Author Topic: side cover fix BEST EVER! (Read 15254 times)

goon 1492 · « **on:** April 15, 2009, 06:53:06 AM »

Hello all, I have a lovely wife that has stepped on my side cover.....
Yes I bit my tongue just longenough to let her know that the originals are about 50 bones or more.
She let me know that it was my fault that it laying on the floor by my bike waiting to be reinstalled, needless to say she is kicked out of the garage for a bit.
Well I work in a sign shop and we use alot of plastics here, sintra(air entrained pvc), polycarbonates, abs, different urethanes and polys. plexiglas....
I found a perfect fix for the original side covers since they are made out of ABS.

We use many different glues for cold welds (a liquid that will melt two pieces into one without heat), its the same process compared to gluing up pvc pipe.

THF= TETRAHYDRAFURAN is what we use for pvc or sintra. and polycarbonate

weldon is what we use for plexiglas.

MEK=METHYL ETHYL KETONE is what we use to glue abs plastic with. It works so well that it will make a pile of jelly out of a side cover if you use enough of it.

I will show my brake and how I fixed it here for all to see and maybe it can be added to the faq's if well enough equipped.

Here is the cracked part and you can see my test area on the left where it melted the plastic.

SUELZER · « **Reply #1 on:** April 15, 2009, 06:59:47 AM »

sweet! i can't wait to see more photos, i have a side cover for my 76 550F that's in need of a fix

thanks for sharin

goon 1492 · « **Reply #2 on:** April 15, 2009, 07:01:11 AM »

I moved on to getting some 120 sandpaper and got the paint off the area to repair, I then laid a bead of MEK on the crack itself and ran my finger back and forth across the crack to fill it with what melted with the glue.
Take a note here that if this happens to you don't use a dremel like I did and chew away at the material around the crack, I originally thought I was going to use some 5 minute epoxy to do it with so I wanted to give it a chance to fill the void, that stuff didn't take.

MEK can be found at your local hardware store too whe you go looking for it.

I used some masking tape to help hold the face together while the glue in the crack itself setup.
Here is a pic of the needle glue bottle's we use here, not sure of the availability of it to the public.
I will post a pic of the abs I am using to fix it with, and on that note if you don't have access to abs plastic there are many things that are made out of ABS and if your scavaging abilities are good enough you can find some.

goon 1492 · « **Reply #3 on:** April 15, 2009, 07:03:29 AM »

This stuff is slow to setup too so that is also why I used the tape and it will have to set for a while to cureout. We usually have a 24hr cure time at 68deg F that allows for everything to setup. Cooler temp will have for a longer setup time.

goon 1492 · « **Reply #4 on:** April 15, 2009, 07:06:03 AM »

Sad thing about mine is I just finished my new hammered paint and have no extra to make it match soooo looks like I am repainting everything again.

Duke McDukiedook · « **Reply #5 on:** April 15, 2009, 07:07:48 AM »

Looks like a good fix Goon.
Wish I had known about that before I glassed my left sidecover.

BobbyR · « **Reply #6 on:** April 15, 2009, 07:42:46 AM »

Goon, since you work with this stuff, What would you see on the platic bumper of a car.

goon 1492 · « **Reply #7 on:** April 15, 2009, 09:30:27 AM »

I'll have to get back with you on that bobby, I wanna say some 3m panel adhesive or if all else fails some seam sealer (they are both two part epoxy type glues') and you would have to have a scab piece to cover the seam and reinforce it from the back if its a crack like that. Hold on there's a tutorial on Powerblocktv that they did on a jeep grand cherokee, they acutally cut it apart took material out for clearence because of the lift kit they put on it. They glued it back together and used some flexible putty (like bondo but better) on the face and when it was done you couldn't even tell. Kewl stuff

I'll get back with you on the glue types, we use 3m and another type that is a shade cheaper.

goon 1492 · « **Reply #8 on:** April 15, 2009, 09:35:27 AM »

Oh snap

I just noticed thies thread moved, didn't even think about doing it here. Thank you Bob

kghost · « **Reply #9 on:** April 15, 2009, 09:50:14 AM »

Been using MEK to fix them for years.......

http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=18277.0

http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=1054.0

Last one there is from 2005

goon 1492 · « **Reply #10 on:** April 15, 2009, 09:52:15 AM »

Ok bobby here's a link to the show that I talked about.

http://www.powerblocktv.com/site3/index.php/trucks-episodes?ep_num=TK2008-16&ep_sea=0802
You can buy their shows for like 5 bucks a piece.

This is where they got their adhesive from.

http://www.nortonautomotive.com/

I will check back to let you know the kinds we use here, I am no pro at it and have never done bumpers yet but I can help as much as I can.

I kinda miss being a fabracator sometimes, I am just a cnc guy anymore.
But that's ok running the cnc machine is kewl.

Opps sorry kghost didn't mean to rain on your parade

That helps too though more of a trail for all to see

goon 1492 · « **Reply #11 on:** April 15, 2009, 09:59:39 AM »

I would like to say that in the thread posted about using CA (superglue) that some plastics it will tend to make them brittle afterwards, mainly pvc. and it will leave a haze around what is glued. I have had many signs get messed up when gluing the while plex faces on them and using CA only to have it haze the face of the letter. Not good times, it is still great glue though just not for everything.

kghost · « **Reply #12 on:** April 15, 2009, 10:00:39 AM »

Nah...its always fun when someone rediscovers something.

This board is a great deposit of technical know how....

I just added my two cents so that people would know MEK actually works....

Irritates me when I see Fiberglass patches on the back of sidecovers.

Screams "I don't know what I'm doing" and "here comes the PO fun"

goon 1492 · « **Reply #13 on:** April 16, 2009, 09:29:25 AM »

Well said brother.
After a little reading in kghost's thread I took my laminate file and made some shavings out of some scrap white abs I have and laid it out on a polyethylene lid(so it wouldn't melt or stick to it) and used my needle bottle to spray it down with the mek, worked just like he stated, made a pile of goo out of it. I let that set for about 30 seconds because mek has a pretty good evaporation rate from what I have seen so far, I then laid the first bead down to fill what I took out with the dremel to start. On the next cracked one I come to I am going to make sure I don't chew at it with the dremel, mek could have easily glued the crack back to gether.

I will post a few pics later and show the dust I made and melted and the first bead I laid down, I will use some of the scrap afterwards too to make a scap piece to cover the seam with.

Also I noticed yesterday when I initially sealed the crack on the face back up that it took about an hour and it seemed pretty hard, its fairly warm and dry in the building here so that probably helped with that a bit.

For those who can't come along a needle bottle you can probably use a q-tip and apply the mek with that.

kghost · « **Reply #14 on:** April 16, 2009, 10:27:58 AM »

That polyethylene is prolly a good idea...I always seem to sacrifice a little glass jar every time I do one....

That and a wee paint brush....Guess I need to get a needle bottle.

I generally use a Dremel on mine...but just to stop drill the crack with a very small bit.

Sometimes I drill a few very small holes along the crack to give the repair some more surface area to "bite".

goon 1492 · « **Reply #15 on:** April 17, 2009, 09:51:26 AM »

Quote from: kghost on April 16, 2009, 10:27:58 AM

That polyethylene is prolly a good idea...I always seem to sacrifice a little glass jar every time I do one....

That and a wee paint brush....Guess I need to get a needle bottle.

I generally use a Dremel on mine...but just to stop drill the crack with a very small bit.

Sometimes I drill a few very small holes along the crack to give the repair some more surface area to "bite".

Kghost in metal that is the thing to do, not nessary though with plastic and the glue because the glue literally melts it all back together, and if you use too much like I did the face side of it will be little soft until it cures out. I got more pics too share but I will have to check back in this afternoon to show.

Oh yeah the "privleges" I have lost them a few times... Yesterday marked our 5 yr marriage anniversary, been together for 8 yrs overall.

goon 1492 · « **Reply #16 on:** April 17, 2009, 01:20:17 PM »

Ok here is the last of what I did and I am going back to delete some of the replys even some of mine and this thread can be locked for easy read through for all. Thanks for all the help and info sharing.

I noticed that the last bead I laid out of the melted mek/abs at 2:00 yesterday afternoon and as of 10:30 last night it was still a little soft so the cold weld took well and I think I won't add an aditional scap piece to cover the seam with.

goon 1492 · « **Reply #17 on:** April 17, 2009, 01:28:02 PM »

As you can see too that my cracked side cover is less than minimal, maybe 3.5inchs long at the most. So my fight to get everything lined back up on the face side wasn't that bad. I had to initially run a fine bead into the crack itself and hold it in place for about 5 minutes for it so setup a little.
If you side cover is as bad as in half it is possible to fix still, just going to be more of a challenge to line everything back up and I reccomend doing a few dry fittings before adding the MEK. You will have a few minutes of gooeyness too to line up the face with before its too hard to move.

I had to use my finger to apply the bead of glue also and it melted all over my finger but no worries it will peel off in a few hours from the oils in your skin that are secreted, I say no worries anyhoo other than the cancer it will help to bring on from the direct concact with the glue so I HIGHLY reccomend you use an applicator of some kind, paint brush or flat blade screwdriver, small putty knife. Use the MEK to wash off your putty knife off with also.

Peace and hope this helps others save money.

goon 1492 · « **Reply #18 on:** May 20, 2009, 06:46:47 AM »

Good day to all, I unlocked this so we can continue our journey....
Blake255 has some good info to add into the thread, I also have a few more pics to add because I had to add a few scab pieces to cover the seams with. When I mixed up the shavings and added the MEK it left a lot of air in the mix so after it all cured it was noticably softer than solid material. I know I should have known better

I will find those pics and post em' later.

mystic_1 · « **Reply #19 on:** May 20, 2009, 09:22:49 AM »

That could be down to your mixing technique. When mixing two-part-anything, try to fold and wipe the material rather than stir or whip, so as to avoid introducing air bubbles. This is good practice for things like two-part-epoxy, bondo, fiberglass, etc.

mystic_1

blake255 · « **Reply #20 on:** May 20, 2009, 06:17:40 PM »

Thanks goon for all the info. I just wanted to share that I went looking for the materials to tackle a side cover project like this and found some of the materails at www.smallparts.com. I got a 1" x 12" ABS dowel rod (about $2.00), polyethylene bottles, and stainless needles. So it's a good start for anyone who doesn't have ready access to those items.

Blake

manjisann · « **Reply #21 on:** June 01, 2009, 02:26:06 PM »

Would this work for gluing the little tabs back on?

Brandon

goon 1492 · « **Reply #22 on:** June 02, 2009, 06:38:06 AM »

It might, MEK can really melt ABS into a pile of goo, give it a try. Use a little MEk on a q-tip and put some on the cover and then the tab and line them up exactly how it was broken, then hold it really still for a few minutes unless you can get it to stap put on its own. Keeping it lined up in its original position will be very critical. Can you line it back how just how it broke off?

manjisann · « **Reply #23 on:** June 03, 2009, 10:25:01 AM »

Quote

Can you line it back how just how it broke off?

Unfortuantely I don't have the actual broken tab. My plan was/is to remove the mounting tab from a donor side cover and use JB weld to reattach it. This just looks like it would be a cleaner fix, but I'm just concerned about how well it would hold. Maybe if I cut it flat, down near where the post is square on both pieces and reattach there. That would give me more surface area for it to bond to.

Sorry, didn't mean to jack your post with my "Will it work" question. You obviously have more experience with these materials, so just wanted to ask the expert

Brandon

Dave-and-his-550 · « **Reply #24 on:** June 12, 2009, 12:52:23 PM »

This the stuff? It's more of a liquid glue rather then a paste right?

I tried the super glue and baking powder method, it worked pretty good, but I think I used to much baking powder and it did not melt into the crack, so it did not hold so well. I might try this method...

News:

Author Topic: side cover fix BEST EVER! (Read 15254 times)