Somebody recommended Bondo, but which one? What has worked best for you guys? It needs a repaint but I don't have the funds so the tentative plan is to fix the body stuff, then get it vinyl wrapped in a high gloss black. Opinions?

 

Remove the bumper and use some fibre glass from behind and then fill the cracks with some good fibre glass reinforced bondo... Then sand it down, and paint it

 

What the hell is up with these bumpers anyways...the way that the chrome has to curve up and over something just under the headlights...

 

Two things... don't use Bondo. It will crack and fall off. The correct repair is SEM 68422 Plastic Bumper repair. To better brace in the broken section, get a piece of scrap bumper cover from a junkyard or auto body shop dumpster. Glue it all up from behind. I broke my XJS bumper cover all the way, into two pieces. This stuff is holding fine after a cold NH winter of use.

Second, the chrome hump... there's a weak plastic tab underneath. Take the chrome caps off and you'll find it broken. That's what holds the thing level and should be replaced with something stronger .

 

Are you talking about Part #8?

 

Yes I think it's the underside of #7/8. It like slips between the bumper cover and the bumper bar and holds the chrome close to the bumper cover. But this was the front bumper I'm familiar with, never had my rear off.

 

Look into plastic welding. You can buy a kit for $100 or so. Any type of filler or adhesive is going to crack very soon after it's applied.

 

Don't get the kind of plastic welding kit on Amazon with the hot staples. Astro brand I think. Just junk.

 

If you want to repair it yourself I would weld it. Plastic welding can be done with a soldering iron and a cable tie as filler rod, the cable tie is soft enough to flex slightly.

When its repaired you could make a fiberglass mold and a new fiberglass bumper, fiberglass is easy to repair.