Creating new side covers

great!
I was worried whether or not you'd be able to weld this, because glueing is really not a good thing, as far as costs are concerned. the glues needed would have cost you about $200 including the application gun.

Now, for welding, having a bit of practice would be ideal, but working on the backside of a piece isn't as bad as the front, lucky for you!

welding can be done with as little as a propane torch and a hot screwdriver, but filler plastic is reccomended. The BEST thing to do would be to purchase a plastics welder. they aren't cheap, but then again, are a lot cheaper than glueing. Figure on spending $30-100 for a plastics welder. ebay seems to have a good selection. check this link out...
cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/SYNTHETIC-WELDER...temZ4584828183QQrdZ1
That's a pretty good welder for the money. Drawback.. you need an aircompressor capable of producing 15 PSI.If you don't have an air compressor, you can buya cheap one at homedepot, used for brad nailing for around $50-100.
If you don't want to buy a compressor, you could always get an airless plastics welder, but they run about $100-200. You can find some of those on ebay too, I am sure.

as far as how to actually weld it, you need to get a soldering iron or a hot screwdriver and put the two pieces together and then simply melt long the seem. as the piece cools, it will reattach itself. however, fillerplastic would make it a lot easier and more sturdy. I have an airless welder, and it is not the best, since you have to manually push the plastic filler rod into the welder. Once you get the tab reattached, it is also best to "pad" the underside of the tab with extra filler plastic. padding is a machinists welding technique that basically builds up the metal so it's thickness is increased. sam ethign shoudl be done with plastic.

If any of this is unclear, let me know, and I will try to explain in more detail. I am not the best "typing-teacher" I generally like to just say, "here watch this" but that can't be done here.

Sizobonana,

John, If the zip tie passes the float/sink test, could it be used as a filler, and use an electric woodburning pen and appropriate tip? woodburning kits generally say they can be used for welding plastics..just wondered if you have any experience with them...as they are quite cheap!

good idea ron!

I have heard of people using broken motorcycle parts (especially dirtbike fenders, the reason I bought the plastic welder) as filler plastic. You could always try to float a ziptie and see. hmmm... this is like letterman's game, "Will it Float" but without grindergirl. Grindergirl makes any sink or float test more fun.

as far as the woodburning pen goes, yep, been there, done that. infact, I put two different DS80 fenders together usign one of the broken parts as filler and a soldering pen/woodburning kit for the heat. screwdrivers and propane torches are just more portable!

I just remember, as a kid, using one to weld model car bodies into different configurations...then put them on my 1/32 slot car chassis. It seems like those were polyethylene...not sure what our side covers are...might be worth some experimenting with Testor's model cement! In a place that doesn't show :woohoo: .

Post edited by: ronboskz650sr, at: 2005/10/25 23:58

Ron,
One thing you shoudl take into account regardless of actual material type is that zipties are flexible plastic, and sidecovers are rigid or semi-rigid. Melting a flexble ziptie to repair a rigid plastic will leave you with a "hinge" effect to the repair joint. It just crossed my mind a few minutes ago. Deffinitely something to take into consideration!

Enjoy,

Ah, good point! This warrants some experimentation, I think. There are so many plastic things out there these days..I think i'm going to get a woodburning pen and start making some goo!

This is awesome! I have plenty of plastic body pieces off GM vehicles lying around I can do float tests and practice plastic welding before I weld the side cover.

Also the zip-tie leaving a hinge like joint gives me an idea. I have a 1998 Chevrolet extended cab pickup. The drivers side window on the extended portion of the cab has a broken upper hinge. This "hinge" is the bent plastic type. Someone at sometime apparently locked their keys inside and broke open the side window breaking the hinge. To replace the hinge requires replacing the entire window frame, which turns out to be $110 at the cheapest I've found it. Now I'm wondering if the zip-tie hinge like result might work to fix it?

Redneck repair? yeah it might be, but if it fixes it, and it's covered by a frame anyway, who cares?:woohoo:

hwms wrote:

Tazz:
You say "plastic". Is the fender plastic or fiberglass?
Harry

Definately Plastic. Not much fiberglass on the old ATC's.

Maybe we should rename this place tha Kzrider paint and body think-tank. :laugh:

Tazzmann,

I hope I answered the bulk of your questions as well. As far as the glue goes, it's pretty expensive stuff to be playing with, and you have to be able to identify the exact plastic type in some situations, because the glue actually melts into the plastic, creating a supertight bond. You gotta get the right glue for the plastic. Using the wrong one is like trying to patch it with bubblegum.

Yes you did, thank you very much for the valuable information. When I start repairing some of my plastic fenders on my ATC, I may have to hit you up again once or twice for advice.