Franz

So some idiot backed into my car while it was parked and now there's a huge dent in my back bumper.



My co-worker told me to take off my bumper and with a heat gun, heat around the dent from the inside and it will pop back to its original conformation. I've never heard about this procedure. I was wondering if you guys can confirm.



Thanks.

03-accent-03

That's worked for me in the past (one case even the heat here in the desert worked). You don't necessarily need to take the bumper off to have this work. If you have access to the inside of the bumper, heat the outside carefully (you'll damage the paint if it gets too hot) and then try to pop the dent from the inside.

zero_gravity

those bumpers are full of dense foam and a metal welded bumper behind that, he'll probably have to remove the bumper. its not that bad of a job actually.



i'd be surprised if it was to look perfect, but no reason why it can't get close. i'm sure you've reasoned out that if its cracked this trick wont work:p



i think the success will mostly depend on the geometry of the dent. these bumpers are nothing more than a plastic molded skin over the foam i mentioned. if the damage is an indent in the plastic and not a 'bend' lets say, it cant work. for example, my ex wife's dumbass father managed to park a corolla into my accent and the bolts on the corolla's license plate caused indents into the plastic. that needs to be filled.



dents that actually bend the plastic are your candidate for this trick.



cracks are out for sure. i mention this since cracks are most common with these bumpers.

bigstrappa

the best thing to do is to clamp the something on the inside or outside to till it is in the correct shape,then you can heat it.



When i was learning body work i was told to never use a heat gun on urethane, but i've done it and it kinda worked. Just popped out durring winter if you live in a snowy area. :/



its kind of a 50 50 deal.