I removed my fairing on Thur to deal with intermittent headlamp issues (on/off) and lack of High beam and an oil leak.... Well, I broke the two tabs off near the headlamp...SHIT!!! :dash1: :dash1: :dash1: I remembered that Mike (Skymasterers) is not only SoCal but welds plastic. A quick PM and I am talking with Mike and making an emergency visit to his FJ shop. He says he can have me over and we set a time. Once I arrive he makes some room on his bench and proceeds to cut some scrap ABS to demonstrate the process. Not that complicated once I saw the process. Then it was my turn, much easier than I thought, the 6 months as apprentice and countless broken fairings to fix were not required. I took to it like a duck to water. After a short practice run Mike proclaimed me ready to weld. Yea!!! The flanges are quite thin so I had work quick then move on to allow it cool before I returned. I also fixed the broken tab that held the RH turn signal. It fell out when I moved the fairing to the garage. Damn!!! I got all my welding done and jumped in to help Mike get his FJ back together. I was good on my word and brought the beverages, good thing too, it must have been 100F at his house, and can you believe his garage is not air conditioned???? Slacker... Then we had some lunch and some good chit chat over the grub. I can't thank Mike enough for teaching me the Black Magic of plastic welding.... Today was a good day to spend time in the FJ Man Shed, a little hot but very worth it....
Sounds like time well spent Man Shed Time with a fellow FJer.... :drinks:
Fred
What kind of equipment were you using? :unknown:
I've been toying with the idea of getting one of the Harbor Freight units and trying my hand at it for a while now, and my project FJ has me thinking about it again.
A demonstratory walkthrough on fixing plastic would be brilliant....
The tool was similar to this. http://www.harborfreight.com/plastic-welding-kit-with-adjustable-temperature-96464.html (http://www.harborfreight.com/plastic-welding-kit-with-adjustable-temperature-96464.html)
Quote from: FJmonkey on July 06, 2013, 04:42:27 AM
The tool was similar to this. http://www.harborfreight.com/plastic-welding-kit-with-adjustable-temperature-96464.html (http://www.harborfreight.com/plastic-welding-kit-with-adjustable-temperature-96464.html)
50 bucks with 20% off, ummm......... :morning2:
George
Hey Mark, i too have those two tabs broken of.
Are they really necessary to have there? I guess at higher speeds but i have found mine fairing to work perfectly without.
Ken
Quote from: movenon on July 06, 2013, 09:28:29 AM
Quote from: FJmonkey on July 06, 2013, 04:42:27 AM
The tool was similar to this. http://www.harborfreight.com/plastic-welding-kit-with-adjustable-temperature-96464.html (http://www.harborfreight.com/plastic-welding-kit-with-adjustable-temperature-96464.html)
50 bucks with 20% off, ummm......... :morning2:
George
That's it... gotta get one of those.
Don't forget to get these too...http://www.harborfreight.com/50-piece-plastic-welding-rods-41602.html (http://www.harborfreight.com/50-piece-plastic-welding-rods-41602.html)
Randy - RPM
Quote from: racerrad8 on July 06, 2013, 12:38:52 PM
Don't forget to get these too...http://www.harborfreight.com/50-piece-plastic-welding-rods-41602.html (http://www.harborfreight.com/50-piece-plastic-welding-rods-41602.html)
Randy - RPM
A shame they don't have a package with all ABS rods...
Quote from: not a lib on July 06, 2013, 12:49:21 PM
A shame they don't have a package with all ABS rods...
True, it would be nice if they offered just the single filler rod types. But, it is good to have a variety.
I have found the front fairing to use the green rod and the chin fairing used either the white or grey.
I have not tried a fender yet...
So, you might have a time when you need all three.
Randy - RPM
Quote from: not a lib on July 06, 2013, 12:35:41 PM
Quote from: movenon on July 06, 2013, 09:28:29 AM
Quote from: FJmonkey on July 06, 2013, 04:42:27 AM
The tool was similar to this. http://www.harborfreight.com/plastic-welding-kit-with-adjustable-temperature-96464.html (http://www.harborfreight.com/plastic-welding-kit-with-adjustable-temperature-96464.html)
50 bucks with 20% off, ummm......... :morning2:
George
That's it... gotta get one of those.
My son has access and uses a commercial version but he indicates that they use 2 part glues for the most part. I have used ABS cement and plastic rated epoxy with very good results. But I would like to have a inexpensive welder on hand at times for problems like Mark had with tabs or areas that might have more twisting or bending stress. For 40 dollars this might be nice to have on hand.
George
Great discussion....I have found that the plastic is the most expensive (the motor never breaks or wears out, right?) and least rewarding parts to spend money on. To keep the old girls looking good we all will need to learn a new skill...plastic welding.
So far, I have had pretty good success gluing cracked tabs etc with plumbers ABS cement.
Jeff
Be nice and easy if you could plastic weld engine cases :biggrin:
Quote from: jscgdunn on July 06, 2013, 01:14:52 PM
Great discussion....I have found that the plastic is the most expensive (the motor never breaks or wears out, right?) and least rewarding parts to spend money on. To keep the old girls looking good we all will need to learn a new skill...plastic welding.
So far, I have had pretty good success gluing cracked tabs etc with plumbers ABS cement.
Jeff
The RH turn indicator was repaired with ABS cement, fell off in my hand. It seemed to be more brittle than the ABS. All the other cracks I cemented are cracked again. I will be investing in a weld set up with a Tacking tip and weld tip, I already have the welding rod. I bought it here http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?itemid=22851 (http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?itemid=22851)
One more important issue to pay attention to while plastic welding. When the opposite side of where you are welding happens to be the cosmetic side... Use a cold pack to prevent distortion on the cosmetic side... It can be fixed when and if I repaint, but a cold pack on the cosmetic side would have saved me the added lesson. And hopefully save anyone reading the same learning pains... Weld on guys, fix them broken tabs and lower fairings...
gday fj monkey, if you use the ice pack it doesnt need repainting? is that what your saying? the reason i ask is i have a side cover from another bike that is candy apple red and i cant paint it myself, thanks ken
Quote from: ken65 on July 06, 2013, 11:01:33 PM
gday fj monkey, if you use the ice pack it doesnt need repainting? is that what your saying? the reason i ask is i have a side cover from another bike that is candy apple red and i cant paint it myself, thanks ken
Heat from the welding caused distortion, some cold on the cosmetic surface might have prevented it... I am nearly certain that it would have saved the cosmetic surface...
sweet, thanks for that, i was wondering what i was going to do,
ken
Quote from: FJmonkey on July 06, 2013, 11:06:46 PM
Quote from: ken65 on July 06, 2013, 11:01:33 PM
gday fj monkey, if you use the ice pack it doesnt need repainting? is that what your saying? the reason i ask is i have a side cover from another bike that is candy apple red and i cant paint it myself, thanks ken
Heat from the welding caused distortion, some cold on the cosmetic surface might have prevented it... I am nearly certain that it would have saved the cosmetic surface...
Oh man. I didn't think about that Mark. I only ever had the one instance of heat bleed through when welding on the fairing. (That thin spot I was trying to thicken up.)
It's funny that you mentioned the ice packs because after you left I got to my broken headlight tap and mounts. I ended up using big ice cubes to cool those really thin supports down so I could get back in there quicker. (It also helped with the overall heat buildup)
This is the welder that I'm using. It's WAY overkill if your just doing your own fairings. But if your fixing busted fairings for the local motorcycle shop it makes sense. That and I have a variac hooked up to it to fine tune temperatures. (They wanted another $300 for a 6 heat setting box)
http://catalog.seelyeinc-orl.com/item/all-categories/plastic-welders/pn-1002? (http://catalog.seelyeinc-orl.com/item/all-categories/plastic-welders/pn-1002?)
Thanks to Marks help we got the old girl running again. (After finding out that the battery was REALLY dry.)
It is nice to be able to hang with fellow garage rats. It's been forever since I've had company in the man cave.
I'm looking for a few (later model) broken FJ airscoops... I have a couple of ideas I want to try out, and practice plastic welding skills, but I don't want to do it on good parts.
Anyone got parts laying around that are going to eventually find their way to the scrap heap?
US only, as I'm sure shipping would be a bit too high otherwise.