Anybody ever fix a crack in,

[popeyebob]

an older style mod vp one piece cowl? I have access to a one piece cowl(top and bottom), but it has a split on the rear edge.It run's along the back verticle edge of the cowl.I can fit it back together perfectly, and you cant even see it from the outside.It would be great if it could be fix'd from the inside.I wouldnt need to repaint/decal.
It appears the cowl is made from some type of black plastic,not fiberglass. I would need the adapter plate also. Are they available?

[JTS Racing]

Had one of those..A slow cure epoxy (aeropoxy or even west system) will repair the crack. Add some glass cloth to the inside for strenth. Don't know were ya can get a bottom at, but someone here should have a few lying around.

[popeyebob]

The top and bottom are both there. What is missing is the metal plate that mounts the cowl bottom pan to the midsection. When the customer replaced it(because of the crack) they drilled out the "pop" rivit's and reused it.

[Greg Moss]

I had a a plastic dash piece break and a frined of mine was a manager for BFI he had one of his guys come by and welded it. They use the welding process in the land fills to seal the liner at the bottom of the land fill. It shoots a arc thru the surface of the plastic and heats it, then he added some filler rod looked good and didn't bleed through to the surface to be seen from the front. I don't know where you are but you may be able to find some one through your local welding supply house. Greg

[Raceman]

Somebody was advertising replacement metal for the newer ones on the board within the last month. I don't recall who, but I remember Mercman in Savannah Ga. had one of the aftermarket ones that he said was real nice. If you can't find one that way I can send you a tracing of one and you can have one fabricated from sheet steel or aluminum. Stainless is a little hard for most small shops to get perforated properly without tons of man hours. I made one out of thin aluminum in the past against warnings of exhaust divide burn out and stress fracture, but the one I built never failed and it can essentially be made with hand tools. As far as the repair, I've fixed one with the epoxy somebody else mentioned and that ultra fine mesh fiberglass cloth. The real fine stuff seems to work better for some reason. Roughing the back with a course disc won't hurt either and of course hospital clean. The plastic welding sounds like a good idea, I just haven't seen it around here.

[Edited by Raceman on 08-03-2001 at 07:37 AM]

[DaveR]

Bob Garone ([email protected]) sells laser cut stainless plates. The International Hydrostream Registry has a copy of photo's of them. I have bought two and they work great.

[Byron]

3M plastic bumper repair works great. You can find it at any automotive paint store. It's a two part epoxy. They make two different kinds: one for flexiable parts and one for rigid parts. Good luck.