| Author | Message | ||
     Homebrewed1 |
I have an S3 that I put the S3T hard bags on. Of course there is cracking around the mounting holes. My first question is, is this ABS plastic? Secondly, is the black plastic that holds the license plate and the glove box under the seat all ABS also? If so, I can use pieces from those cracked up components to weld to the saddlebag. I just wanted to make sure I was dealing with all ABS before I stated welding them together. Seems like a nice fix if so. Looking forward to the responses from those in the know on plastics here. | ||
| Yo_barry |
Yup, ABS as far as I know. I went to Ace Hardware in Spearfish, SD (yes I was at Sturgis at the time) bought a can of ABS cement and a package of fibre glass cloth. I put ABS cement on the area around the crack and also forced some in the crack then pressed the cloth into the black goo. Repeated on the other side (inside and outside of the bag.) I think I did two layers of the cloth and added ABS cement over the top. Let it dry and its been good since then -- 1 year +. Barry | ||
| Homebrewed1 |
I have the cement at home for other plumbing work that I have done around the house. I have fiberglass matting too. I think that ABS cement will create a more permanent bond between two pieces of ABS since that is what it is designed to do. That being said, I really want to confirm that I am dealing with ABS for both pieces. My plastic under the seat is being replaced with new OEM parts since it is all cracked up. Figured I could salvage the pieces for welding instead of throwing away. Maybe I'll try a small piece in an inconspicuous location tonight and see how it works. | ||
| Bill0351 |
I don't know if this will help at all, but I have repaired star cracked mounting holes in plastic this way. Since nothing like epoxy or resin ever really seems to stick to ABS, just give up trying. Instead, take a piece of 3/16 aluminum or stainless and cut out a backing plate that spreads the force out over at least a few square inches. The bigger the better. Then completely cover one side of the backing plate with 3M two sided tape. If you can get the really wide stuff it's better, but the narrow trim tape could probably be used too. Clean everythign with alcohol or acetone. Place the plate over the mounting hole and then redrill the hole through the backing plate. 3M tape sticks to anything and it absorbs a lot of the vibration too. I am not sure of the structure of the Buell mounting area, but it it is flat, this will work really well. It is extremely tough. I got the idea when I was backing mounting hardware through the deck of my old sailboat. If you ever mount anyting through ABS, you can do this before you drill anything at all. Than the holes will never crack on you. To make it really clean and it isn't high stress area, you can make the plate extra thick and just tap it,run the bolt right into it, and then cut it off flush. Bill | ||
| Yo_barry |
I think you end up with ABS reinforced with fibre glass when you use the ABS cement and fibre glass cloth. The ABS cement softens the plastic so it will reflow together. | ||
| Homebrewed1 |
The softening of the ABS was my concern exactly. We are not dealing with liquid ABS, we are dealing with cement to bond two pieces of ABS. I am not discounting the fact that yours works with the fiberglass, I just think two pieces of ABS may be more appropriate and stronger with using the cement to fix it. The aluminum plate mentioned above could work, but since we are not dealing with flat surfaces, it would have to be bent to match the contours, just time and effort involved there. So, with all that said, does anyone know if the black plastic parts under the seat and behind the license plate on a 1999 S3 is ABS? I have not had a chance to do a test piece yet, but will be doing so this weekend. Thanks again for all the help so far. |
