Fixing cracked hoods

[storch]

I tried using some mesh tape then JB weld on a large crack, wondering if anyone
knows of a better product. I drilled some holes and filled from the inside then
sanded it down. I am going to cover with some sort of decal. worried
that the jb weld will crack and peel off in the cold. What has worked for you guys?

 

[Luke The Drifter]

I tried epoxy for a while and found that the vibration and cold doesn't help. For me, good old zip tie stitching worked the best. My M7 had the stock hood held together by 50 some odd zip ties. It might not look the prettiest but works very well.

 

[vic]

Try the norton epoxy ,comes with mixing tips ,few different ones ,can buy at greggs dist. not cheap but works good. Have to use their cleaner prep first.

 

[khaos_]

I myslf like the zip tie job. It looks good zI think, like stitches. Drill holes by the crack, and feed the zip ties through, stitch up the battle wounds. Looks good to me.

 

[pipeliner72]

Rivets with an light gauge steel backing plate seems to be the best i,ve found so far!

 

[Ancient Sledder]

I had the stock hood on my Summit crack on the edge by the fuel tank. I cut some plastic pieces to fit and pop riveted it to the outside of the hood. I might cut two strips of aluminum and redo it with one strip on both sides to make it look better.

 

[Oldtrick]

Canadian Tire has a two part epoxy that you can mix for plastic repair. About $7/tube.
I ground the back side and glued a piece of sheet metal over the crack for stength, then just the epoxy on the top side.
Holds up great.

 

[belch22]

I plastic welded mine with a fiberflex rod and so far so good....

 

[plio7]

I plastic welded mine with a fiberflex rod and so far so good....

thats what i'm planning to do.....anymore info on the work/ material involved to do it properly.....would be muchly appreciated

 

[belch22]

It was quite simple to do; first I found out what kind of plastic my hood was made from, which was TPO and in the event you don't know, the fiberflex rods can be used on any type of plastic (the carbons and fiberglass in it will adhere to any form of plastic)...as far as the process, I took a small diegrinder and on the inside of the hood, made a V-groove along the crack. Be careful not to get it so hot that you melt the plastic. Put a piece of autobody aluminum tape on the outside of the hood to hold the crack where you want it, then take your plastic welder (temperature on the highest setting for this rod) and melt one side of the rod; when it gets sticky, place that side of the rod over the crack and continue melting the rod into the V-groove. I dampened it down with a wet, cold rag to speed up the cooling and within minutes, the crack was no more. You can do the same to the outside of the hood after, if you want to sand and repaint when finished but I just welded the inside and it is holding strong.
Hope this helps! Good luck!

 

[plio7]

cool man thanks for the info i will be doing my repairs come spring as was wondering how hard/ easy it was going to be.......sounds like a piece of cake....thanks again

It was quite simple to do; first I found out what kind of plastic my hood was made from, which was TPO and in the event you don't know, the fiberflex rods can be used on any type of plastic (the carbons and fiberglass in it will adhere to any form of plastic)...as far as the process, I took a small diegrinder and on the inside of the hood, made a V-groove along the crack. Be careful not to get it so hot that you melt the plastic. Put a piece of autobody aluminum tape on the outside of the hood to hold the crack where you want it, then take your plastic welder (temperature on the highest setting for this rod) and melt one side of the rod; when it gets sticky, place that side of the rod over the crack and continue melting the rod into the V-groove. I dampened it down with a wet, cold rag to speed up the cooling and within minutes, the crack was no more. You can do the same to the outside of the hood after, if you want to sand and repaint when finished but I just welded the inside and it is holding strong.
Hope this helps! Good luck!

 

[Keng]

I've been Uzi g the norton speed grip works great and it's very fast and easy to work with. Rough up both sides drill holes I. Both sides of the crack use the adheisian promoter easier to just use it be. To guess on he plastic put on fiber mesh tape then put the epoxy on smooth it out and on a few hours prep the outside for paint or decals

 

[wipe out]

I tried using some mesh tape then JB weld on a large crack, wondering if anyone
knows of a better product. I drilled some holes and filled from the inside then
sanded it down. I am going to cover with some sort of decal. worried
that the jb weld will crack and peel off in the cold. What has worked for you guys?

i drilled holes on either side of the crack and zip tied the crack together

 

[overkill131313]

I think the stuff I used was called Duramix.....2 part expoxy that comes in a few different types. flexably and semi-flexable. it uses a special gun and has tips that mix it together so when it comes out it is like a calking gun. got it from lordco years ago but I havent cracked a hood lately, so I dont know what is new out there. body shops fix plastic bumpers all the time!

 

[switchbackfst]

zip ties add character!! my whole front end was held togethter last year with them.

 

[Keng]

Duramix is one brand there is also fuzor as well norton speed grip is your best bet cause the gun is cheapest and produc is about 60 a tube make sure you get extra mixing tips. This stuff holds up great. I just used it to fix a hole in my ski been 3 weeks and other than being a bit smoothed out looks great no cracks holding up to something I thought wouldn't even last me a a few rides. Dads a bodyman for the last 40 so e years and he didn't even think it was gonna work. Amazing stuff. You can even bond steel with it

 

[powerclaw]

must be plastic welded as any kind of glue or adhiesif will not hold for a long time because the plastics now on newer sleds release a chemical causing glues to come apart.

 

[vic]

Plastic weld will work if you have plastic welder and a rod that's the same composite.Or go to local bodyshop and buy the epoxy with mixing tips and gun to disperse. Or MDA or bodyshop supply .That's what is used on TPO ,bumpers,sandable ,paintable. Can get fiber tape with plastic backing also .