Aero Front Cover Repairs & J.B. Weld
Posted: Fri Nov 21, 2008 12:31 pm
Greetings:
Scooters. They're great. When I picked up the '87 Aero from old pal Hal, the question of how to get it home arose. With any other bike, it'd be problem. With Flast Scootertrash it was simple. Pick it up and throw it in the wayback of Trusty Family Wagon. What could it hurt?
Plenty, as it turns out. Aside from leaking some mysterious fluid onto the carpeted seatback - matches baby vomit from 3 years ago I still haven't gotten around to cleaning - the bike shifted during its 4.5 hour ride from Yellow Rose to Deepinnaharda, Texas. It basically was resting on its front cover, and three of the molded-in screw holes broke off the cover. A crack also formed on the L side about mid-way up. Thankfully both rear covers were off and rode safely beside the frame.
Since I've sorted Flash out mechanically, attention turned to cosmetics. To reinstall the rear covers, I was able to cobble together some fasteners in the locations prescribed in the Factory Service Manual. It ain't pretty but nothing will fall off.
Went the other way and removed the front cover after my smoky launch. Thank you Forum for the ABS cement tip! After cleaning with a light dab of acetone, I bridged the crack with three layers (and 3 coats) of thin woven glass cloth, dabbing with the ABS cement and letting each dry. Sticks well and it's tough. I let some of the cement dribble through the crack back to front, wiping away excess. I won't even bother to fill and paint, as it's hardly noticeable. Trying to match faded red in that location would be. The solvent in the cement even sort of blends the color back across the crack!
The screw holes were addressed with a product called JB Weld. No affiliation but Wrenchy members know you can use this stuff to repair cracks in big parts like blocks and heads. It won't mend a broken crankshaft, though.
Anyway a wad of this stuff was smeared where each of the screw "holes" had broken off . Careful to set the broken pieces at the right angle and mating the fracture lines as closely as posible, I postioned each where it went. The JB Weld starts off with the consistency of chewing gum after a sip of hot beverage, but firms up in 3-5 minutes and reaches Rock Hard after 4-12 hours. I could pick up the front cover holding only one of the bonded-on inserts. Should be good.
The whole process took 45 minutes last night. You can keep adding JB Weld in layers if you're not sure that the size the adhesive zone is big enough with one application. I may do that next week. Pictures of the outcome will be added next Monday.
Thanks again to the Forum for all the tips!
Scooters. They're great. When I picked up the '87 Aero from old pal Hal, the question of how to get it home arose. With any other bike, it'd be problem. With Flast Scootertrash it was simple. Pick it up and throw it in the wayback of Trusty Family Wagon. What could it hurt?
Plenty, as it turns out. Aside from leaking some mysterious fluid onto the carpeted seatback - matches baby vomit from 3 years ago I still haven't gotten around to cleaning - the bike shifted during its 4.5 hour ride from Yellow Rose to Deepinnaharda, Texas. It basically was resting on its front cover, and three of the molded-in screw holes broke off the cover. A crack also formed on the L side about mid-way up. Thankfully both rear covers were off and rode safely beside the frame.
Since I've sorted Flash out mechanically, attention turned to cosmetics. To reinstall the rear covers, I was able to cobble together some fasteners in the locations prescribed in the Factory Service Manual. It ain't pretty but nothing will fall off.
Went the other way and removed the front cover after my smoky launch. Thank you Forum for the ABS cement tip! After cleaning with a light dab of acetone, I bridged the crack with three layers (and 3 coats) of thin woven glass cloth, dabbing with the ABS cement and letting each dry. Sticks well and it's tough. I let some of the cement dribble through the crack back to front, wiping away excess. I won't even bother to fill and paint, as it's hardly noticeable. Trying to match faded red in that location would be. The solvent in the cement even sort of blends the color back across the crack!
The screw holes were addressed with a product called JB Weld. No affiliation but Wrenchy members know you can use this stuff to repair cracks in big parts like blocks and heads. It won't mend a broken crankshaft, though.
Anyway a wad of this stuff was smeared where each of the screw "holes" had broken off . Careful to set the broken pieces at the right angle and mating the fracture lines as closely as posible, I postioned each where it went. The JB Weld starts off with the consistency of chewing gum after a sip of hot beverage, but firms up in 3-5 minutes and reaches Rock Hard after 4-12 hours. I could pick up the front cover holding only one of the bonded-on inserts. Should be good.
The whole process took 45 minutes last night. You can keep adding JB Weld in layers if you're not sure that the size the adhesive zone is big enough with one application. I may do that next week. Pictures of the outcome will be added next Monday.
Thanks again to the Forum for all the tips!