RazMan
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| posted on 23/7/10 at 04:29 PM |
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Modifying plastic bodywork
I am making a custom designed spoiler using a couple of donor spoilers. My intention is to cut various sections from the donors and glue them all
together in the new shape, smooth the joins with filler and repaint.
This would be soooo easy if the spoilers were made of fibreglass, but after cutting into my first victim with the disc cutter I discovered they are
made of a kind of plastic. It cuts like fibreglass but melts very slightly on the edges, giving the game away.
I would need to make some sections from scratch and was just going to use matting and resin to join the sections but now I doubt that it would bond
properly and be strong enough - Is there any special resin, filler etc that is designed for this type of job?
[Edited on 23-7-10 by RazMan]
Cheers,
Raz
When thinking outside the box doesn't work any more, it's time to build a new box
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robocog
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| posted on 23/7/10 at 05:46 PM |
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Should say somewhere what "plastic" they are made from
If they are BOTH made from ABS I can offer /some/help (having been repairing some damaged motorcycle fairings over the past few weeks)
some acetone along the joins would soften the panels and make them bond if held in place and solidly for long enough
If they move before fully setting the mechanical bond is a bit crummy from what I gather...so plenty of bracing and clamping as soon as possible)
Lego bricks are also made from ABS and can be placed in a sealed jar with a small ammount of acetone to make a glue like sludge that will fill gaps
and bond ABS stuff together
It skins very fast and I dont think my method of trying to make up thick chunky sections by pouring it helped, maybe I would have had better sucess
with lots of thinner layers "painted on" ??)
The method that worked fast and seemed to be mechanically sound was to use a soldering iron to make stitches across the joins, then along the joins
both sides to try and melt the edges together, followed by using lego brick as a filler and soldering iron on low heat to push it about and fill the
gaps
My sludge method worked "OK" to make up bits that were completely missing, but took weeks to actually set, and has lots of tiny bubbles in
it (like a cross section of Aero chocky bar) and is relatively soft and not mechanically as sound as it could be
Lego and soldering iron method sets as soon as it cools and seemed to be as good as the surrounding sound material strength and finish wise (and sands
down easily enough if you build up layers and go too far)
HTH a little if your playing with ABS
(and almost certainly wont be applicable if its PP or something else)
Regards
Rob
[Edited on 23/7/10 by robocog]
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deltron63
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| posted on 23/7/10 at 06:30 PM |
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Take it to your local body shop and get them to plastic weld it
[Edited on 23/7/10 by deltron63]
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RazMan
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| posted on 23/7/10 at 08:04 PM |
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Rob, Thanks for your detailed info 
However I don't think it is ABS - it looks and feels more like fibreglass, sort of grainy and unlike anything I have come across. I am tempted
to try plastic bumper repair paste and see what happens.
Plastic welding is definitely out, as there won't be many butt joins and in any case there's going to be substantial amounts of filler
involved. Judging how it semi-melted during the cutting process, it won't take too kindly to being welded anyway.
Cheers,
Raz
When thinking outside the box doesn't work any more, it's time to build a new box
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interestedparty
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| posted on 24/7/10 at 08:51 PM |
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If you look all over the inside of the donor bits you should find the recycling mark which will tell you what it is
As some day it may happen that a victim must be found,
I've got a little list-- I've got a little list
Of society offenders who might well be underground,
And who never would be missed-- who never would be missed!
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Mark Allanson
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| posted on 24/7/10 at 08:53 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by deltron63
Take it to your local body shop and get them to plastic weld it
[Edited on 23/7/10 by deltron63]
The 'new' range of 3M adhesives have put plastic welding into the history books.
If you can keep you head, whilst all others around you are losing theirs, you are not fully aware of the situation
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smart51
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| posted on 24/7/10 at 08:58 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by RazMan
it looks and feels more like fibreglass, sort of grainy
It could be glass filled. We use glass filled nylon at work and when it snaps, the broken surface feels like it is filled with sand.
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40inches
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| posted on 25/7/10 at 07:39 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Mark Allanson
quote:
Originally posted by deltron63
Take it to your local body shop and get them to plastic weld it
[Edited on 23/7/10 by deltron63]
The 'new' range of 3M adhesives have put plastic welding into the history books.
Try this one: 3M adhesive. Bet it's not
cheap
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