☆ The Chop Shop What Glue to Use For Body Work/Repairing Cracks in Plastic and Why ☆

[JBailey]

Originally Posted by Meatwad

Good to know about heat and bends, was wondering about that as well. Would an open flame or heat gun work better?

I always use a lighter, its easier to pinpoint the heat where you want it but it takes practice.

[Hoosierdady]

Either one will work, but be careful with the heat gun. You want to be easy on the heat. Remember, you can always add more heat. If you go to far and it melts you're screwed.


X2 on the lighter.

[Meatwad]

Wow a lighter even, makes perfect sense though... tons more pinpoint heat than a heat gun. Thanks guys

[JBailey]

But it has to be a BIC lighter lol. The cheaply ones just don't last very long and have an uneven flame.

[ninja turtle]

Awesome thread, thank you very much. The last items I needed came in today. About to attempt my first try at this stuff. Going to make a bobbed long bed.

[Hoosierdady]

Originally Posted by ninja turtle

Awesome thread, thank you very much. The last items I needed came in today. About to attempt my first try at this stuff. Going to make a bobbed long bed.

Hell yeah. Go for it . Why not make a Vuck out of it all ?

[raptor775]

Nice write up! Now I feel better about doing a bob and dove-nose job on my tf2.

[sgtbham]

Will E6000 and styrene be strong enough to reinforce a smaller area?

IMG_3451 by sgtbforza, on Flickr

Not the best pic but if you look at the A pillars they are pretty thin. I was considering making the doors open on this body but they are already soo thin....would shoe goo/sytrene reinforce that area enough to pull it off? Or should I leave it uncut and be happy I have the damn thing?

[mjderstine]

i would add a layer of styrene with some shoe goo in between. the goo will be flixible. but the two layers will act like plywood and be stronger than just glue.

if you use just glue it will run off the surface and wont be structural. use some styerene to add structural integrity.

[Hoosierdady]

MJ said it. I would use a thin strip of styrene with some E6000 or ShoeGoo to affix it with. You want some strength, but it needs to be flexible instead of rigid. Basically you want it to be able to flex in a roll over.

[TrailDawg362]

Just a follow-up post about E6000, glueing styrene to lexan painted inside with laquer based rc paint: the glue is holding well, but it "rearrainged" the metallics in the paint. It didn't seem to affect the solid colors though.

[Hoosierdady]

Originally Posted by TrailDawg362

Just a follow-up post about E6000, glueing styrene to lexan painted inside with laquer based rc paint: the glue is holding well, but it "rearrainged" the metallics in the paint. It didn't seem to affect the solid colors though.

Thank you for the follow up sir

[cdnhobbyist]

Great write up guys. Lots of usefull info. Thanks.
I will soon be starting my first styrene build, can't wait. I plan to make a bunch of butt joints and i have read that Methyline cloride will melt the styrene together well. Would the experienced people use this with a bunch of gussets? Should I add some shoogoo as well to the (unseen)inside? I'm thinking of using .060 sheet as the rig will be tumbling down a few hills at ioco.
Can I use (with structural success) JB weld to attach aluminum to the styrene?

Thanks for the help, Mike.

[Hoosierdady]

Not sure on the methyline cloride, I'd stick with the known products listed in this thread myself. I would use some bracing on the backside, and yes, throw on some ShooGoo for good measure. The .60 will work fine, but it'll be a little stiff on anything curved, .40 is what I would recomend. Good luck sir.

[Gravebane525]

going to be trying to add alittle to my first scaler. starting with something simple. the body is damaged on the sides and rear where it was cut to allow something to slide thru. I was thinking about adding a diamond plate kick plate to it anyways. was thinking about sandwiching the body between a strip of styrene and the scale diamond plate kick plate. maybe putting a few tiny bolts thru for looks and to help the glue alittle maybe. would the layers make it to ridged? I figure since its along the bottom and the back that the bumper / sliders will save it from needing much flex.

I was going to pick up some gorilla glue super glue as it's marketed as being strong and flexable and I've not seen shoegoo locally. either way I'm slightly worried about gluing to a painted body.

[Hoosierdady]

Dont use Gorilla glue, it'll foam up/expand. Use ShooGoo (found in the shoe section of almost any store) oe E6000. Sandwiching the layers like you mentioned wont hurt a thing. Scuff off the paint of any area you are glueing btw.

[Crimson Rock Crawler]

Originally Posted by cdnhobbyist

........ i have read that Methylene Chloride will melt the styrene together well.

It will.....but you shouldn't use it....it's nasty stuff. Read the MSDS(Material Safety Data Sheet) for it. Inhalation can cause health problems.


https://www.osha.gov/Publications/osha3144.html

[sickcivic95]

Originally Posted by Hoosierdady

Not sure on the methyline cloride, I'd stick with the known products listed in this thread myself. I would use some bracing on the backside, and yes, throw on some ShooGoo for good measure. The .60 will work fine, but it'll be a little stiff on anything curved, .40 is what I would recomend. Good luck sir.

Originally Posted by Crimson Rock Crawler

It will.....but you shouldn't use it....it's nasty stuff. Read the MSDS(Material Safety Data Sheet) for it. Inhalation can cause health problems.


https://www.osha.gov/Publications/osha3144.html

Id avoid it As both have recommended, it is nasty stuff and will be overkill. I use tenax 7r to bond all my styrene joints, layers, backings and as Hoosier states back it with a bit of shoo-goo and your golden.

The only problem with the tenax 7r is that its becoming harder to find as it was discontinued for a bit. You can find of on eBay and also most hobby-town USA stores carry it or can order it.

--Dan

[cdnhobbyist]

Great info thanks. What about lexan. I plan to also shorten a lexan body. I was gonna cut it in half and make a crew cap into a regular cab. My thoughts were to overlap the body to add strenght then fill the seam a bit sand, then paint the outside. Maybe i should cut out the piece entirely and do a but joint with a styrene reinforcement behind? I'm not sure which way would be stronger/easier to do. Also what glue to use on the lexan or lexan to styrene.

I'm also curious, what to use to attach aluminum to styrene??

Thanks, Mike

[Hoosierdady]

I would over lap the lexan. Again, ShooGoo is your friend. It will hold the aluminum to the lexan just fine.