Buick Wagon Weekend Work - Little Advice

Ok I know it's here somewhere, but how do I repair the cracked door panel. If I remember it was fiberglass? What are we talking, Bondo, Epoxy, or ??

So as most of you read I used the S-10 last weekend for my driveway project. Dad used my Roadmaster, he took it up to the ranch in Burnet and he and my uncle spent the weekend cutting down Mesquite trees to clear some fields.

Now I'm not griping about my father here, I love him and he'd do anything in the world for me, and helps me all the time, but the wagon got some "damage" inside last week, and I'm going to fix it as much as I can this weekend.

First, the single crack in front of my arm rest on the driver's door panel, is now two cracks (wince!). I'm guessing my uncle slammed the door really hard....Dad knows better. I HAVE to fix it before it gets worse. I'm also going to pull the passenger side panel and replace the plastic clips on it. It's somewhat loose, the previous owner removed all the door panels to replace the power window sliders and was careless re-installing the door panels. Been procrastinating doing this since I bought the car, hoping I'd find new trim for around the interior door handles (HA!).

Also the leather on the fold-down center arm rest lid has come loose where it faces the driver. Again I'm going to blame my uncle, guessing he tried to open the lid from the side and not the front, and pulled the leather loose.

Lastly I'm going to try to attack the rear lower tailgate hinge. That hinge I got in Dallas has been sitting on my workbench glaring at me every time I go in the garage....time to get off my rear and tackle that project.

Such fun!

-Mike

Sorry to hear about the damage Mike.Noone takes care of someone elses car like they should.
Slamming doors needlessly is one of my pieves.Why cant you just gently close the door instead
of trying to push the door into the interior via the door opening.Make sure you support the
tailgate when you start to remove that hinge.Have fun buddy and give the old uncle a break.
Just ban him from the wagon for life!
Tkaae Care
Jim Gordon

I have to blame my Uncle. I can't blame my father. ; )

Mike, you want to use a fiberglass kit with the resin and glass cloth. Do the repair on the back side.

For smaller repairs on the panel, I have used 2 part epoxy and JB Weld.

Tom.

Napa sells a box kit I used. One box will do 3 door panels or so. I used two layers. It becomes obvious where you want to glass the backs. Just make sure your surface prep is exactly as stated - scuff real good, clean real good.

Mike,
I have repaired both of my front door panels. The passengers side was repaired by the Previous owner and it didn't look very good. (see pics below) I was finally able to find a replacement and your story got me motivated to perform the replacement. Tom aka silverfox103 sold me a replacement that was not plastic welded like the one in the photo.

I will be doing exactly the same treatment to it before I install it onto the door to hopefully stave off the inevitable cracks. Funny enough this panel broke in half in a parking lot when a friend of mine used the armrest instead of the pull handle. That is why I had to repair it the way I did. I had a trip out of town coming up and very little time to make the repair. I know that it's not the best looking repair but you can't see it once the panel is in place.

A bit of background. My other hobby is building and flying Model airplanes so I have a lot of experience with Epoxy and Fiberglass. Fiberglass cloth is available at hobby shops and so is the epoxy. Just be careful that if you go there for materials that you don't get sucked into a new Hobby like I did.

I would advise using 30 minute epoxy as it will give you time to work. 5min or 15min will be frustrating and it get's HOT! I used 30min finishing epoxy for my door as it's a bit thinner and works better with the fiberglass. It has held up for 2 years in the cold and heat.

As the others said rough up the surface with say 80 grid sandpaper and then clean it with Alcohol. Any grease or contamination will make it crack off. Also when you mix the Epoxy follow the directions. If you mix it wrong it will shrink and pull away from the plastic (too much hardener) or it will be gummy and not stick(too little hardener). Finally once you get it stuck together use a squeegee and push the air out. I use plastic paint scrapers or old Credit cards / gift cards. Once you are happy with it leave it alone. Just walk away. Don't expect it to be ready in 30min. Use the directions that came with the Epoxy for curing time. Also don't look for perfection good enough is just that Good enough.
Previous owner's repair.


With the Backing still in place. I put it back on with contact spray. 3m 303 or some such.


The rear section. I had two areas that I put the fiberglass. Front and rear. You will see when you have the panel off.


Front Section. You can see where the big crack is. Yeah it's not the cleanest install but it has held up.



Little bit of a run through the handle. That's what happens when you are in a rush.


Hope this helps.
Douglas

Very impressive repair Douglas.I guess it boils down to 3 words'preparation,preparation and preparation.Very helpful hints for an upcoming project.
Thank You
Jim Gordon

Jim,
You're welcome. It's really not that bad. Just take your time. These pictures are as I am tearing it down for replacement. So this is a two year old repair. I will post the new one and what materials I use to "upgrade" the new one. Car's still stuck in the garage due to the white frozen stuff blocking it's exit. I can't wait for it to melt and for the salt to be washed off the road.

Douglas.

Well as usual my plans fell apart.

I knew it was time to rotate the Pirelli tires on the Roady wagon, so I jacked the car up to do that first thing this morning. Pulled the front wheels off and was somewhat shocked to see the tread in the inside edges was VERY worn. These tires are not that old! I still have tread, but if I'd not done this today I have a feeling the insides of the front tires would have been rubbed smooth really soon. It's goofy because the car drives straight and does not pull, and the steering wheel is straight. Dangit!

It's my fault, when I put the new tires on I did not get the car aligned...stupid. I should have done that, but the car rode and handled fine, so I didn't bother.

I put the worn front tires in the rear, and the still new-looking tires from the rear in the front. Then drove to Firestone and dropped the car off for an alignment.

Dad picked me up and we went to South Austin for some salvage yarding. Pics are in the photos sections. Got me a set of 4-note horns from a sedan! Cool! It was HOT today though. Low 90's this afternoon. Ouch! It's only March!

While we were down south I got a call from Firestone. The front end was pretty far out of spec, and they had to shim it some. No big deal. BUT while working on it, the Tech's wrench slipped and he tore one of the hoses going to the heater core (?) and they were going to have to repair that...free of charge of course, but would need the car for the rest of the afternoon. There went my plans for the door panel and tail gate hinge....

SO we spent the afternoon yarding, then went to a great classic Austin dive for a late lunch, Hut's Hamburgers, REALLY GOOD, and came back north in time to pick the wagon up and head to the local Cruise-In over in Cedar Park....pics posted of that as well.

Such fun!

Tomorrow I'm putting together shelves on one side of the carport in the morning, and then Dad and I are going motorcycle riding up in the hill country west of town, so my wagon repairs are on hold another week....

At least it got aligned...

-Mike

Ok I'm bound and determined to get the door panel fixed. As noted my weekend plans changed, but I went out today and bought a repair kit. Please tell me if anyone has used this and if you think it will work. Oh and the kit was $11.

http://www.advanceautoparts.com/1/1/543379-fiberglass-resin-repair-kit-1-2-pt-by-bondo-part-420.html

There were 300 types of Epoxy and I was scared to get the wrong stuff.

-Mike

Mike:

Don't know if there is a general misunderstanding here or if it is now the trend to call all fiberglass resin epoxy but there is a significant difference. The repair kit you posted above contains polyester resin, not epoxy. This would create a very strong but ridgid repair. Don't know how it would interact with the pastic panels. Would think you want something a bit more flexible like a low temperature epoxy to allow for some flex.

your very right, there are literally 100s of different varients of resin/epoxy but generally resin is used with fiberglass cloth and epoxies can be used on their own as they can be applied in thicker substrates (up to 1/2 inch) and still maintain their strength.

For this kind of job, can't think you would need a very strong job so the polyester resin and cloth should be sufficient. If the panel is subjected to large temperature variations (minus 20 to 100 degrees) and or flexing at the repair, than you might get some de-lamination over time. You might even look into plastic welding.

Hope this helps.

Bill

Well now I'm torn about returning this or using it. Got dinner with the folks tomorrow night so Wed is as early as I'll be able to tackle the project. We'll see...

Thanks for the comments!

-Mike

Didn't mean to freak you out. Just giving you a heads up. Take Yachtdrivers advise and really clean and skuff up the area. Lay down a layer of activated resin first and allow it to partially setup (will probably turn green and be still warm to the touch). This is the bonding coat.

Lay down an additional coat of resin then apply your cloth, followed by another really good coat of resin. Before this stage starts to set, be really agressive with your roller and get all the air bubbles out, I mean all of the air bubbles. You want a solid lamination with no voids.

Use Douglas's pictures as a guide as far as overlap around the gap. If your hardner mix is correct, your job should be set in about 20-30 minutes. If you have any visable fiberglass that you want to get rid of, you can start to trim as soon as the laminate turns green (still pliable and warm to the touch). Its much easier to trim at this stage than waiting till it cures completely. Should be able to cut it with a sharp utility knife. After it cures, you will need a cutting blade on your grinder.

The temperature thing has to do with the fact that the injection molded plastic expands and contracts at a different rate than the fiberglass matrix. If there is a big difference than you run the risk of breaking the bond between the two materials. Was a common problem early on with the original body kits you could buy to dress up your car. If the metal below wasn't properly prepared and if the wrong bonding agent wasn't used, it was not uncommon to have fenders and skirts fall off after only a few months. Same rules apply to Bondo (essentially just polyester resin and a binder....used to be flour).

Not a hard job, just messy.

Bill

Will cross my fingers and hopefully dive into this tomorrow night. Thanks for the comments!

-Mike