Plastic welder: My new favorite tool.

[ProjectBazza]

For some odd reason we have three J.D. riding lawn mowers here (long story), and all of them have cracks in the plastic hood(s) to one extent or the other. Last summer I ran across this Youtube video where a guy fixes a JD hood with a "plastic welder":



Well, I've never heard of such a thing, but I found a basic kit on Amazon for something like $30, and figuring I had nothing to lose (other than my $30), I ordered it up.

I'm happy to report this thing is great! It's fixed two hoods, a couple of cracks in plastic interior trim pieces in my '92 F250, and various other things around the house and garage. No pics of the underside of the repaired hoods, but here's the front of a hood "bumper" I was able to put back together again:

But best of all it just saved me hundreds of dollars this morning, as my wife had finally "had it" with the broken lower cord storage hook on our Dyson vacuum, and she was threatening to go buy another vacuum at Kohls this week. Well, 15-20 minutes later, it's fixed! Granted, it isn't very pretty, but with the cord in-place it hides the ugly "welds", and does the job.

Love this little gadget!

Note: I have no affiliation with anyone or anything related to this thing. I'm just one happy consumer!

 

[Ozyduster]

I have same kit but branded differntly from ebay, works a treat. I am using it to weld my plastic sale planes that go around the rear window on a 74 as they are cracked etc. I have got a soldering plastic welder kit as well that i am getting pretty good at using. I use it after to smooth the plastic out and pretty it up etc
Those plastic welder staples make it very strong literally impossible to resnap.

 

[ProjectBazza]

I have same kit but branded differntly from ebay, works a treat. I am using it to weld my plastic sale planes that go around the rear window on a 74 as they are cracked etc. I have got a soldering plastic welder kit as well that i am getting pretty good at using. I use it after to smooth the plastic out and pretty it up etc
Those plastic welder staples make it very strong literally impossible to resnap.

Nice! This kit came with a smooth "paddle" as well to melt and smooth-out plastic pieces, but I haven't gotten around to using it yet, as all of my repairs have been done from the backside. But I'm sure something will come-up eventually.

 

[Vaanth]

This style plastic welder does work well, and this kit in particular works quite well. The kit includes many assorted welding wires and the mentioned smoothing tips. The cutting pliers are okay, but not as "hardened" steel as a better quality pair of pliers.

I used the same kit to repair a cut lower right plastic trim for the original AM/8-track in my T/A Challenger. The trim had been cut to install a under dash unit into the dash. I had the original cut trim and an uncut 'Cuda trim. The 'Cuda trim was in decent shape in front but the rear mounting posts were broken.

The 70 Challenger dash/trim differs some from the 70 'Cuda and 71-later 'Cuda/Challenger trim. So, I used the 'Cuda trim to repair my 70 Challenger trim. The finished trim is not perfect, but installed in the lower dash, in the shadow, it looks acceptable.


Original, cut, 70 Challenger trim:

'Cuda trim:

Section for repair cut from the 'Cuda trim:

Original trim sectioned out and 'Cuda piece sectioned to match:

Pieces welded together:

Welding wires cut, and sections blended using scrap plastic, rear and front:

Filling done with epoxy, plastic filler, and spot putty, with "graining" impressed into the putty/filler:

Smoothed, painted, and worked area blended into the surrounding area:

Fitted to inner panel:

Installed in dash with radio:

 

[ProjectBazza]

This style plastic welder does work well, and this kit in particular works quite well. The kit includes many assorted welding wires and the mentioned smoothing tips. The cutting pliers are okay, but not as "hardened" steel as a better quality pair or pliers.

I used the same kit to repair a cut lower right plastic trim for the original AM/8-track in my T/A Challenger. The trim had been cut to install a under dash unit into the dash. I had the original cut trim and an uncut 'Cuda trim. The 'Cuda trim was in decent shape in front but the rear mounting posts were broken.

The 70 Challenger dash/trim differs some from the 70 'Cuda and 71-later 'Cuda/Challenger trim. So, I used the 'Cuda trim to repair my 70 Challenger trim. The finished trim is not perfect, but installed in the lower dash, in the shadow, it looks acceptable.


Original, cut, 70 Challenger trim:
View attachment 1716348572

'Cuda trim:
View attachment 1716348576

Section for repair cut from the 'Cuda trim:
View attachment 1716348579

Original trim sectioned out and 'Cuda piece sectioned to match:
View attachment 1716348580

Pieces welded together:
View attachment 1716348573

Welding wires cut, and sections blended using scrap plastic, rear and front:
View attachment 1716348582

Filling done with epoxy, plastic filler, and spot putty, with "graining" impressed into the putty/filler:
View attachment 1716348571

Smoothed, painted, and worked area blended into the surrounding area:
View attachment 1716348581

Fitted to inner panel:
View attachment 1716348590

Installed in dash with radio:
View attachment 1716348583

Dang! That's some really nice work there! Congratulations!

 

[Michael Brisebois]

I got "just the project" to test this

 

[cosgig]

Me as a kid! Same hair and everything!

 

[69conv]

How did you impress the graining? I have a center console to fix.

 

[Vaanth]

How did you impress the graining? I have a center console to fix.

I have an old vinyl repair kit from the 80s that has a few grain patterns and I used one of those. It didn't need much since I made most of the joints along the edges. Unless it's in a larger visible area, an old piece of vinyl seat material can be used to approximate a pattern.

 

[Ozyduster]

So

I have an old vinyl repair kit from the 80s that has a few grain patterns and I used one of those. It didn't need much since I made most of the joints along the edges. Unless it's in a larger visible area, an old piece of vinyl seat material can be used to approximate a pattern.

how do you get the grain into it from the vinyl? Heat it and press on to use like stencil?

 

[Car Nut]

That’s the same type of welder bodyshops use to repair newer bumpers.

 

[Vaanth]

So

how do you get the grain into it from the vinyl? Heat it and press on to use like stencil?

For my trim repair, I was impressing the grain using a pattern from the vinyl repair kit into the soft spot putty before it hardened, then touched up and smoothed with a wet finger manually. I've had my kit for decades, and used it for vinyl repair in the past which was marginal. It looks like they are still made. For this trim repair I only used the grain pattern which is pressed on the soft material like a stencil.

The original intent of that vinyl repair kit was to use a liquid vinyl-like compound and impress in it with a pattern then let it harden. The patterns are a reverse grain. I've done similar using a like grain patch of vinyl, but because it is not a reverse pattern, it's not exact, but workable in a not so visible spot.

Heating the plastic and trying to impress in the molten or soft plastic would not work unless the reverse pattern or vinyl patch could withstand the heat, such as metal, and release from the soft plastic without sticking, perhaps using something as a release compound.

The closest I've done directly on plastic that was noticeably visible by melting with heat was a cigarette burn in an E-body console lid. Although the tool in the aforementioned kit would work for melting the plastic, in this case I used a soldering iron to melt and smooth the plastic, then hand formed the grain with a dental pick while it was still soft, followed by light sanding and hand buffing. It was not an invisible repair, but it wasn't noticeable with a casual glance.

 

[Righty Tighty]

I've used plastic welders with decent success.

An old trick my dad taught me: if you're lucky and the material you're repairing is ABS, take a utility knife and shave an old ABS pipe into a glass jar and add a touch of acetone. Don't breathe the fumes! Mix with a wooden dowel and voila! Use this "goo" to make your repair.

I've used this method to repair cracked radiator shrouds. Not sure if they were ABS, but it worked wonderfully.

 

[Mike69cuda]

I have had one for a couple years. It works great! Just practice on some scrap material.