no luck like dumb luck

John ED Renstrom

PCS Member
Super Site Supporter
if it wasn't for dumb luck I would not have any at all. about a month or two ago I was blowing the grass clippings off the street and found this piece of a bumper strip. thought some one might come looking for it so i set it up on the barrier rock on the end of the street. will today same thing blowing junk off the around the house down into the canyon and it was still there. Hugh! Duh! it's off my car. i can remember a big wind storm when the cover got blown off the car. that was what must have snagged it and the water washed it down the street. it's missing a piece on the top so we'll wait to see of Peter can get the one off he has. as you can see by looking at it there is not a lot holding it in place. the big clip has only a couple tabs melted in to hold it in place. then a set of plastic pegs and speed nuts. I broke off the one under the reflector looking it over. we can fix this one but if we can splice it in the center of the reflector we can then score the other side to keep both sides the same. other wise I'LL do the repair on the car. the Eastwood cast gray is a dead on match for the color. the Texas sun has dried out the plastic oils and it's vary brittle. but the good news is while looking it over it looks like one can get the speed nuts of with out removing the bumper and disassembling it. that's something for a Caddy.
 

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Use 3M Marine Sealant to reattach the broke off piece, and it will never come off again! I used this product to repair a broken PVC drain pipe when it cracked at a 4 way joint. It takes a few days to a week to fully cure, but once it cures, it is stronger than the original parts bond.
 

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Only thing better than dumb luck is being too dumb to know you can't do it, or it can't be done.

Thankfully I qualify high on the dumb scale according to a female formerly with the family, so I go ahead and do things I'm too dumb to do.
 
With all of the doom and gloom of these days, reminds us: "Life is good, and it is the little things that can be so positive". Great catch.
 
Sure is underwhelming how good old GM holds it on. Now when its time to put it back for my money double sided molding tape is the way to go.

I had a major issue with my 92 Buick Roadmaster with the trim moldings. If appears to be an issue since every Roadmaster I've seen had the same issue. I guess they made a better adhesive nowadays and reattached them with commercial grade two-sided tape. No problem after that. Of course that car is long gone now.
 
Too funny!

I still don't trust drive-through car washes though ;)

I repainted my rub strips the whole way round with Duplicolor "Storm Gray Met" EXCEPT for the rectangle around the "Fleetwood" lettering and it matched up perfectly. And now whenever I have to do a rub strip repair (it's been more than once...) I have the paint to make it match.
 
I don't do automatic car washes anymore either. When you drive a Crown Vic as your daily driver, you risk losing your entire paint job! The CVs last forever..... just not the paint job!
 
There are a ton of new products out there for plastic repair. The key is finding one that not only bonds but lets you work the repair so that it not a visible repair. The plastic expands and contracts at a different rate then the steel. My best bet is getting good one off a used car re attaching the broken pegs and applying a dab of urethane on the week spots. Not likely you will get one off with out creating as much damage as you have on a 25 year old piece of plastic. Next would be getting the end you need off one. The has the other end broken. Cut your splice in the center of the reflector reinforce the attaching parts before you glue it back in place. Then cut a score line in the other side so that both sides look the same. Next is repair what you have. That will require one to glue some attaching tabs on repair the missing corner and attach it on the bumper then work the crack and repaint on the car.
I'm leaning towards number 2 with the splice repair and repaint on the car. Mainly because of the missing piece,were it goes on the car and the likely hood of re damaging it. But the key is finding the end.
 
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