paintless dent removal - does it work on plastic bumpers?
Discussion
Arctic pompey said:
How good is dent removal on plastic bumpers? The girlfriends Audi TT has a plastic rear bumper - will they be able to make good on plastic or is there no chance? thanks howard
If you can get your hand behind it, you should be able to do this at home. A heat gun till it gets warm and push it out with your fist. Leave to cool, job jobbed. 
It depends.
If there is bent metalwork behind the bumper which the bumper is attached to then you'll need the bumper off to straighten the metal out.
If it's just a void behind the damaged area then heat MIGHT allow the bumper to return to its original shape or thereabouts, helps if you can get your hand up behind to help push it gently out. A glove is necessary as it needs to be hot. If you use pointy PDR tools you are very likely to create an outie bump.
I've had success this way using a couple of infrared heat lamps - including a few where there was no damage to the paintwork which with a bit of care came out more or less perfectly.
Sometimes a hot air gun (paint stripper variety) will work but you need to be very careful as too much heat will blister the paint.
If there is bent metalwork behind the bumper which the bumper is attached to then you'll need the bumper off to straighten the metal out.
If it's just a void behind the damaged area then heat MIGHT allow the bumper to return to its original shape or thereabouts, helps if you can get your hand up behind to help push it gently out. A glove is necessary as it needs to be hot. If you use pointy PDR tools you are very likely to create an outie bump.
I've had success this way using a couple of infrared heat lamps - including a few where there was no damage to the paintwork which with a bit of care came out more or less perfectly.
Sometimes a hot air gun (paint stripper variety) will work but you need to be very careful as too much heat will blister the paint.
Edited by paintman on Thursday 28th January 19:50
paintman said:
It depends.
If there is bent metalwork behind the bumper which the bumper is attached to then you'll need the bumper off to straighten the metal out.
If it's just a void behind the damaged area then heat MIGHT allow the bumper to return to its original shape or thereabouts, helps if you can get your hand up behind to help push it gently out. A glove is necessary as it needs to be hot. If you use pointy PDR tools you are very likely to create an outie bump.
I've had success this way using a couple of infrared heat lamps - including a few where there was no damage to the paintwork which with a bit of care came out more or less perfectly.
Sometimes a hot air gun (paint stripper variety) will work but you need to be very careful as too much heat will blister the paint.
I was just about to post the same thing,infra red lamp is the way to go assuming you can get behind to push it outIf there is bent metalwork behind the bumper which the bumper is attached to then you'll need the bumper off to straighten the metal out.
If it's just a void behind the damaged area then heat MIGHT allow the bumper to return to its original shape or thereabouts, helps if you can get your hand up behind to help push it gently out. A glove is necessary as it needs to be hot. If you use pointy PDR tools you are very likely to create an outie bump.
I've had success this way using a couple of infrared heat lamps - including a few where there was no damage to the paintwork which with a bit of care came out more or less perfectly.
Sometimes a hot air gun (paint stripper variety) will work but you need to be very careful as too much heat will blister the paint.
Edited by paintman on Thursday 28th January 19:50
I would give the heat gun a go. I have had reasonable success on a number of bumpers ith this. The last one i did was on a brand new van and it popped out leaving no trace of the damage.
Yours looked scratched too, but it will look much better with the bumper back in shape. As already beed said, wear a glove and push from behind once hot. Keep the heat gun moving (avoid heating the metal bodywork) and push. The plastic can be hot to the touch, and if you keep the gun moving it'll pop out.
Useful having two people, one to do the heating and the other ready to push.
Yours looked scratched too, but it will look much better with the bumper back in shape. As already beed said, wear a glove and push from behind once hot. Keep the heat gun moving (avoid heating the metal bodywork) and push. The plastic can be hot to the touch, and if you keep the gun moving it'll pop out.
Useful having two people, one to do the heating and the other ready to push.
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