Howto - Plastic repair

[hardlydangerous]

Excuse my "n00b-ness", but what do you mean by "V notch" and "U notch"?

Someone just gave me a 97 600 that was put down HARD on the left side and it needs LOADS of plastic repair...among other things.

This is all new to me.

Basically what you do is ..using a dremal tool with a burr cutting tool cut the plastics back on a 45o angle on both sides of the crack so you are left with a large V shaped crack to fill. Once that is done you make a wider more shallow U shaped notch on the back side to fill in.
It's very simple.
see the pics
FWIW when doing major plasics repairs and large areas I use fiberglass resin/cloth. It's cheap and easy to work with. Shapes and molds can first be made using aliminum screen mesh like what people use on the vents of some katanas. I've repaired fairing that people once thought unrepairable. Below is a ZZR i bought and rebuilt for my ex.. to replace the plastics that were damaged was going to be over $3500. I rebuilt this bike for $1000 including paint.

Crack


V notched


V notch filled with epoxy


U notched on the other side


Unotch filled with epoxy


This picture shows the worst major cracks, warped or bent plastics, broken pieces or missing pieces. not to mention nearly every tabs or fastener point was broken or missing the front nose piece on the lower fairing was complately smasked out and missing on both sides as was a chunk out of the windscreen fairing.












The finish product. *new windscreen not yet installed, she liked the chopped cut down version, so I painted it balck instead. FWIW I hate the color but she picked it out. The paint looks a lil dull in places. This pic was taken before the paint was wet sanded and polished.
All done with rattlecan praypaint

[steves]

This was such a good post, I decided to copy it out of it's source thread so it could stand on it's own.

If anyone has more to add to this, please do so!

[the wind]

This was such a good post, I decided to copy it out of it's source thread so it could stand on it's own.

If anyone has more to add to this, please do so!

[ctandc]

What brand of plastic repair / epoxy is recommended?

I see 3M makes this:



"Two-part epoxy used to repair most flexible plastic parts, including bumper covers and other plastic body panels. This product should NOT be used with SMC/fiberglass. This product is easy sanding and formulated for excellent featheredging.

3M™ Automix™ EZ Sand Flexible Repair material offers a 10 minute worktime and can be sanded with grade 180 abrasives in 30 minutes resulting in an excellent featheredge. It is recommended that 3M's Polyolefin Adhesion Promoter 05907 be used when working with polypropylene and ethylene propylene interior and exterior parts.

And this:

http://plastex.home.att.net/

[steves]

I've used the plastex, and it works to a certain degree... but I did have one repair shatter on me when I was drilling holes...

[teddy]

SEM makes a plastic bumper repair epoxy that works well also. I don't currently have any or I would post up a picture of it.

[brooder]

I'm using the plastix to fix a bunch of cracks in the 03 tail I have. So far, it's survived a more than the previous repairs I used did. I haven't had to drill into any of it, though, so I can't vouch for that. I used the same V-notch technique when doing that repair. The Plastex works like epoxy in this situation.

[hardlydangerous]

Thanks

You don't want to use a flexable plastic repair on HARD plastics like the fairings.

I recommend Versa Chem epoxy plastic weld system or Permatex 84115 PermaPoxy 5 minute Plastic Weld (both are the same thing really). It's not nearly as brittle, stays flexable to some degree, is easy to work with and bonds perfectly with most plastics with proper prep.

I have used the Plastix repair many times as well in the past but find it cures a little to brittle. Many times I have needed to adjust, tweak or drill and had the parts break or crack again.

Almost every single mounting tab, mounting post or threaded plastic hole on this bike was broken or missing even the thumb operated choke lever was broken off at the base. So I had to completely make them from scratch then shape and drill them and install clips etc.
For the choke lever I drilled a tiny hole into the base and threaded in a small screw into the base, then built up the epoxy around the screw. Once it was dry I filed and shapped it. The choke is fairly hard to pull/push on that bike but the epoxy holds up just fine. Saved me lots of $$$ to.

I plan on making a smooth dash, seat cowl and maybe even a hugger as well. I'll post then as well when the time comes, should people want to make their own.

[SoGone12]

I Love This Post!!!!!!

[celticages]

I've recently fixed major rash and cracks in my Kat fairing as well as my wife's Interceptor and had great luck with a two part plastic epoxy welder (looks like a two barrel syringe from Wal Mart), regular bondo, and spot putty. Then using the usual primers, rattle can paint, and ultimately clearcoat the paint looks good.

[katman9680]

anyone ever used one of those cheap plastic welders from harbor freight? i was curious if it was worth my money

[hardlydangerous]

I have used plastic welder and soldering guns in the past.
Usually when you heat plastic so that it melts it becomes brittle, i would rather bond plastic using epoxy then make it brittle.

[Rothman]

Absolutely fantastic! very informative right-up.

[Adequateman]

So, what kind of plastic are the fairings made from? I've seen quite a few write-ups on the net about using acetone to disolve ABS shavings to make a cement.

Basically, the acetone melts the ABS. When it dries, it is ABS again. I was planning on notching out the cracks as described in this post and then bonding them together using the ABS/acetone slurry. The slurry slightly melts/disolves the fairing when applied and the whole thing dries into one piece.

[brooder]

The plastics are ABS. Rather than using the acetone, why not try ABS cement? You can get it at Lowes or Home Depot.