How to: Use Plastex to repair Panels

[Smev]

This 'How to:' is intended as a guide and is not a definitive answer to all plastic repairs on you bike!

I've posted it up as a few members wanted to know how to do it.

I accept no responsibility if it all goes wrong and you end up with a big pile of soggy plastic mess!!

The first thing to do is Identify that you have a cracked panel.
I'm using my top fairing cowl as an example.
this is quite a common place for damage to occur on the NC30.


I then purchased a Plastex Repair kit from ebay for £18.50
in the kit you get a number of items -
a bottle of liquid
a bottle of powder
a pipette
some little mixing cups .(not required for this example)
and a moulding bar.(not required for this example)
We just need the powder, Liquid, and pipette for this repair


Next thing to do is to remove the paint from the surrounding area. This is necessary as the liquid supplied in the Plastex kit will melt paint and lacquer
I used a small piece of sandpaper to do this

Make sure the whole of the area is sanded clear as any paint incorporated into the repair will weaken it.

The next thing I do is to make a V shaped groove along the length of the crack - I used a dremmel to do this



Once completed this section it should look something like this.

On the opposite side to the crack I place a piece of tape for a couple of reasons - 1 to keep the panel together correctly, 2 to prevent powder and liquid leaking through.

Now its time to add the white powder from the bottle. It comes out nice and slowly - just take your time and get a nice even amount over the V shaped groove.


With the powder in place use the pipette to suck up some of the liquid from its bottle - You do not need a massive amount!! Also the liquid absolutely stinks and I'm sure would get you high - pop the lid back on quick to prevent headaches!
Gently drop small amounts of liquid onto the white powder.


The powder will soak up the liquid and react, and begin to solidify.
It will eventually look like this.


This needs to be left to cure for several hours (although its touch dry after 20-30 minutes) I find overnight is best to ensure it goes off.

I'm at this point now and have left the panels for several days.

It has gone 'off' and is rock hard - just like the rest of the panel!

The next thing to do is to gently sand down the panel again ensuring the right profiles and contours are maintained. Small amounts of fine filler can be used to finish it off.

Pime and Paint!! Simples!

Hope this helps some people or answers any questions you may have.

[amorti]

Nice write-up!

I have had good solid results with a soldering iron. Prep is the same, then just drag a soldering iron up the V, melting the two halves together. Use zip ties as welding rod if required. I think the advantage of Plastex is the finish will be better as it's not possible to leave a good face with a soldering iron. But the advantage with the iron is it's free and the repair goes off within 10 minutes, once the plastic is cooled down.

[squirrel_hunter]

Interesting as I need to do some of this soon.

One question, the tape... what sort of tape? The only reason I ask is I suppose it could react with thchemicalal, and does it help to get a good flat surface on the other side?

[Smev]

I used masking tape, which had no adverse effects :)

Yes, a flat surface is good as there will be less, if any, distortion to the panel. It won't look as if its been repaired.

[Tim400GB]

Not used the stuff before, how well does it last?

Informative write up by the way. Have some karma for the effort

[Smev]

Cheers for the Karma!

This is the first time I've used it, however I've only heard good things about it!

As Amorti says there are alternatives, but I wanted to give this a try.

Hopefully it will last a long while - I'm using it on a set of panels I hope to fit to my bike and maybe get featured in a magazine again - so it should be that good!!

Alot of the work is in the preparation - as long as you do it right it should be a long term repair.

[Man_Named_Dave]

Smev,
Would you recommend this for general touch-up work, repairing scrapes etc and cracks? My fairings have a lot of these but not actual breaks.
Cheers,
David

[Smev]

I'd say its ok for all repairs as long as you are re-spraying the panels after.

Obviously alot of paint needs to be removed first (and that would look a bit crap as an end product)

If its just scrapes I would consider some kind of filler, followed by a repray maybe.

I've used this a a crack repair as well as a break repair and its great.

I'm just about to do some more work over the next few days to make some replacement brackets using the plastex.

[philfingers]

I just used some of this on the NC30 I just bought, which despite being described as 'virtually mint bodywork' had probably a dozen cracks in it. I used a small narrow grinding disc (maybe 40mm dia) in my drill to grind along the inside of the crack, filled with dry powder and then used the pipette to drop the liquid in. So much cleaner than two pack araldite etc, which gets everywhere. This plastex stuff goes off very quick, little to no mess and despite all the repairs I've probably only used 1/3 of the £19 kit which i got off ebay. It's great stuff, I was sceptical but it really is as good as it's claimed.

[NeilM]

I have a few cracks to repair and will follow the great instructions posted here but some of my brackets are broken and parts of them are now missing do you have any advise on remodelling the brackets? I thought i would just use fibre glass to reshape what i needed. Any ideas?