fixing plastic parts (this case the relay board cover), fixing cracked plastic Options

[eastbay851]

anybody who has a piece of broken plastic with which to deal on your car (or, i learned from continually getting off my motorcycles before they were stopped.) the best way to deal with plastic is to use baking soda and super thin super-glue. fill crack or chips with baking soda and apply glue. the preferred applicator here is a piece of tube filament. i get mine from a local hobby shop who makes their own super-glue but fly tie supply places have it. you can build up (in thin coats of baking soda) to 1/4" thick or more. i have made full loops with this method for the cowling of a motorcycle, dropped the bike again and the loop survived while the rest of the piece suffered severe trauma. one of the advantages to using this method... makes no difference what type of plastic it is. super glue does not discriminate.

[eastbay851]

actually "the best" way IS NOT plastic weld but i appreciate your critique. i ve plastic welded, epoxied and super-glued. no comparison and you don t have to worry about what kind of plastic with which you are dealing and you can just go to a hobby store and get the supplies. the combination of baking soda (which actually catalyzes the super-glue) and super glue is actually stronger than most plastics and it is sandable. yes it doesn t look like most plastics. in some cases (ducati track bike) i let the scars show. in some cases (67 Norton P11 special) i sanded and painted and on the ninja that refused to stay upright, i sprayed the entire thing a different color from the original. hated that green. i have yet to work with a plastic in a car or bike application that is as strong as the baking soda- supe glue combination. as i ve said, i ve seen the plastic around the mend fail but never the actual seam. apply the baking soda, soak with supe glue. supe glue penetrates very quickly so you don t need much. again, use the thin stuff. this stuff is used regularly in knife making and fly tieing. in each case it fully penetrates the wood or the hair or thread strands or whatever. i, eastbay851, guarantee that the rest of the relay board cover will fail before the repairs. of course i do all the repairs on the rear of a surface if i can. and never, never work with supe glue naked.

i always wonder about critiques on various forums. i don t offer anything unless I VE DONE IT. i don t opine. i observe. i lived in socal for quite awhile. implied expertise is contagious down there.

eastbay851 e.l.e.