A little update from the guys this week... they have started metal working the front fenders, closing up a few emblem holes...
and adding a patch to the areas behind the wheel openings to fill the holes left by cutting out some rust...
and the hood is awaiting it's second coat of mud.
They also got the 5 rims for the wagon worked, primed and painted.
Once they have cured out, clearcoated and a bit of buffing and polish, they will be ready for some new rubber!
Well the black ABS cement DID NOT adhere to the grille as I was lead to believe, so I did a little web surfing and came across a product on Eastwood called Plastex Rigid Plastic Repair. Sounded like what I was looking for, so I went to youtube to see the stuff in action.
Found a couple videos and one was an actual plastic grille repair, so I was reading thru some of the comments and one of the reviewers said you could do the same type repairs using baking soda and super glue (cyanoacrylate or CA for short) for a LOT LESS than what the kits cost! A bit more surfing and came across several posts about how easily and soundly baking soda and super glue (CA) repaired plastics.... one was even by the MythBusters and how they used this stuff all the time!
https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/tips/a584/2569841/
So when my wife and I went to the grocery store this morning, I popped in CVS and bought a package of Scotch brand liquid super glue. (The liquid is preferred over the gel because you want it to wick quickly into the baking soda.)
Once we were back home (and the groceries unloaded!) I headed out to the garage to clean off the ABS cement, beveled the edges of the cracks and reprep the grille for another attempt at repairing it.
The first area I tested was the longest crack along the top of the grille. I applied a piece of clear packing tape to the underside to act as a retainer for the baking powder as shown in one of the videos...
applied the baking soda...
packed it down into the crack with a small flat screwdriver and leveled it a bit and then began applying drops of the CA to the soda.
I watched it slowly began to wick into the soda and once all the soda was saturated and the CA was uniform in color, I took a paper towel and wicked off the excess CA (and the paper towel actually began to smoke due to the exothermic reaction of the CA!). Once I had the excess removed, I couldn't believe how quickly the stuff had set and how strong the first repair made the grille feel.
I then proceeded to do the same steps along all the surfaces of the crack...
The grill now feels VERY SOLID! I'll let everything set up overnight and then dress the visible surfaces smooth so I can then move on to cleaning the grille really good and get it repainted and ready for reassembly.
More to come....
ZEBRA 3 OUT
