Body Repair

[Ziraya]

One of the previous owners of this moped took a dive at least once, that left a good number of cracks, broken off sections, gouges from the slide, screw holes stripped or snapped , and a very eh new coat of paint (they didn't bother to take the stickers off). I'm not willing to put a lot of money into it but it would be nice if it looked better, that and the screwed screws are a bit annoying. So what can I do to fix it up? is there some goop I can shove in those screw holes then redrill?

For the big breaks I expect there's nothing to be done other than replace.

here's what's broke specifically
-footpad to face panel - all stripped, at least one split (previous owner put in oversized selftap screws to replace, none match)
-footpad to frame - all stripped, two broken off screws
-left sidepanel, footpad trim, footpad interlock tabs - broken and gone
-right sidepanel, gouges from the crash - painted over
Also, I suspect all the screws on the side panels are replacements
-tail light assembly, left side (from the front) screw ring has been ground through, the right side is on it's way also, the screws coming off the frame have damaged threads that prevent me from properly tightening them.
-headlight thing, right turn signal trim - broken and gone

Everything else is just paint damage, most of it I don't care about but those screws seem like they could be a problem

[Clivester]

Hi:

The plastics on these scooters are made from ABS. I've been able to successfully rebuild whole missing sections, cracks, and broken tabs with the following:

Buy ABS pipe cement from the plumbing section of your local hardware store. Most is black in color (eg Oakley brand). Also get a sheet or 2 of glass fiber mat (the woven kind rather than the random fiber sheet) from you local auto parts store. Remove paint with sandpaper from the area to be repaired. This is important to ensure good adhesion. For a crack, make sure to completely fill the join with the ABS cement, then place a thin layer at the back on both sides of the crack. Cut some glassfiber mat to cover the repair area and place it over the back. Then dab with ABS cement. Only do thin layers of cement to allow it to dry, otherwise the cement stays soft and flexible if too thick. Build up about 3-4 thin layers of cement over the mat.

To fill a missing area you can cut a piece of mat about the size of the area plus 1-1.5 inches larger all round. Put on aluminum foil and dab a small amount of the ABS cement on the mat in an area a little smaller than the repair area and allow to set. This is to stiffen the mat prior to sticking it in place. You can shape the piece to some extent by shaping the foil before the cement dries. Once dry you can adhere the "patch" onto the repair area from the back. Build up the "right" side of the repair to be flush with the desired surface using thin layers and sand down to match.

NOTE - you have to wait at least a week before painting for the cement to fully cure and harden.

I much prefer this technique to using fiberglass resin. The resin is a different material to the ABS panels and is less flexible and tends to crack and flake off over time. The ABS cement actually contains ABS resin which bonds extremely well to the original plastic and is almost as flexible and strong. Its also superior to the plastic glues found in auto parts and hardware stores (and cheaper too!).

Its amazing how much shaping you can do using this technique along with a Dremel. Just remake the damaged screw holes and re-drill them.

Only problem is the color difference - black vs white.

You can also make very good repairs using a plastic welder and ABS rods (available from Harbor Freight), but this tends to be better for clean cracks.

By the way, the foot panel is a different plastic to the panels. I believe its polyethylene so plastic welding is a better option there.

Clive.

[Ziraya]

Which sort of sander would you recommend for the job? Red paint on white plastic with black filler, nice, if I do any of this I'll almost definitely follow it with a full new paint job

Also, where can I get these fiberglass mats? Guesstimates on how many standard cans of spraypaint it will take? (preferred brand?)

[Clivester]

I always hand sand with a block. Its too easy to take off too much plastic with anything else. I start with 150 sandpaper for the rough work, then go down with wet-or-dry, finishing with 600 grit wet sanding. I'd figure on at least 2 cans of sandable primer and 3 cans of color. I've used Duplicolor from an auto parts store with good results. Buy the larger cans of generic color rather than the smaller color match ones for economy.

You can get the glass mat from most auto parts stores like Autozone, Pep Boys, etc. By the way, if you have missing or broken tabs they can be rebuilt using the mat and technique I described. You'll be surprised how strong they are.

Here are some examples.

Front nose of Elite E repair on inside for large crack and front damage


Same area as above on outside after primer waiting for final wet sanding


Inside of front panel left leg. Everything above red tab is rebuilt.


Outside of front panel leg above. Everything below red area is totally reconstructed from flat ABS sheet, glass mat and ABS cement.

[Ziraya]

looks real nice, I'll look for the bits while I'm up at murrys

[Ziraya]

Got another question, how can you tell what plastic things are made of? I've got a garage door opener remote that's made of black plastic that I just drilled and ziptied to the foot panel just next to the steering collumn under the turn signals, In time I'd like to use the stuff mentioned above to form the remote into the panel to look natural, but I don't know that it's the same plastic, and if it isn't what method would I want to use?

After that I'd also like to get some of that spray-on truck bed liner and paint the foot panel with it, will it stick good?

[Ziraya]

I just went to two and a half hardware stores (sears essentials doesn't quite count) and found no abs pipe cement. There was some all purpose cement that listed abs as part of 'all', but this was a little tin of brush on goo that would be very hard to get into the holes.

What about epoxies? there's one in a syringe with this mixer tube thing that would let me squirt it right in, it did say not to use it on two poly somethingerothers, I'll have to check

[DJPhatman]

I just went to two and a half hardware stores (sears essentials doesn't quite count) and found no abs pipe cement. There was some all purpose cement that listed abs as part of 'all', but this was a little tin of brush on goo that would be very hard to get into the holes.

What about epoxies? there's one in a syringe with this mixer tube thing that would let me squirt it right in, it did say not to use it on two poly somethingerothers, I'll have to check

ABS cement is outlawed in Michigan. You either have to drive to Ohio to buy it, buy it from the internet, or make it yourself. To make it, fill a GLASS (very important) jar half full with MEK (Methyl Ethyl Keytone). Where gloves and eye protection, as MEK is very nasty stuff. Add ABS pellets (find a factory near you) stirring slowly until it's the consistency of cold chocolate syrup. Keep the lid on tight until you use it. If it dries out, add more MEK.
KEEP AWAY FROM FLAMES! USE OUTDOORS ONLY!
Check around your neighborhood factories for ABS pellets. Plastic injection molding places.

[Ziraya]

yea, that's not gonna happen, and I don't have the cash for shipping. But will an epoxy work in it's stead?

[DJPhatman]

Just make your own. All you need is ABS and MEK.

BTW, model airplane glue also contains a lot of MEK!

[Clivester]

yea, that's not gonna happen, and I don't have the cash for shipping. But will an epoxy work in it's stead?

You will really get a much better result with ABS cement. The epoxy stuff you can buy from the stores does not dissolve the underlying plastic to surface bond with the panels. It cracks off eventually with vibration and flexing.

Here is some on eBay. For the $3 or $4 more you would pay over epoxy its worth the result and goes much further.

http://tinyurl.com/6g82a4

ABS cement is outlawed in Michigan

Does that mean no-one has plastic grain pipes in Michigan!!!!

Clive.

[Kenny_McCormic]

Everything in MI is PVC, this explains why. Its not the glue, the pipe isnt in our building codes except for RVs.

[DJPhatman]

Everything in MI is PVC, this explains why. Its not the glue, the pipe isn't in our building codes except for RVs.

It has been outlawed in Michigan. RVs built and/or sold in Michigan after 2006 cannot contain any ABS pipes or cement. It's a stupid law. I make or import in from another state, as I use it quite a lot for building custom P.A. cabinets. It's very frustrating to not be able to go to a big box store and buy it off the shelf!

[Ziraya]

why did they outlaw it?

[Kenny_McCormic]

Why the * would they do that when ABS is a superior plastic?