Plastic welding or resin?

**mister.koz** · 18th April 2008, 10:05

My Zxr has some cracks in the fairings, i am told i should get it plastic welded and then fill and paint it myself.

Las night i decided to fix some plastic things around the house cause i found a 2 pod of resin, i glued pretty much everything in my house that was broken and it all looks good.

So my question is, could i fix the fairings with epoxy? could it be used to glue the cracks and possibly fill the scrapes?

What do you guys reakon?

**Shaun** · 18th April 2008, 11:19

PLASTIC welding mate!!!!!! Call Mouse in Hamilton on 021-2161060

It is the best way to repair plastics, and the type of plastic used for the welding is the trick

**imdying** · 18th April 2008, 11:21

Weld plastic, reglass with resin fibreglass. That epoxy may or may not eat the fairings.

**mister.koz** · 18th April 2008, 11:23

Excellent, thanks guys a difinitive answer

Not sure what you mean by resin fibreglass? for filling it, should i ask the plastic weld guy?

Thanks again

**CookMySock** · 18th April 2008, 11:26

I think you will find the epoxy resin wont stick to the plastic.

DB

**mister.koz** · 18th April 2008, 11:33

Originally Posted by DangerousBastard

I think you will find the epoxy resin wont stick to the plastic.

DB

Hey DB, i didn't even think of that, the idea that it could EAT the plastic has totally boned the idea

cheerz

**imdying** · 18th April 2008, 12:04

Originally Posted by mister.koz

Not sure what you mean by resin fibreglass? for filling it, should i ask the plastic weld guy?

Sorry, I mean resin and fibreglass.

**mister.koz** · 18th April 2008, 12:08

Originally Posted by imdying

Sorry, I mean resin and fibreglass.

Oh ok cool, sounds a bit over the top for scratches etc, literally bugger all to do

just smoothing for paint, someone told me to bog it... dunno, fixing is the first step, smooth and pretty is next

**imdying** · 18th April 2008, 13:00

Not only is it over the top, but also inappropriate for plastic fairings. USe a little body filler, then some spray putty over that.

**mister.koz** · 18th April 2008, 13:07

Originally Posted by imdying

Not only is it over the top, but also inappropriate for plastic fairings. USe a little body filler, then some spray putty over that.

cool, thank you for that

**MaxB** · 18th April 2008, 13:55

Plastic welding is for thermoplastics like ABS which is probably the parent material of your fairing and is made in an injection moulding process. Thermoset composites like carbon fibre and GRP use a thermosetting resin like epoxy or vinyl ester and are cured often with the help of heat and pressure.

The 2 are not really compatible for repair so you will need a thermoplastic repair system. Often the plastic welder will put a bump or extra filler over the repair to help you get a good finish when you sand it back.

Minor scratches can just be polished out and sprayed. Cracks should be plastic welded.

OTOH composite fairings can often be repaired with the car body type resin and hardener systems.

**mister.koz** · 18th April 2008, 13:59

Cool cool, so basically be nice to the plastic welder guy, he could fix the cracks and fill in the deep holes.

Cheerz man

**Mrs Busa Pete** · 18th April 2008, 14:11

You could always try one of our own as well.

http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/sh...ad.php?t=69443

**crazybigal** · 18th April 2008, 14:25

plastic weld it.
if its ABS plastic its easy as to do, you can do it yourself if you have another bit of abs to practice on.
you will need a rod of plastic and a hot air gun with a fine nozzle like 5mm.
kawasaki from mem do not stamp on their fairings what they have used, its not un-common to find 5 types of plastic and polyprop on one bike!
remember if you plastic weld it from behind properly the paint will prob bubble and the plastic will deform a we bit on the outside.
so you will prob have to repaint.
Dont just stick bits over the crack, the new plastic has to go hot into the fairing plastic as it melts so the two bond. (both the job and the new material need to heat up)
You can buy the rods form Hammilton or Auckland, i have a spare black rod you can have if you want to give it a go, but id practice first on some other old abs bits.
or you could spend the $$ and get a pro to do it.
Remember if you use any body filler ask the guy painting it first, pro paints can react and bubble up if sprayed on some fillers and primers you buy over the counter.