My 66 Satellite has the rubber bumper protectors front and back and they are badly cracked. I probably won't live long enough to see these reproduced if it like most other 66/67 parts so I set out to refinish these. It appears they have been repaired once in the past - probably in the early 90s and repainted with something or the other. I had hoped it was a paint without a flex additive and that the cracks were only in the paint but after sanding the first one down, that's not the case.
I looked for something to try to heal the cracks as much as possible and came across this Capt Tolley's crack and seam sealer. It's for marine applications and is advertised to be highly penetrating throughout the depth of the crack. It also has a good elastic range in cured form. They caution you can't use it on a crack penetrating all the way through a surface as it will simply seep through and drip out of the bottom. I found that was very true - this stuff really penetrates. You have to seal the bottom of the crack or form some sort of dam to keep it from running back out. I applied it about 3 times to the cracks to be fairly certain it filled them up completely. I finally discovered it was easiest to work on one surface at a time and level it up. Then dribble some of the Captain Tolleys down the trim and use a plastic spreader to spread it up and down the length and let it just pool on the surface and seep into the cracks. This rear bumper piece below in the picture has been sanded and sealed.
Next I sanded this flat again to get back down to the rubber and then went to my paint store to see what they might have for repairing plastic bumpers that would work to build the surface back up and bridge over the cracks. He suggested this material.
It's a two part filler and glazing putty with high flexibility. I've applied two coats and block sanded this first piece now. The picture shows the one I'm working on in gray next to the other one that I haven't started on yet. You can see all the cracks in it.
That's where I'm at so far but I'm encouraged this will work. The pieces are formed on a steel backing plate so they don't flex much and once mounted on the bumper they are very stable. Not sure what I'm going to finish them with - I'm mulling over SEM Bumper Coater but I've also seen several suggestions to use spray Plasti-Dip coating. I have some of the Plasti-Dip spray coating so I may give it a trial run and see what I think.
I looked for something to try to heal the cracks as much as possible and came across this Capt Tolley's crack and seam sealer. It's for marine applications and is advertised to be highly penetrating throughout the depth of the crack. It also has a good elastic range in cured form. They caution you can't use it on a crack penetrating all the way through a surface as it will simply seep through and drip out of the bottom. I found that was very true - this stuff really penetrates. You have to seal the bottom of the crack or form some sort of dam to keep it from running back out. I applied it about 3 times to the cracks to be fairly certain it filled them up completely. I finally discovered it was easiest to work on one surface at a time and level it up. Then dribble some of the Captain Tolleys down the trim and use a plastic spreader to spread it up and down the length and let it just pool on the surface and seep into the cracks. This rear bumper piece below in the picture has been sanded and sealed.
Next I sanded this flat again to get back down to the rubber and then went to my paint store to see what they might have for repairing plastic bumpers that would work to build the surface back up and bridge over the cracks. He suggested this material.
It's a two part filler and glazing putty with high flexibility. I've applied two coats and block sanded this first piece now. The picture shows the one I'm working on in gray next to the other one that I haven't started on yet. You can see all the cracks in it.
That's where I'm at so far but I'm encouraged this will work. The pieces are formed on a steel backing plate so they don't flex much and once mounted on the bumper they are very stable. Not sure what I'm going to finish them with - I'm mulling over SEM Bumper Coater but I've also seen several suggestions to use spray Plasti-Dip coating. I have some of the Plasti-Dip spray coating so I may give it a trial run and see what I think.