fixing plastic parts [long how-to]

Repairing Plastic Parts

Over time you will find that, no matter how careful you are, you will
end up with a broken mounting tab on a piece of plastic somewhere. I
have been making various repairs to plastic parts on teh 960 that
worked out quite well so thought I would share.

Here is one example to guide you- On my '93 960, the door speaker
grillwork is a slide-snap fit. The rear end being two tabs that slide
into slots, and the front end has two hollow, cube protrusions molded
into the back of the grill that fit over two plastic “T studs” that
protrude from the door panel that get captured in the two slotted
cubes. All it takes is one idiot trying to remove the grill by pulling
instead of sliding to break or crack the mounting ‘cubes.’ As my grill
had gotten to the point of falling off all on its own I figured that I
had little to lose, so I did the repair this way-

Using some plastic stock of some sort (for this repair I used an old
3.5” floppy diskette) and a tube of “Grip-Ton-Ite” super glue for
plastic from Devcon (or equivalent). I got mine at Lowe’s. It
specifically states that it is for plastic. This stuff, from what I
can tell, is superglue with a solvent in it. The theory seems to be
that it melts the plastic surface then glues it together with the
super glue when the solvent evaporates. I will say that from my
various experiences with the stuff in the garage and in the home that
it really works, even in small surface area, medium-high stressed
parts like little hanging tabs on kitchen tools and the like!

Split the floppy case into its two halves and discard all the innards
including the white slippery stuff that lines the halves. You can now
cut new parts from the plastic case. If you need to form angles, chuck
the part in a vise and using a heat gun, gently heat the area of the
plastic closest to the vise. When the plastic seems soft enough, use a
piece of sheet metal or equivalent and bend the angle you need. Let it
cool for a minute then remove from the vise.

Using a sharp pair of scissors you can trim the pieces to fit over the
contour of what is left of the original broken plastic. To cut
openings or other shapes, use a rotary tool on low speed. If too much
of the original plastic part is missing, some creative cutting and
gluing can fabricate what you need. If too much is missing, find some
thicker plastic to work with, or build up the part using multiple
layers of the repair plastic.

For more robust repairs, use thicker plastic. I have made a couple of
high stress repairs using scrap pieces of a ‘corner guard’- the 90
degree stuff that you put on corners of walls to protect the wallpaper
from wear (also purchased at Lowe’s). I cut it to shape with sharp
scissors much the same way that I did for the speaker grill. I used
this stuff to repair ('replace' actually) the tabs on the front edge
of the flat plastic panel under the radiator area- the one in front of
the large, plastic splash pan.

Another I did yesterday was to repair the interior panel. The one on
the inside, rear quarter panel- the panel with the access cover for
the tailight bulb access (it's a wagon/estate). The panel was split
through at the bottom center of the tail light access hole where it is
the narrowest. Children and shoifting cargo break that panel in that
area. I filed the back smooth, and cut and filed a repair patch from
that clear plastic I mentioned. I sanded it to give it a "tooth." I
first glued the split to keep it in places and when that was dry (it
actually held!) I and primed both the panel and the repair patch with
a coat of the glue. I let it set for about fifteen seconds then hed
the patch in place with small clamps and clothespins. In less than ten
minues it was ready to install and felt as strong (or stronger!) than
new.

With some care and patience, these sorts of repairs can be easily
accomplished, and save the unnecessary replacement of expensive parts
that won't be any stronger then what ws broken, and probably weaker
than the repaired part. You will find this super glue for plastic will
quickly become a 'staple' in your repair kit!
from Randy & Valerie
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1993 960