On Thu, Feb 3, 2011 at 2:50 AM, Mark L. Hineline <hineline@ocotillofield.net > wrote: > There is an awful lot of plastic in a Vanagon, and an awful lot of it > is not much good after 30 years. Is there any kind of general fix for > the parts that screw together, like the steering column cover? Some > sort of epoxy - drill - tap trick? > > Mary > '82 Westy > You *can* fix the plastic parts with epoxy. It takes some skills that must be learned and it takes good epoxy with some varied additives. As everyone said in the other posts, you are probably better off just finding replacement parts..It is a bit tedious to do a functional repair, but I sometimes do it anyhow. I have no luck with cheap 5-minute epoxys that are found in chain stores...Worthless stuff, IMHO. but the general process goes like this... First you need to rough up the area you want any epoxy to bond to. Dremel tool or fussy hand work with a file or sandpaper. I use WEST System epoxy for any repair I want to actually work...there are other good epoxys out there, but I am familiar with the WEST System stuff and have it around my boat shop/workshop. There are various additives that modify the characteristics of epoxy...micro balloons, micro fibers, cabosil, mill fibers, carbon/graphite powder, etc etc. There are online sources of information on how to use this stuff. Your general task will be to form up, in epoxy, whatever is needed to allow you to insert the mechanical fastener into the repair and to leave it in there while the epoxy hardens...and then be able to get the fastener loose after it has hardened. (and not make a big mess while doing this) I use waxed paper or saran wrap to contain the "blob" of epoxy that will accept the screw-bolt-or clip. I put some car wax or other slimy substance onto the screw/bolt..whatever and insert that into the un-cured epoxy mix. Let it harden and then back out the screw...Clean up the new "casting" again with your dremel or whatever...and you now have your repair. The microballoons are a pretty close match to the brown plastic in my 84 van... I did all the corners of my map pocket a few years ago and it is still on the door just fine. My dash pod is in need...but for now I am using washers there. |
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