TomP

I was pulling off the inside door handle cover to remove the door panel, and I didn't pull it straight off and broke two of the plastic tabs at the top. One latches onto the door panel and is probably too small to repair, but the larger one has some potential for fixing (I think). New cover replacement is $588 (Pelican)!

I'm not going to try to use cyanoacrylate or epoxy glues because of past experience with this kind of break. So I did some searching and found plastex.net. They claim to have a system that will repair just about any type of plastic, needing any type of repair: cracks, gaps, stripped threads, and broken tabs.

I'm going to give it a try, unless someone has tried it before and it didn't work, or has a better method.

Ideas, opinions?

Tom

jordanturbo

I have heard decent things about plastex, Personally I am a fan of the 2 part epoxy, Up here in Cmax stores (Napa body shop supplies) there is a two part plastic and urethane adhesive that I have used many times on plastic, ABS, and Fiberglass exterior body panels that has been like magic, would highly recommend that from personal experience.

Hurdigurdiman

Super glue first off if the break is a clean break then follow up with apoxy resin. If that doesnt work then one of the breakers yards may have the part you are trying to repair.

Mark I

Another trick is to clamp the pieces together & drill thin hole(s) perpendicular through the fracture, then glue everything together using metal dowel(s) made from trim nails or the like. GL

RF5BPilot

If you decide to try epoxy, adding flox to the glue can make a much stronger mend than glue alone.

halik

This. I've repaired stuff like there before by drilling both the pieces along the long axis and epoxying it together with steel rods in place.

b8_rdc

E6000 has been my choice for plastic repairs. Superglue is too brittle and seems to just break off again.

white99c2

Use JB Weld and let it cure a good 24 hours. The stuff is amazing.

jordanturbo

Wow never thought of this, great idea! will have to keep it in mind for future repairs.

aviography

Flox? What is that?

Van

I got this stuff: http://www.rapid-fix.com/HOME.html And have fixed an amazing # of broken plastic parts. I highly recommend it, even though it's like $30.

My wife smashed the front of her car, all of the mounting tabs for the fog light broke off. I was able to piece it back together and was really impressed by the strength.

TomP

I thought of using a metal pin, but even the larger part has a small cross section that would make it very difficult to drill through. I'd have to use PCB (printed circuit board) drill bits!

I googled flox and came up empty. Is there another spelling?

Rapidfix looks very much like Plastex.

I'll take a look at E6000 & JB Weld.

I'll post a thread on the results of whatever method I try.

Thanks for all the ideas!

aviography

I wonder how well those rear view mirror adhesive will work? The activator is applied to one side and adhesive applied to the other side. Note I'm not suggesting, just wondering.

Years ago I fixed a similar fracture on a door handle part with some industrial strength epoxy from work that came in a twin-tube syringe pack, the resin and hardner is pressed out together through a spiraled mixing tube so it's precisely metered for exact amount and all mixed by the time it comes out the end of the spiraled tip, the adhesive did the trick for me right up to the time I traded the car in a couple of years later, I was actually quite shocked. However I could not remember what it was that I used, it's 15 years ago!

There are some wicked adhesives out there though:

http://www.dymax.com/products/plastic/index.php UV cured plastic adhesive

http://www.permabond.com/en/en-epoxy.htm is likely the kind of adhesive I had used before

http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3...be7ZMZSJBQRHgl one of the 3M product that says "bonds many plastics"

spender

I've used Plastex on a number of repairs on my car (e.g. tabs on my rear tail lights) and around the house (a desk drawer bracket). It's a neat product - it's like a "mini instant plastic kit". Comes with great instructions, but you get better with practice. Allows you to actually "make" a new piece of plastic for your repair. I've never had one break - and I've never had great results with crazy glue on plastic. Since using it a few times, it's become a staple in my "fix it" box - I bought the biggest set they have.

RF5BPilot

There are two common ways to refine the qualities of epoxy.

If you want to use it as a filler and sand & shape it, add microspheres (looks like white powder but are tiny glass spheres). Usually the original package gives you a scoop and instructions. Easy & effective.

If you want to use epoxy to fix a break or join parts...but want it have better gap filling properties and be tougher (less likely to crack, more like a piece of fiberglass and less like simple glue), then add flox - which is chopped up fiberglass. Looks similar to a powder. Won't give you the full strength of fiberglass which has long glass fibers and epoxy...but tougher than epoxy alone.

All three (plain glue, microspheres or flox) are commonly used on composite aircraft. West System epoxy is easy to find and works well across a variety of conditions. But you don't need any specific epoxy for flox or microspheres.

(more than you wanted to know...sorry....but these are good techniques that work in a wide variety of settings. I've used them around the house, cars, boats, airplanes, etc.)