Plastic Repair

[seekermeister]

I just bought a used door panel to replace the one on my Blazer, which looks like new, except that where two screws attach it under the door handle to the door, the plastic is broke out. It had been attached using a couple of flat washers to fill the gap, which I could do also, but I would like to restore it as close as possible to new condition...or perhaps stronger, since these panels damage easily.

Therefore, I'm considering using or making a couple of thick plastic "washers" and gluing or welding them in place. I've read some about gluing other types of plastic, but the best that I can determine, these are made of molded ABS...at least they were a few years earlier. What is the best means of performing this type of repair? Appearance is not really important, because the repair will not be in a visible location.

 

[Dwarf]

Epoxy resin?

 

[badger906]

epoxy is about the best option, you have far more control and drying times are almost instant.
if you use a non epoxy based glue you want something slow setting as possible, fast setting glues are ok for an easy fix, but the bond is weak.

 

[The Howling Wolves]

Duct tape to the backside to keep it from spreading then use the above suggestions with resin. IMHO
But what do I know.......If it is broke use duct tape to fix it. If you want to break it use a big hammer.
THW

 

[seekermeister]

It is curious, because while Googling on this, I've found numerous answers, from epoxy, acetone to glues designed for ABS plumbing pipe. As I said, the important part for me is the strength of the bond. Appearance, drying time, etc. are not an issue, I just want to fix it as permanently as possible.

 

[Borg 386]

They make a product, I don't know if you can find it in your area, but it's called "Plastic Weld", it's 2 tubes that you mix like epoxy but it's for plastic. I got it at the local auto parts store. When it's dry it feels like & looks like black plastic.

 

[seekermeister]

Duct tape to the backside to keep it from spreading then use the above suggestions with resin. IMHO
But what do I know.......If it is broke use duct tape to fix it. If you want to break it use a big hammer.
THW

That sounds akin to my brother's view of repairs...if it doesn't work, get a bigger hammer.

 

[seekermeister]

They make a product, I don't know if you can find it in your area, but it's called "Plastic Weld", it's 2 tubes that you mix like epoxy but it's for plastic. I got it at the local auto parts store. When it's dry it feels like & looks like black plastic.

I have seen some ads for this online, but the thing that bothers me is the word "plastic", because there are so many different kinds of plastic. The fact that they don't bother to list specific materials for application is what bothers me.

 

[The Howling Wolves]

Seek,
Have you a local body shop or custom shop you can visit and pick their brains on what they use?
That's where I would start before going out and buying something that may or may not work.
THW

 

[seekermeister]

Seek,
Have you a local body shop or custom shop you can visit and pick their brains on what they use?
That's where I would start before going out and buying something that may or may not work.
THW

Reasonable advice, except that my experience with professionals has not always been so good. The only way to know how good their advice is to either have used them enough to have gained confidence, or simply take it on blind faith.

 

[The Howling Wolves]

Seek,
Have you a local body shop or custom shop you can visit and pick their brains on what they use?
That's where I would start before going out and buying something that may or may not work.
THW

Reasonable advice, except that my experience with professionals has not always been so good. The only way to know how good their advice is to either have used them enough to have gained confidence, or simply take it on blind faith.

Guess I have been more fortunate as have known this family for years and have had them do work on my vehicles. They were perfectionists!
You might check with your auto insurance to see where they send or recommend body work to be done.
I know you want this to be done correctly and going a few extra steps maybe worth the effort. IMHO.
THW

 

[Britton30]

Epoxy is not very fast curing and there are different types of ABS plastic which take different solvents to 'weld' them. Sometime on the back of trim panels there is a molded-in label which will ID the type of plastic it is. An auto parts store can give you advice too, they will have a myriad of plastic glues and goos.

I never thought I'd be back in the parts business in a Windows forum.

 

[seekermeister]

I just ordered some 1/8" & 1/16" ABS sheets from an eBay vendor, who I asked the question about the strongest way to do their repair. He had to call some of his experts for the answer, and they said using a slurry made from ABS shavings or pellets mixed with acetone or MEK was best.

I didn't question him further about this, because I didn't want to be a pest, but now I'm wondering how easily a slurry can be made, of the proper consistency that will permit a close fit between the slices? Hopefully, the repair will be easier than I thought, because I found that the broken portions are just on the door pull/armrest itself, which detaches from the door panel.

Even those armrests are too expensive for me to just buy a new one, because they are going for ~$120 each.

 

[Britton30]

Have you tried eBay auto or a salvage yard?
Plumbers use a solvent and primer for bonding ABS and PVC pipes too, which may help out. Generally, black pipes are ABS, and white are PVC. there are two I'm familiar with, one is a thin pruple liquid and the other a clear, gooey substance. They both smell like Ketone or acetone.

 

[seekermeister]

If you are asking whether I tried those place to locate door panels or arm rests, the answer is definitely. While I found places that I could save some money on the door panel, the same isn't true of the arm rest. Everybody wanted about the same amount. Besides, I couldn't beat the deal that I found. A guy in a town ~50 miles from here, had a used door panel that looks like new, except needing the arm rest repaired, and I bought the panel and arm rest for $20 hand delivered. If I could make out like that on the other parts that I need, I would soon have that Blazer running and looking great! However, it appears that I'm stuck with the dealer or a professional repair shop for a couple of things.

I'm not certain what they are made of, but I've done enough plumbing to know that while those plumbing formulas will stick ABS plumbing pipe together, they are not strong enough to make an ABS slurry with.

 

[Britton30]

You may have to search for one, but there is plastic welding tech around in body shops. It works a lot like metal welds but I think it uses ultrasonic waves to heat and bond the materials.
Good job on finding low cost parts.

 

[Zepher]

epoxy a metal washer to the panel. paint it black if you please.

 

[seekermeister]

You may have to search for one, but there is plastic welding tech around in body shops. It works a lot like metal welds but I think it uses ultrasonic waves to heat and bond the materials.
Good job on finding low cost parts.

The plastic supplier that I mentioned also spoke of plastic welding, but he was talking about using a regular soldering iron, which obviously would only be able to effect a surface area, not areas such as between two layers of plastic sandwiched together.

I hadn't heard of ultrasonic plastic welding, until you mentioned it, so I Googled a bit. Not too surprisingly, what I found costs far more than I can afford. The cheapest was ~$3400 for a little handheld unit, and went much, much higher for more elaborate ones. I imagine that would be practical for a professional, who regularly does a lot of work such as this, but not for a one time project such as mine.

I'm only guessing, but I would think that even if I found a shop equipped for that kind of job, that they would charge more than I want to pay for fixing my part.

 

[Britton30]

A soldering iron would be a good idea! I recently got a very small one at Wal*Mart for $5 with a tiny pencil tip for PC wires. You'd likely want a bigger one and they are all reasonable.

 

[seekermeister]

I do have a soldering iron now, but I don't know if the tip is as small as you are talking about. I just don't like the idea of only surface welding the plastic parts together...I want a more total fusion of parts than that. I have thought about using a combination of gluing and welding them, but I'm not sure if that is a good idea or not, depending on the kind of glue I end up using. Along with the plastic sheets, I ordered a bag of fine ABS pellets, with the idea of making the slurry from them. I think that would work okay along with welding, but I also have some Plastic Welder glue standing by, and I don't know how it might react to the solder iron.