Well I know some of you guys have been wanting to do custom front fascia's by taking the two different styles and converting them into a one of a kind front end, but you've always had the problem of molding the two together. To mold them together you need a plastic welder and many of us don't even know anyone who has one or how much it would cost to have a shop do it. Well tonight, I think I found the perfect solution for plastic welding. Earlier tonight, I accidently broke off a tab on the grill of my dad's pt as I was positioning it to fit and look nice. Well I was like phuq..there goes $300. You have to have that tab on it other wise it won't sit flush. Anyways I start looking around for solutions. Tried almost every type of glue you could think, none of them worked. Then I noticed my soldering gun. So I began to think, if it could melt solder, why not try it on plastic. So I cleaned all the crap off the tab and grill and began. Didn't take log for it to actually work! The plastics just melted right together. After it cooled down, It was like new. So tommorrow I'm going to try it on my old bumper cover and see if I can fix where its cracked.

Btw you have to do it on the backside of it because you can clearly see where you did it, but its not too big of a problem if there's a way to fill in the front side.

Anyone know if there's something I could use to fill-in the front side of the crack and sand it smooth?

 

how about plastic filler.

 

I work for a company that makes injection molded Automotive parts. We have been using that same technique for many years. Only we would use another scrap piece of similiar plastic as the solder. We now have a gun that is similiar to a hot glue gun, but uses sticks of plastic instead of glue....works sweet!

 

Thanks for the info. So my crazy idea just might work. Anyways, looks like I'll be calling local junkyards to find a broken one to use as a solder.

And about that plastic filler. Anyone know where I could find that stuff? Local Autostores maybe? Also, for anyone thats used this stuff before, have any tips? Things I should do/ look out for?

Thanks!

 

i dont think youll find filler at auto stores, auto paint stores maybe. my dad also gets some kind of a glue almost a fiber-glass resign he uses, and he mixes it up and puts it on. and sands it down. he used it on my moms bumper and it looks great. go to the paint store and ask them what kind you would need for your bumper. although the plastic glue gun doesnt sound like a bad idea either. good luck.

 

Your right, i didnt mention that you probably will need to go to a body shop to obtain this.

 

no you can get it at most automotive paint stores. they sell lots of stuff there, but your not going to find it at like an autozone.

 

Plastic welders with the fill sticks are surprisingly cheap. I think the last kit I saw was under $100.

Why would you not weld both sides?
You would just have to smooth out the visible side.

Whatever you do, plastic must be finished with flexible filler, flexible primer, and flexible paint.

FWIW
Dave