Body work repair?

Chuck Bunnell · Posted: Thu Nov 15, 2001 3:22 am Post subject: Body work repair?

While you can use a tool like that, even a soldering iron with a wide tip, it's difficult to achieve thorough penetration of the weld. The hot air welder is a much better choice. I also think it's over priced at $140 for not much more than a soldering iron. Getting the various plastic weld rod is nice but you can get the same from most plastics stores. Once in a while the hot air welder will show up for cheap. Just keep watching. I always wait for things to show up on special before I buy from them. Also be sure to check the entire catalog as they play games with the same item at different prices sometimes.

Surface prep when welding plastic is important so make sure the surface is free from dirt, grease and stuff. If you want to try using a soldering iron, the way it works is to melt the damaged area with the iron and then melt one side of the weld rod. Flip the weld rod to put the melted side onto the melted area on the part. You can probably already see that the first part you melted is already cooling and not molten. You can spend some time playing around with the iron heating the work area to try and melt the whole thing together but it can get frustrating since you can only work a small area at time. The hot air welders lay down a weld bead just like a metal weld and are much, much faster.

fatoldman7 · Joined: 06 Aug 2001 Posts: 24

It's best to use nitrogen gas for most repairs in plastics, esp in fluoropolymers, and polyethyenes. this is so the weld will not be brittle.It's possible to do it with compressed air but the welds will not be as flexible as the base material.

Michael Polizzi · Joined: 18 Jul 2001 Posts: 1565

I saw a post once for plastic repair for karts. It may have been a TKWS thread. There is a plastic welder at Harbor Freight. Is this the correct tool to fix our CIK body work

Here is the link
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=41592

Thanks in advance
Michael Polizzi 69n
Full Bore Karting

[ November 15, 2001: Message edited by: Michael Polizzi ]

Chad Stapleton · Joined: 19 Jul 2001 Posts: 4403

Jeeezz guys, why are you bothering to repair CIK plastic bodywork ??
How much does a new set cost you ??
"Downunder" a full set only costs US $50, and a pair of side pods can be replaced for US $15 !! The stickers cost more than the bodywork, and you cant fix those with a air gun or soldering iron !

Michael Polizzi · Joined: 18 Jul 2001 Posts: 1565

Chuck, the Item is priced at $39.95 and was offered at $29.95 through an Email offer.

George, thanks for the tip on nitrogen gas.

Chad, This is a set of the carbon fiber lookalike body work. Replacement cost of $180 US

Thanks All
Michael Polizzi 69n www.fullborekarting.com

Chuck Bunnell · Posted: Fri Nov 16, 2001 3:35 am Post subject: Body work repair?

When I first clicked on the link it didn't bring up a plastic welder of any sort so I did a search on their site using "plastic welder" which brought up a kit that was basically a soldering iron in a nice case with a bunch of different filler rods for $140. That was way overpriced. Now today the link works correctly for whatever reason, probably my goofy web connection here at work, and shows the tool that I was thinking of. The one I had used in the past had different tips for it. I can't tell if you can change tips on that one or not, but for $30 it's a deal. My bad.