Foam Rebuild of Bumper

by paintphone in Workshop > Cars

15434 Views, 69 Favorites, 0 Comments

Foam Rebuild of Bumper

IMG_20140303_183711.jpg
IMG01221.jpg
IMG01196.jpg
IMG01180.jpg
IMG01201.jpg

Materials need for this type of mold with expanding foam, can work with any vehicle. This project was inspired by drawings

Materials used

-body filler file

-rasps

-sandpaper 80 grit or coarse

-exacto knives

-sharp knives

-masking tape

-cardboard

-hot glue gun and glue sticks

-large enough piece of fabric to cover entire form

-staple gun

-not needed super 77 spray adhesive

-1/4" plywood for platform and output of existing car bumper contours

Cardboard Structure

IMG_0740.JPG
IMG01144.jpg
IMG01142.jpg
IMG01145.jpg
IMG01146.jpg
IMG01153.jpg
IMG01160.jpg
IMG01158.jpg
IMG01159.jpg
IMG01166.jpg

I had made several drawing beforehand to create the idea and look I was going for. Based my cardboard construction on the drawing and the body lines

Constructed a cardboard form on a piece of wood to the desired idea of the bumper, that also fit to the outer of the existing bumper from my car at the time

I used the hot glue gun to get the cardboard to stay in place

Adding Expanding Foam to the Cardboard Structure

IMG01166#1.jpg
IMG01167.jpg
IMG01171.jpg
IMG01172.jpg
IMG01169.jpg
IMG01168.jpg
IMG01170.jpg

With an assortment of body filler files and sandpaper you can achieve the look you want with the curves and body lines you desire .

I used the expanding foam in-between the cardboard bits at a time then carved them the next day to ensure a full cure from the expanding foam since laying up in bigger sections

depending on how much of an area you fill will depend on time of cure, keeping in mind the working temp for the matter in the can.

shave off and use marker to create ideal body lines

Also sharp knives or exact blades were used in the process of cutting the foam

Sculpting

IMG01174.jpg
IMG01175.jpg
IMG01176.jpg
IMG01177.jpg
IMG01181.jpg
IMG01183.jpg
IMG01184.jpg
IMG01186.jpg
IMG01192.jpg
IMG01195.jpg
IMG01197.jpg

Body filler files and rasps sandpaper all made this possible.

The use of a sharpie was great to draw in body lines to follow when carving out

Plenty of carving and refilling with expanding foam

Cover for Fibreglass

IMG01215.jpg
fleece layer.jpg
IMG_20131116_172230.jpg
IMG01249.jpg

Cover with tape or latex paint with a roller then you can proceed with laying up your fibreglass

I used 3M tape for my project

As a first coat used a thick fleecy fabric to get a good even layer and to get body lines glued in certain spots

for glueing the fabric to the form I used 3M supper 77 spray adhesive

At this point after laying up my Fiberglas I attached the form to a plastic bumper half with screws and fiberglas strand from a can, sanded it up and layer another layer of glued fabric to cover the whole bumper on the car

Adding a bumper from the car your making is allot easier than trying to make sections around headlights, grills and tabs to attach to the fenders. I picked up a broken bumper from the scrap yard for 30 bucks

Sanding and Getting Ready for Final

IMG_20140206_175339.jpg
IMG_20140206_175350.jpg
IMG_20140303_183724.jpg
IMG_20140303_183724.jpg
IMG_20140303_183711.jpg
IMG_20140303_183724.jpg

The use of short strand fibreglass putty and some sanding I was able to get closer to my goal

Additional expanding foam was needed for a section

Unfortunately I had to get rid of the car so never got past the point of the end of this instructable. Hope this inspired others to follow an idea !