Kissed the back of a Honda Jazz with the front of my Polo at about 10mph this morning. My fibreglass frontspoiler took most of the impact.

And nearside headlight, grille, wing, front panel, bonnet are all crumpled.

Pretty sure the metal can be straightened (if chassis not bent) and panels replaced.

But fibreglass repair - how hard is that?

Kissed the back of a Honda Jazz with the front of my Polo at about 10mph this morning. My fibreglass frontspoiler took most of the impact.

And nearside headlight, grille, wing, front panel, bonnet are all crumpled.

Pretty sure the metal can be straightened (if chassis not bent) and panels replaced.

But fibreglass repair - how hard is that?

Sorry to hear about your mishap - happens to the best of us at some time. Try contacting user 'simmo' on here as he is very, very experienced and talented with any kind of plastics, moulding, etc. I'm sure he can advise you on the best way to fix it. Probably best to mention I recommended you contact him too!

Thanks. Vic.

I originally fitted it to cover corrosion in a front panel, but it has been a pain since I lowered the car too.

It's declared on the insurance as front-spoiler/air-dam, but age/value of car means its up to me to sort it.

Pre-damage

Ouch, that's not good.

We've been racking our brains to think what your front bumper is, and reckon it could be a Dietrich, in which case, you might still be in luck if you talk to Dubstyle on here http://www.clubpolo.co.uk/forum/index.php?...c=54548&hl=

http://www.dietrich-autostyle.de/articles....up=Frontspoiler

How bad is the damage? I watched a wheeler dealers ages ago where they DIY repaired a BMW front bumper and it came out well

Wheeler dealers - love how the end budget misses out how many hours Ed puts in and the workshop and the tools...

Spoiler was an RS CleanLook from AW Tuning. It only cost 86 Euros plus VAT & shipping.

Will see what nearest good bodyshop says about the metal this morning.

We've repaired worse than that at my work :-).

You'll want to use something like thin metal plate, and fibreglass matting, to re-inforce it from the back, then a bit of fibreglass and filler on the outside to gain back the shape.

There's a mounting lug that's structural and broken off.

Guess metal could replace that.

Another view

Kissed the back of a Honda Jazz with the front of my Polo at about 10mph this morning. My fibreglass frontspoiler took most of the impact.

And nearside headlight, grille, wing, front panel, bonnet are all crumpled.

Pretty sure the metal can be straightened (if chassis not bent) and panels replaced.

But fibreglass repair - how hard is that?

On a side note, got a Mark2 bonnet here in Derby you're welcome to if yours is beyond repair. I kept it as a 'just in case' panel, so would rather it saw someone out of trouble than gather more dust .

There's a mounting lug that's structural and broken off.

Guess metal could replace that.

Another view

It won't be an easy repair by any means, but I still stand by what I said :-). Ideally you want to get the shape back primarily with something like plastic padding paste as its a bit more flexible than filler and contains glass fibre strands, then skim with a bit of bog to get the final shape. As long as its a light skim it shouldn't crack.

Thanks for the encouragement...

Still waiting for the metalwork estimate.

Nice bodyshop man said it will be, I quote. "a lot", due to cutting and welding work.

Odd, I thought the straightening and painting was the big labour intensive part.

But, I can use an angle grinder and I've done small welds before, so I might end up doing some of the prep.

On a side note, got a Mark2 bonnet here in Derby you're welcome to if yours is beyond repair. I kept it as a 'just in case' panel, so would rather it saw someone out of trouble than gather more dust .

Thanks for that kind offer. Bodyshop man thought it might just about bend back.

We'll see. Impact was slow and car is low it didn't take much of a hit

On a side note, got a Mark2 bonnet here in Derby you're welcome to if yours is beyond repair. I kept it as a 'just in case' panel, so would rather it saw someone out of trouble than gather more dust .

Thanks for that kind offer. Bodyshop man thought it might just about bend back.

We'll see. Impact was slow and car is low it didn't take much of a hit

gutted to see that mate. I have a smoothed replacement Dietrich rs2 front bumper if u want to buy one. And some panels if your desperate. Best pm me if your interested

Unlucky dude - I'm sure it's repairable just if it's feasible for you?

My dad used to get the fibreglass panels off the race cars he used to run repaired as they were a fortune to replace, always came back looking fresh, even after being shattered into loads of bits :)

... then skim with a bit of bog to get the final shape. As long as its a light skim it shouldn't crack.

bog? I know I live in the Fens but its marsh, not bog.

You mean, like david's isopon p38 filler?

I found my toolbox had a tube of this bumper filleralready that's probably ideal once the structure's solid.

Bodyshop's waiting on a price/availability for inner wing panel.

If they're using imperial, it'll come back as unavailable, i'll send you a few supplier links when i'm at the pc.

Wheeler dealers - love how the end budget misses out how many hours Ed puts in and the workshop and the tools...

That's the whole point of the show, You don't pay yourself labour when you repair and sell a car on, the profit from selling the car is like your labour fee's

If they're using imperial, it'll come back as unavailable, i'll send you a few supplier links when i'm at the pc.

Think they must be. Now wondering about repairing the inner wing with corresponding higher labour time

= about 21 hours total because he wants to do the cross-member too and I had suggested he mend a small dent that my offside wing has had since I bought it as removing and refitting that wing for access anyway.

So yes, that'd be great, thanks.

Wheeler dealers - love how the end budget misses out how many hours Ed puts in and the workshop and the tools...

That's the whole point of the show, You don't pay yourself labour when you repair and sell a car on, the profit from selling the car is like your labour fee's

That's true. But if you worked it out £ per hour he'd be better off working for Kwikfit

I've got it

Any TV producers out there who would like to finance and film a cross between Ice Road Truckers, Wheeler Dealers and Mind, Body and Kick Ass Moves?

I'll mend my car in the snow using martial art techniques.