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best material for cracked tail light cover repair?

267 Views 6 Replies 4 Participants Last post by  Chris in New England
Hi all,

I've a cracked tail light cover which is allowing water into the unit. (not an Optima, I must confess!) I've removed the unit to drain and air it out. I'm thinking to use epoxy to fill the cracks. Is that the best material?

thanks!
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I can't think of anything that would restore the transparency. But, another option to try is to use a soldering iron to "weld" the plastic back together. That should form a water-tight seal. But it will look ugly.

The epoxy might have trouble bonding to the clear plastic. You can try different kinds, and roughen the plastic surface to improve bonding, but it might pop loose over time. There might be a type of cement that will dissolve/weld the plastic back together, but I have no idea what kind of cement to use (maybe a kind of plumber's cement for bonding the various types of plastic pipes, or model cement that bonds plastic used in hobby model kits).

Maybe someone experienced in body repair has better suggestion to fix broken plastic, but I would guess they just replace the part to have it look nice.
How the **** did you get the epoxy to come out so nicely?

I guess you could wet sand it starting with low grit and working up, and then polish it. Impressive results.

What brand/type of clear epoxy did you use?
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