ABS glues for plastic part repairs

[Dave WM]

Don't know if this has been covered but thought I would share.

I had a crack thru the side of my center console (near ash tray), I used some scrap ABS from a donor piece of plastic (wanted to make sure it was the same stuff as used on my Z) and two products that I can say worked very well.

ZAP brand "plasti-zap" medium CA glue, use this to rejoin broken pieces. just a tiny bit and careful alignment, hold together as tight as possible. in about 10-20 seconds it should hold fast.

Plastruct brand "plastic weld" gen purpose solvent glue. this comes in a glass bottle with self contained brush on the cap. I swiped the back of the console and the front of the scrap scab piece with some acetone to clean, then applied this product and quickly backed up the prior joined area. held in place with some clamps (binding clips) and let set over night. This stuff is very thin, not like pipe glue, more like water. After setting up overnite I brushed some more at the edges and let it wick into the joint, keeping the binding clips in place. Care must be taken as you don't want it running out and messing up the exposed surface. Just brush some on and let it soak in. I did round the edges of the scrap backup piece to avoid any stress risers. When all done the break was nearly undetectable and was plenty strong. The combined use of the glues (one fast set to close up gap and hold fast and the other for backup strength) worked perfectly.

I found these at a local radio control hobby shop (used in plastic model construction). One of my prior hobbies was RC modeling. One thing to be aware of is the CA type glues tend to have a shelf life, so I would recommend getting some that looks fresh and once opened don't expect it to be good for long, not worth taking a chance on the holding power so buy as small a container as possible ( I got a .33 oz container of the CA).

 

[siteunseen]

I used Oatey ABS pipe glue with some strips of fiberglass mat, worked really good too.  Cost $4 at local hardware store and there's enough left to do 47 more consoles.