Beats a duck taped hole
Posted by NuclearWasteland@reddit | projectcar | View on Reddit | 8 comments
Finally got around to repairing this taped over hole in the Cantara front shroud.
I figure if/when I find a nicer one I'll swap that in.
In the meantime, I cut up a random scrap of plastic from what I'm guessing is a Toyota Sienna minivan shroud, and used it as a patch.
After a lot of fumes, hot staples, and woodburning ironing I got it passable and sturdy.
Smoothed out, the back side is comparable to the front, and while it could be finish sanded and further smoothed, it's a good functional repair that frankly fits the rest of the car and passes the at a glance test.
While in there I cleaned up other plastic flashing and repaired various little cracks and such as I went.
The part numbers were intentionally left exposed as an easter egg for future owners, lol.
WolfvonDoom@reddit
That is great! These kinds of repairs are going to be more and more necessary as the hobby evolves, for sure. Thanks for the example.
NuclearWasteland@reddit (OP)
Thanks. The hot staple tool is one of the better things I've picked up.
I use it a lot for little repairs like this.
WolfvonDoom@reddit
I used some JB weld for plastic on my last repair but to replace missing pieces on a plastic grill that might be better.
NuclearWasteland@reddit (OP)
Look for a recycle triangle or markings, those will generally tell the kind of plastic. I believe 5 is Polypropelene, and it has a nice property to melt back to itself. You can usually fix that with a soldering iron. Plastic storage bins are often that material, it is very plentiful, so you can use a scrap of that as filler rod.
Epoxy can work, but it has trouble sticking to plastic, whereas fusing it together is closer to a welded bond and tends to hold much better.
Def a place for both methods, depending on need and material availability.
WolfvonDoom@reddit
Thanks for the tips.
NuclearWasteland@reddit (OP)
A wood burning iron with various tips is a cheap tool ideal for plastic welding/repair/sculpting. One with temperature control is even nicer. A "hot staple" tool is also a worthwhile investment if you are fixing or building with plastic.
meh35m@reddit
Nice work!
NuclearWasteland@reddit (OP)
Thanks!
It was partly an experiment, and I'm satisfied with the results.
If it ever gets a full cosmetic refresh it could be dolled up, but I'm more a functional restoration fella so this'll do nicely.
Also, as an aside, I'm low key trying to use as much haggard broken old parts as I can on this car. I can fix the parts, and it's a fun skills test to do it, and keeps them out of the trash.
Safety stuff, yeah that's all new, but cosmetics, plastics, electronics, I'll see what I can do.