PDA

View Full Version : Easy repair/reinforcement for plastic screws.



Hiredgoon
10/21/2009, 11:52 AM
When I picked up my VX it had only one intact plastic screw holding the spare tire cover (and one in pieces), and while looking for a DIY alternative, I decided to try and repair the broken one I had. After several failed attempts to repair the break with various epoxies, adhesives, and contact cement, I tried filling the hollow shaft of the screw with a compound called Plumber's Goop. This proved to be a little soft, so I put in a carriage bolt to use as a spine and it seems to have worked just jim dandy. It takes a couple of weeks to completely dry but it's extremely solid now.

As a preventative measure to forestall the eventual break of the remaining screw I gave it the same treatment, and it seems a LOT sturdier than it was originally.

Maybe this can save someone else a little money, it's fairly cheap preventative maintenance, and it's completely unnoticeable when the screws are in place.

JAMAS
10/21/2009, 12:04 PM
http://www.vehicross.info/forums/showthread.php?t=8276

handeeman
10/21/2009, 12:56 PM
SBC also has a nice fix for this :www.streetboutiquecustoms.com (http://www.streetboutiquecustoms.com/)

Knigh7s
10/21/2009, 02:28 PM
I used this: Steel Filled Epoxy Putty (http://plumbing.hardwarestore.com/52-304-plumbers-putty-and-epoxy/epoxy-putty-118919.aspx)

Used this on my two broken ones and filled in the two that where not broken yet. Just get a Dremel and a contour sander to roughen up the inside of the plastic screws before using it. It doesn't shrink and it cures nice and solid.

circmand
10/21/2009, 03:15 PM
new ones from Merlin

vt_maverick
10/21/2009, 04:59 PM
How much were they from Merlin? Just curious...