Articles

Radiator shroud plastic repair - tips you can use to do it yourself.
by Barry Washington

Used original radiator shrouds for our old cars are not always easy to find when needed. I found this one at the Carlisle swap meet & fortunately, the seller had two to choose from, so I picked the best one. Our victim today is part number 2998326 which is 'correct' for several 1970 B & E-body models with a 26" radiator.

As you can see here, it had one upper mounting ear that was damaged.


This was easily repaired with basic tools & some commercial products. Household clothes pins can make great clamps for small projects like this, here they have had the spring position changed into a 'needle nose' application for a deeper reach. I cleaned up the rough edges & loose material on the shroud away with a razor knife, then sprayed the section with lacquer thinner to clean it.


This two part plastic welder will NOT bond with ALL plastics & this is a good thing. One of those plastics is the type found on some food container lids, like margarine as one example. So I save the lids for 'flat stock' to cut up & use for forms as shown below. I cut this one to size & then scored a straight line across it with a razor knife & then bent it at the line to create a sharp corner for the bottom of the non-stick form.

The oval hole outline was easy to preserve with a short section cut from a common drinking straw, I used a wooden wedge to keep it tight to what was left of the missing side of the oval hole. The modified clothes pins hold the form in place so the plastic welder has a non-stick bottom & side to hold it in place until it sets up.


The plastic welder has two parts that need to be mixed well, seen here after mixing it & using it to fill the form.


It takes a few minutes for the plastic welder to set up, so if you keep an eye on it you can easily slice it with a razor knife while it is setting up to remove any excess. Once it fully hardens it is not easy to cut! I left the form in place to trim the excess.

This photo shows it after the first application with the form & straw now removed. It was trimmed some more with the form out of the way & then rough sanded.


After that, I mixed up a little bit more of the plastic welder to fill in an air pocket in the back side & by using another section of food container lid as a tiny squeegee I applied a thin layer over the top to help fill in the low areas. Repeat that step as needed. (it took 4 applications to get this one right where I wanted it to be) After that set up, I sanded it smooth with 220 grit sand paper & then filled the sanding marks in with the glazing putty. After the putty set up, a final scuff with a Scotchbrite pad to smooth it out. The glazing putty is red, so I masked the repaired area carefully & then sprayed it with a flat black. After the black paint dried, I sprayed the repair with a satin clear & now it is all done!


One quick & easy project that can be done in a day even with the curing & paint drying times factored in!

 
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