Repairing a 1971-73 Vega lower front valance

[vegawagon72]

Like many repair projects I started this one before I thought of posting the process on this forum, therefore I didn’t get all the pictures I might have liked to so my apologies for that.

I got this front valance from someone who had attempted to repair cracks located near both turn signal holes.

His idea was to counter sink sheet metal screws from the front into a piece of plastic on the backside and then bondo over the front. I liked the idea of reinforcing the back but his attempt just wasn’t strong enough and the bondo had already begun to crack. Also, like so many Vega valance’s I’ve seen in the past, the lower front holes were cracked.

[vegawagon72]

Having seen fiberglass used to repair these in the past and not being satisfied with the results I decided to see what new plastic repair products were out there.

I began by taking the valance to my local auto body supply house to get a recommendation and low and behold Pedro the counter man took me right over to the fiberglass. My question to him was, “Is this the best you got?” I returned to the counter and the second fellow (who spoke English as a first language) suggested trying a two part epoxy, but they couldn’t supply it. Instead he recommended getting it from the hardware store, so I ended up at Home Depot.

I first tried a twin tube epoxy that comes in a syringe looking arrangement that cost about $5.00 each. Using a cut off wheel I cut the excess sheet metal screws on the back side and laid down the epoxy over the plastic patch. I used two tubes of it on just one side and while it bonded very well with the plastic, it was lumpy when it dried and I felt like the cost was getting prohibitive. I went to a different Home Depot store and found this Locktite Plastic repair for right at $15.00, one thing that appealed to me right away was that it’s sandable. I laid out about a 50 cent piece size of each product and mixed it up. This stuff I could apply right off a plastic paddle and it would lay down flat and tack up in about 5 minutes. I put a piece of cardboard down on the backside of the broken holes and dripped the epoxy mix right into it, filling the hole and the crack with the plan of going back and drilling out a new hole thru the epoxy.

[vegawagon72]

Over a period of a couple days I kept layering on the epoxy over the plastic patch and the cracked holes. When I was satisfied that the repair was strong enough I left it to dry for 24 hours. I also found a hairline crack on the front center and used a thin wheel to notch it and filled it with the epoxy. I then turned my attention to the front of the valance and using a dremmel tool with a sanding drum I smoothed off the excess epoxy, drilled the new mounting holes and applied a new coat of bondo to the front and filled the microscatches with NitroStan.

Although the Locktite Plastic repair was sandable it had a bad odor when ever the sandpaper hit it. Other than that it bonded well with the plastic of the valance, is flexible and strong enough to give considerable strength to prevent future cracking and I had over ½ a bottle left when I was done. Over all I am pleased with the outcome and plan to use it to repair a cracked and broken rear valance.

[vegawagon72]

When I was satisified with the epoxy repair, I drilled my new holes, final sanded it and primed front and back.

[gt350fme]

Very nice!

Does a fiberglass repair not bond as well to the plastic?

I need to do a similar repair to mine when get to it.

[vegawagon72]

The black 71-72 Valance pictured in this thread http://forums.h-body.org/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=31100 was repaired by a fiberglass "professional" and its now a twisted, warped mess.

Not an expert, but my thought is fiberglass was never meant to bond to plastic. I have peeled older fiberglass repairs right off Vega valances. With all the products now out there since Vega's and fiberglass were invented, why keep doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results?

[gt350fme]

Sounds like a good plan to me.

Would embedding some fiberglass matt or wire mesh into the epoxy add strength

[vegawagon72]

I liked the idea of a plastic layer under the epoxy. Much thicker than mesh.

[Roccosvega]

I like the finished work you do on these plastic parts. Mine have issues that I need to deal with and your methods have given me
some insight how to go about fixing them. Thank You for posting with pics too.

Robert

[vegawagon72]

My pleasure Robert. These plastic valances have been one of the biggest headaches I've had involved with owning my Vega. All them of were broken when I got my car, the canadian guy told me to wait 3 months for a repo front and it took me 4 or 5 try's and more $$$ than I wanted to spend to win a front off febay. I paid for repo rear's off febay and never got them. Most parts cars I see have broken or missing valances so repairing them in a cost effective, long lasting and strong method I thought would be of importance on this forum. I was suprised not to see more discussion here regarding repairing them, other than fiberglass, fiberglass, fiberglass.

[HI WINDING MONZA]

Someday................................someone will rebop them out of metal

Doug in Az

[ColinOpseth]

I have a cracked front valance that I'm going to try this one. Hopefully, it turns out as nice as yours.

[73astregt]

i repaired a spare front valance that i found at a local swap meet with the epoxy method, im very happy with the results and it seems to be good and strong! ill see how it stands up after i get it painted and installed over the winter.

[vegawagon72]

Well done!

When I get a minute I have 2 rear valances I'm going to repair using 3M plastic bumper repair epoxy, the product body shops use to repair bumper covers. http://www.tcpglobal.com/3m/duramixplastic.aspx


I'll post the process and results here.

mmm4240.jpg

[waybad]

I just cracked/busted the rear panel on my vega
I will have to try this,, thanks