Rainsville, Alabama — July 14, 2016 — Polyvance has released the new 6146 Bumper Pliers Kit. According to the company, the kits make it easier for technicians to repair the rectangular “slot tab” features often found on bumper covers.
These small rectangular holes are designed to clip into brackets on the quarter panels to hold the bumper tightly in place. The cross bars are weak and often tear when simply removing the bumper. The Bumper Pliers Kit aids in the repair of these detailed areas.
“Slot tabs can be repaired using the nitrogen plastic welder, but without the aid of the Bumper Pliers Kit, the job requires some finesse and a light touch,” says Kurt Lammon, President of Polyvance. “In addition, it is often difficult to restore the correct dimensions to the slot, which is critical for proper fit-up of the panel.”
The Bumper Pliers Kit comes with six steel forming dies of widths varying from 3/8-inch (10 mm) to 13/16-inch (20 mm) to match nearly all of the slot sizes in use. It also has a die for a 3/16-inch (5 mm) round hole with a round recess which is commonly used on bumpers, especially on Hondas.
To use the kit, the technician selects the die that matches the torn slot tab most closely and fixes it in place temporarily with aluminum tape. The die fills up the hole and provides a backing plate. According to Polyvance, this makes the nitrogen welding process faster and easier, and less dependent on finesse and experience.
Each die also has a set of matching pliers to compress the melted plastic welding rod and conform it to the shape of the die. The pliers press the welding rod to the same thickness as the flange while the die keeps it from flowing into the hole. When cool, the die is removed and the outside edge of the slot tab can be restored with common hand tools.
For more information, please visit polyvance.com.
