I'm to the part where I took off my bumper cover/grill shell and, it's BADLY torn/ripped on the drivers side. It has at least a 1 1/2' tear in it and, the opening closest to the rip is also torn on 2 corners. I found a replacement online...for 700$ Does anyone have any experience in repairing it? I have a couple ideas but, I want to know if I should toss or keep. As well as if some of my repair ideas are viable.

My idea is:
Duct tape and Gorilla glue. Clean both surfaces very well and place duct tape on the outer side of the shell. On the inner side, liberally apply some Gorilla glue and let it harden. Once it has hardened, take off the tape and sand to smoothness. Possibly put a peice of treated plywood on the inner side for additionaly support. The plywood would be glued down as well to ensure it both supports and stays in place.

 

all though gorilla glue is very strong, it is also very brittle. i suggest a flexible epoxy

Product Catalog Detail - Industrial Adhesives, Structural, Non-Structural, Bonding Tapes, Fasteners, Custom / Die Cuts - 3M US: 3M

also i wouldnt use duct tape it leaves too much residue. try something like painters tape.

 

Thank you! What about the plywood back? I was thinking the thin hobby stuff.

 

Maybe little aluminum straps the wood will quickly rot in that location.

 

I would fiberglass it on both sides,or as mentioned above use a flexible epoxy.Either option,like mentioned,you could use some thin aluminum strips across the inside,just put them into the fiberglass resin or epoxy while it's still soft and sticky,then when it dries it will all be held as one part.

 

I wouldn't use anything that sets up rigid on a flexible panel, that's just a crack waiting to happen. And fiberglass resin won't hold to the urethane for very long.
Here's a real off-the-wall idea....how about using something that's actually made for urethane bumper/panel repair: 2K Universal Adhesive and Cartridge Gun Kit

 

Flexability is why I was thinking epoxyed wood originally. The epoxy gun looks like the best bet though. With some small alum strips mixed it for some help holding together.

 

Get the repair kit that is designed for these urethane bumpers, and get some nylon screen to put on the back side to support the repair. The screen just gets a thin layer of the repair epoxy, and then the front gets the full filler. The kits tell you how to open up the tear or crack to make a V to fill, and also to drrill the ends of the crack with a round hole to stop further cracking.
3M EZ Fix Patch kit is cheap, and easy to use.

 

I was thinking I should stop drill it. We did that a lot when I was on the flight line. You'd be amazed at how many times the aircraft developed cracks on the flaps closest to the wing root.

I'll definatly go with the repair epoxy previously linked by Cam69. Then, go with the screen backer. I think my best bet at a permanant repair is to put some sort of backer on there to help stablize the area. The combine that with stop drilling the crack. Opening up the main one shouldn't be too difficult. It's so large that it hangs open under it's own weight.

 

Filling a crack that hangs open will mean the shape is not correct. It needs to be pulled back together, then opened to a V at the crack and filler used to fill the V.