Bumper valance warping.

iamrikdavis

Daily Driver
On 1500 X1/9s - the black plastic covers on top of the front and rear bumpers warps. Warpage in front looks like the X is sneering. Anyone dealt with this with any success?
 
Like Daniel said, heat it up with a heat gun and then clamp it between two boards till it cools. Repeat as necessary.
 
I was going to ask this very question when I got to this point in my project. I was also thinking a heat gun so glad I am on the right track and will do as you suggest.

I do have another related question, I noticed on my car the sides of the front spoiler (Plastic) are also warping a bit in the center. This will be trickier to fix because it wraps around a curve, any experience here?
 
What I do is use a bunch of F-clamps and wood blocking. I heat the plastic very hot and "work it" flat, as flat as I can. It's a LOT of work, depending on how bad it is. You can wrap some blocking with parchment paper to slide along the plastic if you like. The front can be tricky.

Once it's mostly flat, I then remove it from the car (not easy if the fasteners are all rusty). I then use black 3M VHB tape, clean the leading edge of the warped plastic and then apply the VHB. Clean the bumper as well (acetone works best - get ALL dirt off and any oils). On one end, you'll leave a "tail" of release tape only, much longer than the actual plastic filler piece. Then you put it back on the car, gently tighten the nuts holding it back to the car. Don't over tighten.

now, starting from the side that has longer release tape, pull the tape on an angle toward you and apply the filler piece down - but quickly use your wood blocking and F-clamps to hold it in place for at least 24hrs. If you did a good job, it will hold permanently. Mine has been holding for about 10 years.

I can't recall which one I used - one is 25mil thick - I think I used that one, but finding short rolls might be tricky (this stuff is NOT cheap) - you can find grey stuff in most auto parts stores as it's used to hold trim, but you'll see the grey edge of it - black is nicer for both silver or black bumpers. The 3M VHB is very very strong tape! :)

The leading edge is now completely flat - the inboard side, well... it's as good as I could get it. Looks fine enough. One way to conceal it being warped is to use black pinstripe just above the highest warped part. It'll look less warped when it's mounted on the nose.

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also see this post:

 
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