ground effects repair
- This topic has 4 replies, 2 voices, and was last updated 11 years, 7 months ago by .
- Posts
Having some issues with repairs on some ground effects for a Chevy Astro Converson Van. It has some stress cracks and a few tears in it that I am trying to repair. Not quite sure what type the plastic was used in these as they are not marked on the backside. The backside is grey in color, powders when you hand sand but smears when you hit it with a small grinder. What I have done up to this point is to grind the backside and v out the repair area and then take metal screening and melt it into the backside. Then I took my plastic welder with the black universal rod on completely cover the backside of the repair area. This seems to be holding pretty good. The front side repair I ground out the repair area and once again used the black universal rod. The issues that I am having are that on corners these areas are cracking back out. The black filler rod does not seem to get a good bite into the repair area. The repairs that were done any other spot seem to be holding well, the only issues seem to be on corners of the panel. I was thinking of just grinding it back out and using a 2 part epoxy with the mesh (first applying the correct adhesion promoter)but I figured I would get some opinions of those who might mess with this stuff more than I do. Normally I dont mess with alot of stuff like this but these are getting hard to find. Thanks for the help.
Chuck
Do the float test, to see if you need adhesion promoter. Then v- out the cracks and grind around them at least an inch or two. You will want to use mesh on the back. 3m, fusor, norton all have good plastic products. Read the tech sheet for the product you are using and you will end up with a very strong repair.
With unknown plastics, I haven’t ever had much luck plastic welding.
Good luck
I picked up some SEM problem plastic repair, it’s supposed to be for some of the tougher to repair plastics. Watched a few videos on YouTube on it. One thing they mentioned is to make sure when you grind out the repair area you keep the speed low to avoid sealing up the pores in the plastic. That might have been my problem with the plastic weld. Anyhow I am going to try this out and see how it goes.
Thanks, Chuck
That’s a very good point. None of the products stick well to melted plastic.
Stuff works real good. Sets up really fast and is pretty runny though. But I am not having any more issues with the repair ripping back out though. Heres a link to the you tube video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INLpg-aKUz8 . Still need to get another tube so I can finish up tomorrow night.
Chuck
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.