Plastic welders

[FastWoman]

Thanks, AJM!

Then it's definitely ABS and not PP? If so, that simplifies the situation greatly.

My thought in backing the panels with fiberglass is to add rigidity to them, so that the plastic does not NEED to maintain its integrity into the future. It would function almost like a fancy, textured gel coat. There's a guy in a Miata forum who has taken this sort of approach with his dash, because he's tired of replacing cracked dashes.

Of course one thing I'm forgetting is the need to flex some of those panels to remove and reinstall them. Hmmmm....

But my long term goal is to figure out how to make these panels survive decades into the future. I wonder whether that's possible.

OK, I'm off to dinner now... I'll be back tomorrow! Thanks, AJM!

[ajmcforester]

That is why I thicken the panels in the weak spots, and added some fibers to keep it from pulling apart. My panels are now at or reaching 40 years now, I'm just trying to make them last. I hope what I did will keep cracking down for at-least 5 years but hoping for 20.

[olzed]

The rear pastic panneling on my 240 had some cracking. Cut some patches of similar ABS for strength and glued the bits on the back with plastic pipe glue.

This stuff literally melts the plastic.Stronger than when new. Sprayed everything with black vinyl rattle can.

Brian

[FastWoman]

What are your thoughts, though, about thickening/stiffening the whole thing? I figure a fiberglass-backed ABS panel could last throughout the remainder of my life, provided the workmanship is good.

On the other hand, it might be more difficult to remove some of the panels without being able to flex them a bit, and I wouldn't feel great about having fiberglass inside the cabin, in the event of a really bad collision. (Fiberglass shards can cut people up.)

As an alternative, I know some people use rayon fabric for reinforcement. I wonder whether that would work -- maybe 3 or 4 layers.