I have a 1985 Honda 4 wheeler. The mud guards etc have split fairly badly. I wanted to tidy up the appearance a little. One thought was fibreglass, but then I was pondering the idea of 'welding' the plastic.
Is it possible to 'weld' '85 honda plastic? (is there a way I can ID the plastic type better?) Will the appearance be OK? How strong would it be? would a strip of fibreglass (on the inside) help with the strength.
TIA for any ideas / info
Many plastics 'weld' back together with chemicals.
I'd contact your local plastic dealer - If you have a sample take it along and they will have a bottle of material like MET - Don't just try that - Methyl Ethyl Key tone melts some plastic... and dissolves others.
You want to seam weld it. Talk to a plastic expert - They really know.
Martin
If its a soft plastic fibre glass is unlikely to bond to it. Most plastic adhesives use solvents to melt the plastic and weld it. I have tried using a soldering iron to weld plastic, but never successfully, I think the trick is to add filler and get it all hot a squash it together.
Good Luck
John
You might wander around this site to see if it can help.
Identifying the material (as you seem aware of) is the first thing you want to do. Unfortunately I don't think you will find that here. I suspect it may be a form of ABS or PE (both very weldable), but as someone already suggested, your best bet is probably to start with a Honda dealer.
Though plastics seem to last forever and are very resilient, they do age and fatigue. This is especially noticeable in an environment of vibration and UV exposure (something your ATV sees a lot of I suspect). The material along the cracks probably won't make for a good bond, either through heat or chemical.
If it's just appearance, I don't know if it's really worth the effort. As it may come out worse than what you have now.
If it's about function, and replacements cost too much or just aren't available, you may want to consider a mechanical solution. Such as a strip or patch of plastic or aluminum attached with pop rivets using suitable backing washers. This will divert stresses to the connection points an will probably fail themselves in time. But it may be enough till the rest of the machine is in the same condition.
Sorry, not much help. But maybe it will give you some alternative ideas. Good luck.
Try this - it's a decision tree for identifying plastic:
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