Repair of Attachment Points for Plastic Body Panels

You have a problem! Most of the bumpers and covers are made from polyprop which is not easy for adhesive repairs.

I presume from your description that the actual piece (or pieces) that separated are lost.

Is the car yours? If purchase of second hand complete item from wreckers is not an option, then I'd follow the strategy below.

Firstly, build a metal strap "bridge" from the intended mounting point across the gap and have around 75mm (3") overlap onto sound material.

Using your tools, shape the 75mm end to very closely match the interior (unexposed) surface of the cover and drill probably three holes into it suitable for pop rivets.

Then drill the cover and pop rivet the strap in place with the rivet flange on the visible surface (with the bracket held in place with the screw and flat washer you described.)

Cover the rivet heads with a smear of body putty and re-paint (or if it's low enough just re-paint the rivet heads.)

Job done.

(I have suggested using strap. The reason for this is that it needs to be a material with a similar yield strength to the original bumper and able to absorb impacts.)

Remember, if it's too stiff, then the impact will be directly transferred to the chasis and could lead to premature trigger of the airbags. That would cost you much more than the replacement bumper and you would have to replace the bumper anyway.

Have fun.

Thanks, Just an (Couldn't resist that, sorry), that does give me some ideas. I wondered if the material used, which I could tell was not one of the plastics with which I'm familiar, from around the house, would allow for an adhesive bond of some kind. Thought it might not. The only problem with your solution is that it sound like you have the impression I can strap ACROSS the gap, from one part to the other. But one part still does have a flange. Visualize the original join as two L shapes, with one inverted to the other, the short legs of the L's laying against each other, and screws through the short legs to hold them together. OK, got that picture? Good. Now imagine one, and only one, of the flanges broken completely off, to change THAT piece into an |. Nowhere left to put the screw. What I thought of trying was to use JB Weld (that stuff again), to secure a bent L shaped strap to the inside surface of the | piece, restoring it to (somewhat) and L shape, again. Then put the screws through the short legs of the now facing L's, as original.

The problem with buying the part from the junkyard is a) this is a too common break, so the parts are scarce, especially THIS part, and b)where I live, Honda's live forever, so the parts are even more scarce, body shops pay more, and the price to people like me is prohibitive. I'm STILL looking for one I can afford. Of course, since I can't paint the part (it's that flexible plastic, remember, so it definitely won't hold paint) I would have to find one in white. And that is the one color that Edmund's says no one wanted, so few got made. Add that to the other reasons for scarcity and you can see why I need to fix it.

I appreciate the help you've give me. Any more ideas I can draw from? I'll take all I can get.

Thanks, Just an Engineer (and there is NO SUCH THING as "JUST" an Engineer. We are the be all and end all of the path from raw science to usable product. Without us, nothing works AND is affordable. And don't you forget it, buster!) (End of Rant, sorry again).

Ok, now I understand better your situation.

The purpose for the slotted hole is partially to absorb impact by allowing the screw to slip in the slot.

If you still have one side of the slot present, then you might make a "U" clamp to hold that against the original mounting. The clamp would provide means for slip, while still retaining the piece.

By the way the "Just an Engineer" is a tongue in cheek shot by me at a remark made many years ago by a senior manager. It helps my ego comparing to the guy who was "just a cook, just a lowly cook" in the movie "Under Seige". It's the modest ones that often shine when the chips are down.

Buy some nice stainless carriage bolts & install them at regular intervals on the bumper

make it look like you meant to do it

better than duct tape or have the bumper cover waggling in the wind...

It sounds like any attachment to the edge won't withstand the torque stress but for a few bucks you may want to try Shapelock. I've never used it but check out their web site

http://shapelock.com/index.html

Fascinating stuff. It might well work, if it will adhere to the parts present. If I added a flat washer molded right into it, or better, an elongated chain link, to a allow for shock slippage in the hole, that might solve the problem entirely. I'll have to e-mail them some questions about a couple of its properties that aren't listed on the page, so I'll be back to let you all know how it works.

It looks like a good enough tool to have in your toolbox, just for whatever, too!

Thanks

THAT sounds like more fun than ought to be legal! (The Dremel/friction method, I mean). What a cool idea. I'll definitely have to try that just to see what else I can do with it. And my wife is a sculptor, and sculpture teacher. I'll just BET she can use this.

Thanks a bunch!

A couple years ago I was trying to repair a set of motorcycle saddlebags which were badly cracked, and a couple sections missing. I tried JB Weld, and a couple of plastic epoxies - they just didn't bond enough to hold. I got to thinking if the bags were made of ABS plastic or the likes - why wouldn't plastic pipe glue for ABS pipe work. This is the black plastic pipe used for drain line in your home. I skuffed the parts to be repaired good with course sandpaper, cleaned with acetone, then applied the pipe glue to the parts. It worked great, best of all - after it sets up (which is fairly quick), it can be sanded and painted. Ive tried it on the same type of parts you mention, and it has always provided a great bond as long as the parts are prepped as mentioned. Of course you may still have to provide alternate means of support. It is also really cheap compared to all the products you have tried already. At time you can actually see the bonding action take place (heat). Try it.

I wondered if some kind of plastic plumbing cement might not be in the right chemical family. I'll give that a try. Thank you.

Here in Alabama we have a solution for problems like this. It is called a junk yard. 1. Go to your phone book. 2. Call the surrounding junk yards to find one that has a car of the make and model you have. 3. Go and purchase the required part. 4 Install the part. 5. Paint it if required.

Properly align the parts with the good flange and missing flange together, with a piece of waxed paper inserted in between. Fiberglass a flange onto the part that is missing one, using the good flange as the "mold." For proper adhesion, you need to do good prep, including cleaning, roughing up, prepping with acetone, and you will probably need to use epoxy resin to saturate the fiberglass cloth.

I know my colleagues out there will say that these new plastics are tricky to adhere to, and they are right. However, this fiberglass method gives you 2 bites at the apple- if it doesn't stick the first time with resin, you are left with a perfectly contoured, molded, structural part (the new fiberglass flange) that gives you the maximum possible surface area for adhesion. Then you can try any number of "miracle" adhesives until you find one that sticks.

My kudos to the gentleman who suggested friction welding- ingenious!

Rayzer

Thank you. I MIGHT give this a try, but as a last resort, only because it looks like more work than the others.

I can see, and thank you to all of you, that I will have a few weekends of work cut out for me trying these things out. I'll get back here to the forum with results as soon as I have time to try some of these.

Thank you all for your help so far.

Fair enough, it IS more work. Thinking EASY, go to the local home improvement store and find buy a length of flexible plastic corner bead for drywall (it is commonly used where you have curved drywall corners, such as arches). The corner bead is, of course, "L" shaped and will function as your flange (there is probably a better/stronger, flexible "L" shaped profile out there, but I can't think of one right now. Then, if you want easy, just TAPE IT ON-

"3M Super Strong Automotive Attachment Tape – 03609. The name says it all!

Reattach moldings and emblems with 3M Super Strong Automotive Attachment Tape. The name is no exaggeration. 3M Super Strong Automotive Attachment Tape secures moldings, trim, and emblems to the vehicle body with no mess.

Why drill or glue when you can use simple, clean 3M Super Strong Automotive Attachment Tape? It's so easy. Just cut to size and press into place. There's no mess and no holes. 3M Super Strong Automotive Attachment Tape provides a strong, secure bond to the vehicle.

In fact, we often recommend using 3M Tape to attach decorative license plates to vehicles that are not predrilled for a tag in the front. 3M Super Strong Automotive Attachment Tape holds securely through any road or weather condition encountered by your vehicle.

Before using 3M Super Strong Automotive Attachment Tape, be sure both surfaces are clean. Any oils or waxes will reduce the bonding ability of the tape. Clean both surfaces with isopropyl alcohol. Then cut the tape to fit the desired area and press it into place. Now attach the molding or emblem to the vehicle.

Use 3M Super Strong Automotive Attachment Tape to secure metal or plastic emblems to paint, rubber moldings to paint, rubber to plastic; 3M Tape provides a super strong hold on virtually an automotive surface."

Rayzer

And you would hang a piece that is curved, approximately 8 feet long, and holds several light fixtures, plus mud-flaps and a radiator cowl, and which probably weighs, even though plastic IS light, 10-15 pounds, from this tape? While it is exposed to such events as rocks being tossed up by the road, the occasional snow pile the plows leave, and all the vibration of just driving down the road, often at legal speeds of 70 mph?

Just asking. Seems a lot to ask ANY TAPE to do. And I'd hate to drop the entire front clip in the road in front of MY car, let alone that of anyone behind me.

Look, pal. It's up to YOU. You can't have it both ways. You can either do it right or you can take your chances. Given that you won't spring for even a salvage part to do it right, I think you've already made up your mind. Best of luck! Rayzer

Well, its been about 4 months since I posted this question, and you've all given me a tremendous amount of help, and some great ideas on how to solve this problem. But I forgot to tell you in the first place, and figured I'd better let you know now, that, since the car is already 11 years old, and I plan to drive it till it dies (hopefully not for another 20 years or so, but one never knows) and that, last, the importance of keeping the fenders in place is greater than the importance of looks, my brother-in-law, who builds award winning vehicles from clapped-out junk (his latest is a burned and rotted 32 Chevrolet Flat-Bed Truck, which he is just about finished rebuilding, and it is gorgeous!), suggested a very quick fix. Since I was 500 miles from home, with 2000 more to go before I'd be back home, I tried it. It has worked fine, looks as good as anything else on the car (which is to say, the repair doesn't show, at all!), and I'm going to leave it as is, until and unless something else causes me to need another whack at it.

The fix?

Drive self-tapping screws up from inside the fender, so that the flanges on the upper and lower sections are drawn together. I did, 10 minute fix one chilly night, and have been running it around ever since. No more danger of losing the parts, no rubbing on the tires, and best of all, my wife has quit asking when I'm going to fix it. Nothing like earning hero points in a short, and brilliantly simple application of advice from the wife's side of the family. And best of all? I liked my brother-in-law before he suggested it, and still do, but more, now.

So, thanks for all your help, folks. It is fixed.

Glad it worked out!