Plastic repair made easy

I had a fairing boss that broke, so I went to the local Advance Auto, and found Permatex PermaPoxy 5 Min. Plastic Weld. It bonds 99% of all plastics. I figured Permatex has always been quality stuff, so I picked some up. It worked great, set in about 3 minutes.

So I looked at my solo seat cover. It was missing a huge chunk, and I was curious. (hey, it was broke, whats the worst that could happen?) I took some heavy duty plastic shipping tape, put the smooth side out, and another on top (2 peices face to face), and laid a layer of the epoxy the same thickness in the missing spot. Within 5 mins, I removed it and a nice smooth surface was left. I set it in the sun for another 10 minutess, and it was hard and slightly flexible. I mixed another batch, and smoothed in the holes, and made a nice transition under the cover. 30 mins later, I set it on the bike, took a sharpie and ran a trim line. Took the Dremel tool, and there it was.

Not to be one to doubt my work, I held it by the repair and shook it; nothing. No cracks, give, or anything else. So...I decided to do a little more. I took more tape, and made to tab that fits in the slot on the rear fairing. A little trimming, and wow. Again, 1 hour later, and I picked it up by the tab. Great bond! I got brave, and rotated it upward, holding it by only the tab. At a 90* angle, it held just fine, butt pad and all.

A little fine sanding and filling, and a SWAG on white duplicolor paint, and ...
(the dark line is where I need to finish sand, just needs a few days to set up)

 

So the missing piece was fabricated out of epoxy?

 

Yep! For about 5 bucks. You can see in pic1 how big the piece was. I'll take more pics when I do the 2 side tabs.

 

I like that its vary inventive, I like to see people do this kind of stuff, please post more pics soon.

 

Nice job. How hard was it to sand?

 

Thanks, it was pretty easy to sand with 320. Finish sand with 600, prime, sand with 800, paint, sand with 1000. You can polish or wet sand with 2000 to finish.

 

Thanks I have been looking around for a epoxy that would work to do some plastic repair on my 86. Ill have to take a swing by canadian tire to see if they sell it. How has it held up?

 

What duplicolor paint are you using to match the white?

 

Update: So far, it's still holding up fine. I used pure white, but as you can see, not all whites are created equal. It looks grey, not white.

 

I guess the real test will be how it holds up ? keep us posted ?