Plastic Welding

I have a blown airbag cover that I want to repair - it won't be functional after the repair and will be recovered - the part is made from PP so it's not that straight forward to glue. I was wondering if there is anyone here with experience of plastic welding or any body shop guys who repair plastic bumpers that I could get advice from?

http://img37.imageshack.us/img37/8312/dscf0484h.jpg

l18msy knows about this process I'm sure.

l18msy knows about this process I'm sure.

Cheers I'll drop him a pm.

Does the plastic cover bit separate from the metal part? What i usually do is 'stitch' weld it back together with an attatchment i have on my soldering iron.

Once i have welded it i use stuff called 'Q Bond' to reinforce it. Q bond is a powder which bonds plastic and can also bond metal. It gets mixed with a liquid and it dries solid instantly. It doesn't look pretty hence why i am asking if it separates as i would prefer to weld it from the rear.

It also depends on how thick the plastic is which will determine how good the weld is.

It wouldn't be impossible to do it from the outside it would just need a bit more work to get it ready for a recover.

I can't remember the name of the stuff I use, but it comes in a little gun type dispenser and mixes itself from two barrells so to speak as it zig zags down the nozzle. Pretty strong and isn't too horrendously messy.

Best thing to do is get yourself a soldering iron, find some spare plastic which is the exact same type. Spot weld the joins as L18msy said then use the spare plastic to melt into the airbag cover, welding the joins together. Its actually quite straightforward. You can also use mesh to hold the joins together. I repaired the brackets on a honda civic type R headlight this way - worked a treat. There is a plastic welding video on youtube somewhere...ill find it

I can't remember the name of the stuff I use, but it comes in a little gun type dispenser and mixes itself from two barrells so to speak as it zig zags down the nozzle. Pretty strong and isn't too horrendously messy.

Is yours the Leister Triac Plastic Welding Kit ?

example of using the mesh stuff:

Does the plastic cover bit separate from the metal part?

Thanks for the replies

I've separated the cover so I can get to the back of it, the flaps have a slight gap between them so need some way of filling the gaps and then build up the gaps in the front surface so I can sand smooth and then cover with 3M Ni-Loc. Is this something that someone can do for me - drop me a pm with a price if you can? or is there a glue/filler that I can use? The cover is made from TPO(EPDM+PP)

http://img841.imageshack.us/img841/991/dscf0486m.jpg

cant you just use a hot melt gun? you load with solid sticks or rubber. they get heated up. and then you have control of the flow, that maybe your best option, then do the weld to reinforce it afterwards

What sort of time scale do you have to get this done by? I have some various parts from members im sorting just now could give this a go for you if you wish.

What sort of time scale do you have to get this done by? I have some various parts from members im sorting just now could give this a go for you if you wish.

That'd be great if you could no real rush, I'm driving without the airbag/horn at the moment but no biggy Let me know how much and postal address and can send off to you.

cheers

Send it up to me and i will do my best with it for you, pm'd.