Plastic repair

[Astro4x4]

Got my Plastex kit today. Going to try it out tonight and report back. Looks to be a good solution for anyone looking to repair cracks etc with out the use of heat.

http://plastex.ca/

a little later..........
This stuff rocks. The powder is so fine it flows like water and falls into even the smallest of cracks if ya put it on dry then add the liquid. USE THIS STUFF OUTSIDE, or wear a respirator.... you WILL get high and probably lose a few brain cells if ya get a wiff of the liquid. I have a fairing repair on the go and will post pics Sunday. I got the black kit as it is supposed to create a stronger joint and be more resistant to heat due to the added carbon and graphite.

[Sasquatch]

Very cool, I may have to order one of these kits, and try it out

[Astro4x4]

Here's a fairing I got off Spedee, notice the broken tabs and piece of leading edge missing. The masking tape outlines my cut line.


Used my Dremel type tool and a cutting disk to cut the broken piece away.


Donor fairing ready for the scalpel.


Pieces tacked together with soldering iron. I used a cutting tip on the iron and bent it approx 90* to give me a nice flat tool to work the plastic with.


Fitted inner fairing to check alignment of new piece. Freaking perfect.... how did I do that, not like me at all. LOL


Welded up the entire length of the seam, doing sections at a time from end to end to avoid overheating and warping of the fairing. I chose to weld the back with my iron, because it's quick and easy to secure the pieces together, and I needed backing for the Plastex front side treatment anyway. I also added some aluminum screen door mesh to the back side for added strength of the repair area. (pic to come)


Front side ready for the Plastex.


Before applying the Plastex, "V" the crack / joint out with a Dremel or similar. Since I'm sanding and repaiting the entire fairing I didn't mask the crack before the Plastex so I ended up with a little bleed over into the surronding area. The Plastex set up nice and flush (for the most part) with the fairings so minimal sanding and no body filler will be required before primer.



So far so good.

[duff daddy]

just remember taht when you do plastic repair that the MOST important thing about the whole repair is he cleaning and the prep of the surface about to be bonded. if this isnt cleaned or preped correctly the repair will fail shortly after put back on the vehicle.

[Astro4x4]

Good point, I cleaned the area to be repaired well and used a degreaser prior to the repairs. Hard to tell from the pics, guess I should've washed the entire fairing before starting.

[duff daddy]

if you cant get a good cleaner use windex, i use that when i paint cars to prep the surface

[md86]

Damn , you make it sound SO easy . How long that take you ? I got some fairings to fix , and I already got the donor plastics ,but am a little skeered to mess mine up further .

[brooder]

I have a question: How bad was the donor fairing that cutting it instead of using it was the better option?

I think I'm going to thy this stuff for the tail piece I'm working on. It's ticking me off and anything is better than having to continually fix cracks.

[Astro4x4]

Well, the donor was fixable, but it had more to fix ( cracking around dash and mirror cutout, two missing tabs and a little rash), so it just made sense to fix the better of the two. If I had the piece that broke off the silver fairing, I would've just stuck it back together and fixed the donor too.

Start to finish, as far as it's finished, took about 2 hours. Most of the 2 hours was spent checking and rechecking cut lines and fitment as I was "skeered" too. Just have some sanding and primer left to do.

[brooder]

What size kit did you buy and how much do you have left over? I've got less crack space to fill than you, but have a few gouges to fix as well. I'm wondering if the standard kit will have enough powder.

[Astro4x4]

Oh ya, I picked up the standard kit and still have more than half left.
If ya haven't had a good look around their site yet, it has some good tutorials on how to use the stuff.
I will tell ya though that it is waaaayy easier to put the powder into the crack first and then gently add the liquid to set it up.

[brooder]

Oh ya, I picked up the standard kit and still have more than half left.
If ya haven't had a good look around their site yet, it has some good tutorials on how to use the stuff.
I will tell ya though that it is waaaayy easier to put the powder into the crack first and then gently add the liquid to set it up.

Thanks. I ordered the standard kit. I'll give it a try as soon as I get the kit.

[slowgsxf600]

just ordered some semi-ridgid automix. i hope it does the trick.

[Dozer7380]

Wow thats some good work . cool product too . I'll be sure to try that for one of my fairing tabs. Nice find!

[hellcamp]

Nice find and great writeup too