Topic: Fiberglass fender + metal fork brace

[Scott S]

 I used this stuff. The body shop told me they attach roofs, etc., with it. It's not on the bike yet, but he swears it ain't going nowhere!

[calj737]

The panel bond will outperform 4 rivets. The rivets would be subjected to far more stress on their shanks than the panel bonded part. Compare the entire surface area of the brace boned to the fender. I unrstandunderstand Orbs that you are unfamiliar with the stuff, and have a reasonable level of skepticism over it. But as others have said, it is unreal strong.

True, once applied and the parts squished together, you can bury them for all eternity. Maybe not the best product for this application if the OP ever wants to service the pieces separately. But as for strength in application, nothing better.

And "wind" will be channeled along the underside of the fender somewhat anyway. Needs to be strong, sure, but panel bond will do it. Have seen aluminum hoods on hot rods attached to steel subframes and withstand 100+ drives. And that's a LOT more surface area to deal with the wind stress.

[arogers88]

Adhesive bonds are only as good as the prep. Today's modern urethane adhesives hold to about 750 PSI, but only if the correct primers are used depending on what you are bonding. Otherwise, you can pretty much peel it off by hand.

Windshields are bonded to coated steel, aluminum, ect, and they have to stay bonded in the event of an accident, air bag deployment, roll over, ect.

Prep it right and you're good. 

[78whiteorbs]

sure looks clean- :-)

Actually working on a popup camper project at the moment and was researching adhesives for bonding certain materials.
Where did you get that Scott ? how much did it run. I think the *toughest* part for me to wrap my head around would lie in the prep area.
I am just imagining a curved smooth finished surface (chrome plated?) just not having anything to grip to bond to. I surely believe what you guys are saying is possible . Prep would be the crux I suppose. Anywho hows the bike coming along Scott?

[Scott S]

 Bike is coming along slow. Shooting for a Spring debut.

 The fender brace wasn't smooth chrome. If you've ever removed the brace from the outer fender, you'll most likely encounter a rusty, rough surface. Look back at the first picture in this thread. I treated the rust, but it definitely wasn't smooth.
 The back side of the fender was also rough fiberglass. I took 80 grit to that and roughed up that area, too. The curves matched up pretty well and I used pressure and tape to hold it where I wanted it while the glue cured.

 The body shop gave me this tube and let me use their gun to apply it, but I think that stuff isn't exactly cheap. I can say that it feels very, very strong. I don't think it would come apart without destroying the fender. Time will tell, I guess.

[calj737]

You can buy the product in either a two-part or single part product. 3M makes both, and they're generally available at a good auto paint supply house. DusterDude works at such a place and could help you if you're unable to locate such a retailer locally.

The 3M single part is labeled as Panel Bond Adhesive. The two-part is stronger.

[bjbuchanan]

sure looks clean- :-)

Actually working on a popup camper project at the moment and was researching adhesives for bonding certain materials.
Where did you get that Scott ? how much did it run. I think the *toughest* part for me to wrap my head around would lie in the prep area.
I am just imagining a curved smooth finished surface (chrome plated?) just not having anything to grip to bond to. I surely believe what you guys are saying is possible . Prep would be the crux I suppose. Anywho hows the bike coming along Scott?

3m may have a product more specific for chrome. Prep and the right product is super important as you start mixing and matching and getting away from just mild steel