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Hello,
I have a 2014 civic with 6000 miles on it. Last night on the way home I hit a raccoon that ran out in front of me. I tried to avoid it but I still clipped the back of it. It left a small dent in the front bumper. I have done a lot of mechanical work in the past but very little body work. Since I don’t really know how bad it is im not sure if I should try to push it out or do something to fix it myself or if I should just take it somewhere. Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks[IMG]http://i62.tinypic.com/308um9k.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i57.tinypic.com/33cw4yw.jpg[/IMG]
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It looks like the paint hasn’t been compromised. No chipping or cracking where it bent in. I would try to use a heat gun (set on low) and get it warmed up some and try to work the dent out from the inside with your hand. Please be easy with the heat gun! Keep it constantly moving side to side and don’t let it sit in one spot too long. Try not to wait too long to try this repair. The sooner you get that dent out, the better chance of it going back to its original shape. Wait too long and the constant hot/cold change in temperature will make the plastic want to stay that way. Hope this helps.
I repaired a much larger one on sun’s Scion. He backed into his wife’s car parked right behind his.
BEST way to do it is to remove bumper cover, as that’s what dented. Those are made out of rubbery soft plastic on purpose, to adsorb force by compression.
Absolutely do follow heat gun suggestion and ware HD gloves. Plastic very easily softens and can be pushed, but it’s knuckle buster trying to do it on the car.
Unfortunately, you’ll end up in a bump in that area. As if it concaved, it stretched. Bumped out, creates a hump. You can, but ever so gently, try to warm up the area and massage bump back in, but chances of damaging paint are very high, so maybe let it be.
New bumper covers are very inexpensive to buy in case of sale, it’s the paint match that will get you. But you can order color match covers online for reasonable price.
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