Plastic Boat Repairs

My boss at work found out I was rebuilding a fiberglass boat, so he brought me his little bass buggy to repair the potoons where he dropped it. Now he had glassed in some of cracks. Some of the repairs took hold and some of the glass is peeling off. In my exp. with glass is that it won't stick to plastic. Is there something else I can use to fix cracks in plastic? <br /><br />No, this ain't going to get me a raise, but will give me something to fish out of at his 15 acre stock pond down at the nut farm(Pecan orchid)

Re: Plastic Boat Repairs

nuthin' i know of.. <br /><br />sears has/sells all different kinds of hot glue sticks for different applications..

Re: Plastic Boat Repairs

I once repaired a broken side cover for a Honda motorcycle by using a very small torch tip and welding it using thin strips of a similar type plastic as a filler rod. Use the same method as if you were brazing.

Re: Plastic Boat Repairs

Depending on the type of plastic, there are 'welding' rods available to melt into cracks. Pretty much the same method OMC described. If possable, contact the manufacturer and they may have repair kits available for that plastic.<br /><br />Another alternative is an autobody supply house. They have all kids of adhesive and fillers for the different types of plastic on car bumpers. But you are taking pot luck with if it sticks or not. <br /><br />Another option is to cut thin aluminum plate and attach it with silicone industrial adhesive. The silicone adhesive is nothing like what you buy at Home Depot for caulking. It sticks. The aluminum plate is there to give it skuff protection. Same stuff is used to glue glass plate together for big fish tanks. That holds up under hundreds of pounds of pressure forcing it apart. Find it at an industrial supply house.<br /><br />Thats all I can think of. Now my brain hurts. Good luck.

Re: Plastic Boat Repairs

You might want to try a repair kit for a kayak. You could call a kayak dealer near you and they should carry the products that you will need. Something like this:<br /><br /> http://www.oakorchardcanoe.com/repair.htm <br /><br />When searching, I found that most of the bass buggy type boats are made of High Density Polyethylene or HDPE.

Re: Plastic Boat Repairs

I'm not sure What your Bass Buggy is made of, as far as Which Plastic........<br />But,....<br />Old Town Canoe builds canoes out of a cross-linked Polyethylene plastic that's as about as Slippery a plastic as there Is........<br /><br />The way these are Repaired, or when a Keelshield is installed is,....<br /><br />Sand the area with Very Course paper , 40grit or so,......<br /> <br />Then, the plastic is Polarized ,... This is done by waving a Propane Flame over the area.... DON'T Heat it.... All that needs to happen is the plastic Has to be Touched by the Blue part of the Flame(at the base of the flame).... just for the Briefest second ...<br /><br />Then Epoxy is used to do the repair...... Kevlar seems to be the Fabric of Choice,.. Great Flexability,+ Wear Resistance......<br /><br /> Poly Resin is NOT a Choice ........<br /><br />Good Luck.....

Re: Plastic Boat Repairs

Ah....finally a question that a seasoned auto restorer can handle. My favorite method for repairing plastics calls for "plastic welding." Much like welding metal, the repair is usually stronger than the original material, and with patience and proper finishing, the repairs can be invisible. There's 2 types of plastic welders available, air and airless. They're kits you can buy that come with assorted welding rods, instruction manual/video with tips on different methods of repair and identifying the correct type of plastic and which rods to use, etc. They're easy to use, especially the airless type, which uses techniques much like soldering wires and/or copper pipes together. Disadvantage: a little pricy at $100 to $300 for a kit, but it will pay for itself many times over. A good supplier that has a few models to choose from is www.eastwoodtools.com. You can also do a "plastic welder" search on Ebay and most likely come up with some good ones. Here's my particular welding kit for a fairly reasonable price: http://www.tooldesk.com/products/productDetail.aspx+id+1477 <br />I highly recommend it.<br /><br />I've used them to repair auto dashboards and bumper covers, snowmobile belly pans, re-attaching the elusive "broken tab" from just about anything, lawn furniture, kids toys, the list goes on. A worthy investment and a very satisfying repair method to learn and use.