When bonding pla st ic pa nels, Follow repair mat e-
ria l manu facturers r ecommendations. Be sur e that
enough adhesive has been applied to allow squ eeze
out a nd to fill th e full bond lin e. Once the pieces
have been brought together, do not m ove th em until
the a dh esive is cured. Th e assembly can be h eld
toget her with clamps, rivets, etc. A faster cure can be
obtained by h eating with a heat la mp or hea t gun.
After th e pa rts have been bon ded an d ha ve had time
to cure, rough sa nd th e seam an d apply th e final
adhesive filler to the area being repa ired. Smooth the
filler with a spr eader, wooden t ongu e depressor, or
squeegee. For fine texturing, a sm all a moun t of
water ca n be applied to th e filler sur face wh ile
sm oothing. The cured filler can be sanded as neces-
sa ry an d, as a fin al step, cleanup ca n be don e with
soa py water. Wipe the surface clean wit h a dry clot h
allowin g t ime for the pa nel to dry befor e moving on
wit h t h e r epa ir.
PANEL REINFORCEMENT
St ructural repa ir procedu res for rigid pa nels with
lar ge cr acks and holes will requ ire a reinforcem ent
backing. Rein forcemen ts can be made with severa l
applica tion s of glass cloth sa tura ted with st ructu ral
adhesive. Sem i-rigid or flexible r epair mater ials
sh ould be used for semi-rigid or flexible backin g r ein-
forcement (Fig. 2) and (Fig. 3). Open mesh ed fiber-
gla ss dry wa ll tape can be used to form a
rein forcement. Th e dr y wall tape allows the resin t o
penetr ate throu gh an d make a good bond between
the panel and the adhesive. Structur ally, the mor e
dr y wall tape used, the stron ger th e repair.
Another kind of repa ir t hat can be done to repair
lar ge cracks a nd holes is to use a scrap piece of sim -
ila r pla st ic and bond with structura l adhesive. The
rein forcement shou ld cover the en tire break an d
sh ould have a gener ous amoun t of overlap on eith er
side of the cracked or broken ar ea.
When repairing plast ic, the damaged area is first
“V’d” out, or beveled. Large bonding area s are desir-
able when repa iring pla st ic because small repair s ar e
less likely t o h old per manen tly. Beveling th e ar ea
around a cra ck at a 20 degree angle will in crease the
bondin g sur face for a repair (Fig. 4). It is recom -
mended th at sha rp edges be a voided beca use the
joint ma y show th rough after the pan el is refinished.
• Panel repair for both flexible a nd r igid pan els
are basica lly th e same. The pr imary difference
between flexible panel r epair an d rigid pa nel repa ir
is in the adhesive m ater ials used (Fig. 5).
• Th e technician should first decide wh at needs to
be don e when workin g on any type of body panel.
One should deter mine if it is possible to ret urn the
da mage part to its original st rength a nd a ppea rance
with out exceeding the valu e of the replacement par t.
• When plastic repairs ar e requir ed, it is recom -
mended t hat the part be left on the vehicle when
every possible. That will save time, and the panel
Fig. 2 SOFTENED EDGES
1 - SOFTENED EDGES
2 - PANEL ADHESIVE
3 - BONDING STRIP
Fig. 3 PANEL REINFORCEMENT
1 - PANEL ADHESIVE
2 - REINFORCEMENT
Fig. 4 BEVELING ANGLE - 20 DEGREE
23 - 6 BOD Y VA
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