Flex bumper
Race Director
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 19,294
Likes: 2,753
From: Charlotte NC
Also you kinda have to be aware of how thick you apply the VPA...because if this bumper is poor fitting...thus requiring the cutting required to allow it to be "flexed" and get it to fit. Then I would be somewhat concerned about the thickness of the VPA in an area where it has to be flexed quite a lot...because the VPA gets hard...and with the bumper being made out of a resin that never gets hard. You could have a problem....but like I wrote...it depends on how thick it is after you sand it. I would start having when it gets at or over 1/4".
This is the main reason I do not use the "flex" bumpers...I am "old school" and prefer the rigid bumpers and get them to fit perfectly with the VPA.
DUB
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 275
Likes: 1
From: Lafayette/marquez La/tx
Dub
The reason I ask is as follows. I am repainting my car a 79. I have about 90% of the paint off. I was saving the front and rear flex bumpers for last because it looked like they would take the longest. I am using the razor blade method. With assistance from a heat gun. On the large open areas of the rear bumper I was able to get the razor blade under the gel coat and remove it down to bare fiber glass which appears to be very thin. When I got to the curvy parts I sanded this down thinner but not to bare glass. I was wondering if I should or could glass the bare fiberglass to make it a little less flexible and the use the vpa to skim coat that? I see why you do not like the flex bumper. Also do you suggest using VPA to skim coat my repair areas and the places I gouged with the razor blade? And will VPA bleed through epoxy primer?
The reason I ask is as follows. I am repainting my car a 79. I have about 90% of the paint off. I was saving the front and rear flex bumpers for last because it looked like they would take the longest. I am using the razor blade method. With assistance from a heat gun. On the large open areas of the rear bumper I was able to get the razor blade under the gel coat and remove it down to bare fiber glass which appears to be very thin. When I got to the curvy parts I sanded this down thinner but not to bare glass. I was wondering if I should or could glass the bare fiberglass to make it a little less flexible and the use the vpa to skim coat that? I see why you do not like the flex bumper. Also do you suggest using VPA to skim coat my repair areas and the places I gouged with the razor blade? And will VPA bleed through epoxy primer?
Advanced
Joined: May 2013
Posts: 79
Likes: 0
From: Waynesboro PA
If thease are original 79 flex bumpers their not fiberglass there polyurethane so you can't use glass or VPA on them because they flex.
To smooth out the flex bumbers I use a skim coat or Evercoat Polyflex.
To smooth out the flex bumbers I use a skim coat or Evercoat Polyflex.
