fiberglass repair is so dang easy,,......and you use stuff like masking and duct tape, so it's one of the LEAST costly DIY repairs, IMO.
ok for that broken tab: go down to home depot, or osh or TAP plastics, and get some fiberglass "matting", it's the stuff that has a random fiber pattern, NOT the woven "cloth" or "roving",.....ok now you need some resin and hardener,........if you go to H.depot, or osh you will end up with POLYESTER resin, and liquid hardener, if you go to TAP, you have more choices,...I'd go for the "water clear surfboard resin", which is also polyester and the liquid hardener,.........you'll also need some of those "acid brushes" (hollow metal handle/natural bristle=.70 cents each), 2" wide masking tape, some latex or other disposable gloves, and PAPER CUPS (not plastic, the resin will melt most plastic cups), and some 80 grit sandpaper.
ok now first CLEAN the fender inside and out: hot ass water and dish detergent, no fiberglass repair in the world will stick to road grime and grease.
once it's clean and DRY, now take the 80 grit paper and sand the tab area front and back, all the way down into the fiberglass itself, go about 2" up past the tab,........
now blow off any powdery sanding dust, and then wipe the sanded area down with window cleaner, and let dry.
now take the 2" masking tape, and stick a 5" piece over the fender "leg", down onto the mount tab area, from the outside surface of the fender, making sure you have plenty of "tape area" where the missing part is, use several layers of tape, this will be your "backing" to hold and support the resin and matting while it sets.
ok now take some scissors you will never want to use again (one session with cutting glass fibers ruins most scissors very quickly), and cut some small squares about an inch bigger all the way around than the broken part you are repairing, you'll need about 4 to 6 pieces for something like a mounting tab.
ok you have the fender on it's side, with the sticky part of the tape you layered for the backing facing up (if you did it right), and you have the little squares of matting setting nearby,....ok , put on the gloves, and then pour 1oz of resin into the paper cup (TAP sells cups with a graduated measure on the side) which is about 2 tablespoons liquid measure,..now drop by drop, squeeze the liquid hardener, per the directions (almost all polyester resins take 14 drops hardener per liquid oz of resin or 2% by weight), and then mix it very, very well, make sure you scrape the sides and bottom, mix for an honest 2 minutes,...the 2 MOST common causes of fiberglass failures, are improper mixing/measuring and oils or grease affecting adhesion,........once it's all mixed, using the acid brush, blob a few brush fulls, onto the clean well sanded bare fiberglass surface, going over onto the tape, where the missing part is, and where your new fiberglass tab is going,..then place 1 square of the matting down onto the broken part, so it goes out onto the tape, making your new tab,........ok now take the brush and using the flat blunt end, "tap" the brush into the matting so it soaks up the resin you already put down,...now take the brush and blop some more resin, not alot, JUST enough to thoroughly wet the matting, remembering that the resin is incredibly brittle, but the matting will be stronger than steel once cured IF you don't have too much resin to cloth ratio,......ok repeat with the rest of the squares, tapping with the brush to remove ALL air bubbles (air bubbles=bad
), repeating with resin, and matting,.......you don't need to worry about orienting each layer perpendicular to one another, as the random pattern of the matting already has this built in, and is why it's what you use when strength is an issue.
when finished you'll have a MUCH bigger "tab" because the matting was cut an inch larger all the way around, don't freak out, as you will be trimming the thing to shape after it all hardens. USE ONLY ENOUGH RESIN TO WET THE MATTING, don't pour on half the cup when your done, as the more resin you use the more likely it'll be to crack later on, so go easy with the resin.
you have about 10-15 minutes "working time", before the resin starts to gel,..if the resin gels before your done DO NOT USE SETTING RESIN and continue to lay up, toss it, and mix up a new batch and continue,...as long as the stuff you just layed is still sticky, you can top it with a fresh batch of resin, but once it hardens, you have to let it fully cure, and then SAND it again with 80 grit, before topping with fresh resin/matting so everything stays stuck,..remember mounting tabs take a beating, so if you do a janky repair it rewards you by breaking on the first ride.
ok you should have the fender propped/taped up so the resin doesn't run off, as it'll stay liquid and flow for about 20 minutes,...you are using gravity to hold the resin and matting down onto the fender surface,....in some cases you'd weight, press, clamp, or even use compressed air, or vacuum to "squeeze" the layers together while curing,...but for a simple tab, we can just remove the fender, and place it to hold the runny resin matting and let gravity do the squeezing,......if you have a perfectly flat weighted object that wont slide off while curing go ahead and use some plastic baggie material to cover the wet resin/matting, and weight the repaired area.
ok next day it'll be hard as a rock, so peel the tape, being careful as the threads are now little death needles looking for fresh flesh to sink into, so don't get stuck,........
ok, FIRST drill the hole BEFORE TRIMMING, then take a REINFORCED cut off wheel on a high speed rotary tool (dremel/die grinder) and trim the mounting tab to shape.
you can use the 80 grit sand paper to clean it up,....then just, bondo, grind, prime, sand and paint.
TIP: cover any exposed skin with LOTS of talcum powder (baby powder) before doing any drilling, sanding or trimming of cured fiberglass, and then take a shower immediately after completing the repair, and you wont get the "fiberglass itchies"
as usual I'll help anyone that asks for free,....and I can do the complete repair as well if you get stuck, or just don't want to deal with it.
peace, love and methylethylketoneperoxide.
fiberglass repair at a point of tension eh? *subscribed*
.....nice job
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