoxy).

I’m looking for a recommendation on a product that will work well with this material.

Thanks!

[Cking]

I also was in your situation. There was a bunch of cones to block off a lane on the freeway. As I was exiting on the off-ramp, a cone, with the hard rubber part facing me, appeared out of no where, and there was a car behind it. I sort of just closed my eyes(not literally) and just hit it. It knocked my lip grill off as well as cracked it in 2 places. I've been needing to repaint my bumper, as well as put on Halo headlights, so this was my winter break project.

I sanded it to allow better adhesion, used 5 minute Epoxy + Fiberglass(obtained from my high school lol cause they do Hydrogen Fuel Cell car races, etc).



Mix Epoxy, "lay it up" on the back of the bumper (3 layers of 45degree weave). Clamped it with wrenches because my school was closed at the time. It settled and cured nicely. The front still had a visible break in the paint, so me and my friend decided to repaint the bumper.



Fine sanded the rashes from scraping (noob driver )
Wrapped it with wrapping paper for places that dont need to be painted.
I think he did 3 or 5 layers of primer, fine/wet sanded, 5 layers of white, fine/wet sanded, and 7 clearcoats, fine/wet sanded in between layers for a smoother surface.

It looks that way because of the flash, but on a regular day you won't see it. The whole process took like 2 days... Hope it helps :P
Total cost about ~100$

[ArmY1]

more pix

[Cking]

Originally Posted by ArmY1

more pix

Pics are pretty basic..whole thing is pretty basic, just needs time + effort + lots of sanding time.

1. Take off bumper
2. Depends on crack and if your car is SE(lip) or not, take the lip off of the bumper.
3. Depends on where the crack is, obtain Fiberglass(or Carbon Fiber) and get 5 or 30(noob) minute epoxy. Depends on how deep the crack is, use 1-3 layers of Fiberglass + epoxy, SAND IT to make sure the epoxy has something to bite onto, make sure Fiberglass is completely "wet" with epoxy.
4. Put it on, put plastic wrap on it and clamp the 2 split sides together. Let it cure.
5. Repaint(optional).

although I'm only a freshmen in college, I worked with Fiberglass and Composite materials for 4 years now.

[johnfrisco]

What happened to the poor cat? Don't get me wrong I love my Camry, but I love cats even more

[workerant]

don't u need to put the fiber glass on the outside too?

[Cking]

No, other wise you would have...some "thick tape" on the outside of the bumper...
you could bondo it to fill the crevice that is sealed on the back end, we just put primer into the crevice
and when it dried, sand it and primer again..

[webjones]

Originally Posted by johnfrisco

What happened to the poor cat? Don't get me wrong I love my Camry, but I love cats even more

I love cats, too. I'm pretty sure he went up to the great litterbox in the sky, since the car was going 70 mph. On the other hand it probably happened so quickly he didn't feel a thing.

[johnfrisco]

Originally Posted by webjones

I love cats, too. I'm pretty sure he went up to the great litterbox in the sky, since the car was going 70 mph. On the other hand it probably happened so quickly he didn't feel a thing.

Okay thanks for posting. Such a sad thread.

[workerant]

the cat found the on coming car so attractive that it had to run back to look..

[BlueTundra]

Thanks for the nice write-up Cking.

If anyone else has had good results with epoxy on the bumper, please pass it along.

Thanks!

[BlueTundra]

Originally Posted by johnfrisco

What happened to the poor cat? Don't get me wrong I love my Camry, but I love cats even more

Well, if it makes you feel better, I didn't find any evidence of the little jaywalker on the car. It was dark, so lets say it was a possum.

[Cking]

Lolol. Cone > Cat in terms of damage I'm thinking.

If you need anymore help, let me know.

[webjones]

Originally Posted by BlueTundra

Well, if it makes you feel better, I didn't find any evidence of the little jaywalker on the car. It was dark, so lets say it was a possum.

Don't be hatin'. Possums is people too.

[Cking]

Please don't turn this into a PETA thread