plastic repair???

[gregb]

I want to patch a couple of 3/4" holes in my '92 CC where the front lights are mounted and fill in a few nicks... What seems to work best?

gregb

[miferrel]

I use a Plastic Welder that i Purchased from Harbor Freight. Works great after you get use to it....

[invalidsession]

3/4" holes for lights ? Must be the smallest lights ever lol.
Anywho, here is what I have successfuly done to repair cracks, gouges etc. First off you will need to flare out the gouges and nicks into a shallow "vee". A file or knife blade will help here. Next you will need to scuff the area with a red body pad, (flaps will have them) then use a degreasing solution such as Isopropyl alcohol to clean the area before applying a thin coat of body filler (NOT BONDO !!) and rubbing down smooth. For the larger holes I would clean up as above but on both sides of course and then apply body filler to a piece of cleaned, roughened aluminium plate which will be placed behind the hole and act as a support for the subsequent outer layer of filler.
Rub down using progressively finer grades of wet and dry and you should be good to go !!
NAPA own brand body filler is pretty decent btw.
Hope that helps,

Chris.

[gornoman]

Originally Posted by invalidsession

3/4" holes for lights ? Must be the smallest lights ever lol.

Automotive driving lights directly mounted to the front cowl perhaps?

[rib33024]

check out the video

YouTube- 3M Flexible Plastic Repair - Method Comparisons

YouTube- 3M Flexible Plastic Repair - Method Comparisons

[gregb]

Thanks all. I think I'm going to go with the 3m repair, inside and out. Looks like I can trust this method the best. And, it (the video) looks sooo much faster!!!

The holes might not be exactly 3/4" but....The lamps don't look real bad I want to change them out sometime and replace them with the recessed lamps. These fog lamps were mounted just a few inches forward of the windshield with thru holes for the mounting brackets.

[96clubber]

that guys works pretty fast lol

[gregb]

I'm not quite ready to make the repairs but I did some research on the products suggested in the video and found that one 4" x 8" patch and all the other products in the smallest quantities I could find, would cost around $130.

I want to explore Chris's method,yet. And, I have a HF plastic welder and not much experience with it so I'll probably leave that in the box for now.
Greg

[invalidsession]

The guy in the video is doing pretty much what I described Greg, he's just using a more advanced (and expensive) method. You can see him trimming the nicks to a vee and the plastic patch is just a better version of my plate method which is great for curved areas and easier than Aluminium plate but, with a little patience you can bend the plate to some quite complex shapes. I had a pretty hefty crack and some unsightly drilled holes in my ex golf course maintenance cart and using the above method it has been repaired invisibly and has so far been a regular at the golf course with no signs of cracking of peeling at the repair areas.
Good luck with whatever direction you go in and perhaps you might be kind enough to provide us with some pictures as things progress ?
Cheers,

Chris.