Hi - Well, I finally managed to crack the front chin spoiler on my 348. I'll attach some pics, but wanted to see what people have done to repair these on their own. I don't want to take it to a body shop, I don't see the point in getting it perfect, when I am sure I will just crack it again. I just want to fix it up enough, so that I dont really notice it. The spoiler still feels solid, it is just cracked. What would be a good filler for the cracks and what would you use to get it back to black? Thanks for any help. -John Image Unavailable, Please Login
I re-did my interior bits with a spray on rubberized coating, and I am wondering if that may be good to use on the bumper. It may resist rock chips, but then again, it might not? Here's the product.... Image Unavailable, Please Login
Go to a Marine Supply house and get some fiberglass resin/catalyst and some fiberglass cloth. Remove the spoiler from the car. Easy to do on my 308/GT4 - I don't know about a 348. With the spoiler on the workbench, repair/reinforce the back of the spoiler with the resin and cloth. On the front side - remove the paint. Fill the cracks with resin. Build up the worn bottom with cloth and resin applied from the back - build up dams in the right profile with a couple of layers of wide masking tape, then remove the tape and fill up to the right profile. You can also make profile molds from plastecine clay from an art supply house. Sand the front with successively finer grades of sandpaper till smooth. Prime with rattle-can primer, and paint with the appropriate color rattle-can paint (don't worry, you'll be doing it again). Finish with automotive clay and lubricant, then wax. A good winter project - takes a few hours every night (be sure to let things dry before working on them).
I agree with what Mike said. You need to reinforce the bottom. When I got a new/used bumper for my 348 I had the bumper reinforced, using fiberglass and carbon fiber cloth. In addition to the bottom front of the air dam getting reinforced, I had the bottom lip that goes to the bottom of the trunk tub reinforced. You need to be careful not to put too much fiberglass on the bottom under piece, because it will create problems with the final fit. NickM did the glass work for me, and I was involved with the fit. After we added the fiberglass to the under piece we had to grind out the two channels that are on the bottom, so that it would slide on without any problems. See the bottom of the trunk tub has a lip that is pinched together. You can see it in your first picture. If you put too much fiberglass in the groove on the bottom of the bumper it will cause the front of the bumper to get pulled down. Creating a big gap between the top of the bumper and the bottom of the lip that runs across the front of the car just in front of the trunk lid. We eventually ended up cutting out the bottom and starting again from scratch. As for the front bottom part of the bumper that is at least 10 times as strong as what comes out of the factory. The way they come from Ferrari, you can push on them with your hand and feel it flex under the pressure. I have my reinforce to the point that you can bang on it hard with your fist and it doesn't move. It is VERY solid now. I am convinced that Ferrari made the bumpers weak on the bottom on purpose, just to make some quick cash. Everywere else on the bumper is is strong, but the bottom is like an egg shell. So if you were to take it to the dealer they could make a quick $3,200.00 selling you a new bumper that will just break again.
Thanks Mike & Ernie! I'll hunt down the materials this week and see how it goes. It sounds like I HAVE to take off the bumper. I was hoping to be able to do a repair with it on, but it's not a big deal either way. -John
Yeah it does make the job alot easier if you take the bumper off. I forgot to talk about the paint. You can get a spray can of black undercoasting paint that will do the trick. My bumpers were also painted black on the bottom. I didn't like the way it looked so I painted them one color, along with the rockers, and the rear bumper.
Hi John. The bumper is super-easy to remove. Remove the inner fender wells and remove four nuts (two each side). Open trunk and lift up front carpet towards the sides, remove four nuts (two each side), unplug fog lights, slide bumper forward and off. Please post pics when you're done w/ the repair for the benefit of all - I'm sure this is something I'll need to do sooner or later. Shan
Finished! That was fun. I am glad my car isn't body colored on the lower parts of the bumper. I wouldn't have been able to fix it then. The project went smoothly, and looks good to me. Here are a bunch of pictures from the project, I hope they will help someone out. -John To take off the bumper, there are 4 bolts in the front trunk that need to be undone, they are in the sloted area in the corners. You can see some insulation where they are. Image Unavailable, Please Login
After you jack the car and remove the front wheels, you have to remove the front protions of the wheel wel lining. Then you can see 2 bolts on each side that need to be undone. They would be coming through the gold piece with the 2 square holes. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Make sure you remove the foglights, and the bumper should slide right off. I also loosened two retaining tabs on the bottom of the bumper. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Now it was time to actually repair the bumper. I bought a small fiberglass repair kit, two of them. I found it at Checker and Walmart. Image Unavailable, Please Login
I cut the fiberglass into strips, then saturated it in the resin. I used most of it from the inside of the bumper, strengthening places with cracks and filling in the holes that had worn through. Image Unavailable, Please Login
On the front lower lip, I used the cloth again, and built it up. On the front, I used only resin to fill the cracks. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Once it was cured, I used an orbital hand sander to smooth things up. I forgot to take pics after sanding. It was very dusty, I wore a mask. Then I sprayed it with primer and a semi gloss black from Checker auto. Here I am putting it back on. I was able to take the bumper off by myself, but needed an extra set of hands to get it back on and line up the bolt holes. The End! - John Image Unavailable, Please Login
Nice work and nice pictures. I just had mine redone at a shop with painting the front bumper and repair off the rock chips. Paid $820 and it looks like new. They matched the paint to the gas door cover, it was some nice work.