M-lip broke apart. repair ideas ?

[samy01]

hello,

bought a front lip from some dumbass over the internet who wasn't able to put the lip into a decent box and instead just wrapped it in some foil and then the delivery company of course managed to break it. however, i can't return it or make the delivery company pay because you have to inspect the package at the moment of receiving at the door, and if it's broken then they will help but if you take it the thing is done for them and it's your problem now. i would've known that a lip wrapped in foil with a 90° bend proably isn't alright anymore but it wasn't me that accepted the package, and i can't blame the other person for not inspectin because she couldn't know how it's supposed to be.

whatever, now i am having this:



i would like trying to repair it before i get a new one. all the pieces are there, it's a clean 'cut'. i "just" have to make them hold together. i suppose glue won't be the adequate solution because the surface is too small for the glue. then i heard about "chemical welding" with acetone, you just put acetone on the cut and it should melt together, but that doesn't work with this material. only works with the right materials i suppose. i thought about plastic welding but i don't have the right tools for that and i don't really think buying them makes financial sense here. a sheet of metal on the inside and then bolt it on the plastic would be not very pretty looking, but as far as i can see theres not really room for that in there.

i just wanted to try repairing it, i'm always more happy to repair something than just buying it new. so does anyone have a clever idea ?

[shogun]

I have repaired the spoiler of my E32 750 with a Fiberglass Resin Repair Kit, google for fiberglass repair spoiler

[FiberFast]

Yep, use epoxy it will melt the plastic a bit though. My suggestion is to put a small amount on the seam and let it dry, then apply a heavy coat to the backside. When thats dry use some plastic paint on the front. Do Not attempt to sand it as the textured finish will come off and be quite visible.
You will most likely need a new one.

[spyderg0d]

Find out what plastic it is. If its abs then epoxy will not hace lastibe results. Fiberglass might work if you dig the crap out of it and plan on permanently attaching it to the bumper. The best solution would be to afix it to the bumper with its hardware and melt it back together, preferably with more alike plastic. (Melt sone other plastic in a cup with sone map gas or somthing) then finish with bondo glass.

If its polypropylene your screwed. The only thing besides the same melting technique (ghetto welding) that ive found to work in any sort of lasting way is literaly bondo glass or the resin gelly. The gelly suprisingly sticks very well. But the strength ia diminished by your small contact area. I would suggest leaving it firmly attacleavon tye bumper when you do it.

[foxy4door]

Use zip ties to drift stitch it.

- - - Updated - - -

Use zip ties to drift stitch it.

[DotBeta]

Do not flame me if you think this is "ghetto", not saying it isn't but it's worked wonders for me in similar situations.

1. take a radiator hose sized clamp and open it up, straighten it out as good as possible and cut it into 1" inch pieces. You'll need two 1" inch pieces.
2. Face the spoiler topside down so you're looking at the underside of it, grab the piece of clamp with needle nose pliers and heat it up with a torch until it is red hot, then gently lay it across both of the cracked pieces as to bond both pieces together with the clamp piece.
3. Immediately after setting it down on the plastic gently press down on it to allow the melted plastic to squeeze between the clamps screw holes. Now take the second piece and do it again just below the first one.
4. You have now successfully bonded both broken pieces together with metal reinforcement, flip it back over and use epoxy to fill, seal the crack and sand it down for prep.

I have done this countless times on friends broken chin/lip spoilers and cracked/split lower bumper sections. Mind you I'm not sure the type of plastic your lip spoiler is made of so results may vary. Also I usually do all of my plastic welding with a simple soldering iron. I plug it in, let it get hot and then press into the crack melting both sides, then scoop the melted plastic that has pushed itself out the sides into the impression I just made making a bond point. I've done this method with motorcycle fairings, intake boxes etc. etc. without any issues. Hell, I used it on my alternator intake scoop that has a 6+ inch crack across it with success. Follow up with a little bondo to fill in and smooth the roughness left behind.

Hope some of this info helps.

[samy01]

that sounds very interesting. that's the kind of idea i was hoping for. i will try it. thanks for sharing your experience. do you think it will also work when there are multiple pieces that need to hold together like here, and not only two ? should i maybe try with one very long one to go over that small middle part ?

i usually have these:



but you wrote about holes, so i think you mean these, right ?

[DotBeta]

that sounds very interesting. that's the kind of idea i was hoping for. i will try it. thanks for sharing your experience. do you think it will also work when there are multiple pieces that need to hold together like here, and not only two ? should i maybe try with one very long one to go over that small middle part ?

i usually have these:



but you wrote about holes, so i think you mean these, right ?

Yes I mean the second one you posted. Since it's red hot it will liquefy the plastic and it'll squeeze through the screw holes as you press it down gently, once it cools off it becomes embedded in the plastic.

You can definitely use longer pieces but they'll need to be straight or else it wont come out good. When you heat it up longer pieces tend to fold or warp before you put it on. You'll have to experiment but you have nothing to lose at this point. Just don't hold me liable if you burn your house down or something .

[samy01]

i just wanted to try it but i don't have a powerful enough torch. it's just not hot enough

must think of another heat source

[spyderg0d]

I use propane to melt my plastic. Should ve cheap for a propane torche. I think you can get a end and tank at lowes for like $20. Tanks are only like $3 a piece. Cant get any better than that. Or, if you want extremely stable setup for deep penetration. A rih setup for a heat gun is lile $80 online. You can potentially heat the entire piece to temp and then squish er together. But thats just my speculation at the end.

[mslevin]

Just throw the metal pieces in a hot fire for a while. The metal is so thin, it won't take much to get them hot enough to melt plastic.

[pizzaman09]

I definitely recommend something like LORD Fusor adhesive. It is OEM approved plastic repair adhesive. http://www.autobodytoolmart.com/lord...es-c-1071.aspx
I would suggest you follow the link above to see what products they have available but my suggestion for your specific application is: http://www.autobodytoolmart.com/lord...m-p-15955.aspx
You will need a dispensing gun, McMaster offers a good deal on these: https://www.mcmaster.com/#74695a71/=17saua4

I can vouch for the insane bonds these glues provide. I would highly recommend them for anyone doing body work.