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My 2000 WS6 has been afflicted by the infamous door panel cracks. I have the panels off and the fix is in process. I'm anticipating that there may still be some tiny gaps when I'm all done and I would like to fill those in from behind to get it looking as close to perfect as possible.
Any recommendations as to the best product and color match? I have the black/ebony interior. I've seen mention of epoxies and Permatex and 3M products but I'd like more specifics if possible.... or other options.
Thanks, you have lived up to your title of cut and paste moderator.
I'm very familiar with those threads, more so with the first than the second, which is extraordinarily long. They also go back 10 plus years and I'm looking for the best current knowledge.
I've got the crack thing covered as I stated in my first post. I am looking for a recommendation on the BEST epoxy or other filler color match for the black/ebony.
For abs type plastic you can use a mix of source plastic and acetone to make a paste that fills cracks. It'll dry to match the source plastic but without the matte finish or texture. It's common in the sport bike world. For the door panels you'd have to do a test run on some scrap pieces to make sure it fuses right and doesn't eat through the panel though. Lots can go wrong with acetone and plastic.
Or just pack it with thin layers of a plastic epoxy and remember that the back side of a door panel isn't supposed to be a show piece.
For epoxy, the use needs to be really specific as 100% of consumer grade epoxies including plastic weld epoxy is for hard plastics only like ABS, Polycarbonate ect. . The 4th gens do use alot of ABS plastics as do most cars. However, items like the door panels in question, the lower center console, all rocker panel, sail panels and rear hatch plastics are made from Polypropylene plastic. Polypropylene/Polyethylene are very low surface energy plastics which translates to extremely poor adhesion properties with all general purpose adhesives. There are epoxies that will somewhat stick but it wont last and it certainly will not create a bond. 3M has a very specific epoxy for all low surface energy plastics that does create a structural bond. Its called DP8005. They do have a couple other grades of this and colors. Im only going to comment on the one Ive used which is DP8005, its black. Theres a natural color available and I believe the other grade is blue. Im not 100% sure but I believe other companies offer a equivalent structural adhesive as well. In your research just make sure your searching for epoxy for low surface energy plastics, that will get you where you need to be. There is no consumer grade product available so it is rather costly in comparison to the consumer grade epoxies you can get at the local hardware or auto parts stores for 5 or so bucks. Shop right though and you can minimize the cost alot. The 3m applicator gun you need lists at around $100, I got mine new in box on ebay for $50. It should come with 3 mixing plungers 1:1, 2:1, 10:1. So be weary. Alot of guns on ebay did not have the 10:1 plunger and thats the one you need for the low energy adhesive. You can buy that plunger by itself but thats an extra $16-20. Also you need the 10:1 orange 3m mixing tips, which I got a bag of 12 tips on Amazon for $14. Mixing tips are specific to mix ratio of the epoxy you are using. The DP8005 epoxy is listed as high as $60 for the 45 mL cartrige. There are ebay users that buy in bulk and sell cheap. I typically can get a DP8005 cartridge for $20 on ebay. Once you have the gun a plungers any brand 45-50 mL cartridge will work in it should you need a different type/grade of epoxy in the future. The more generalized professional structural adhesives are cheaper than the low surface energy adhesives.
Another rabbit hole to travel down is actual plastic welding if youd like to research that. its pretty much like metal welding. Your heating the repair area and the rods fed thru the gun are plastic. If you welded from the back portion of the panel you could possibly minimize distorting the
texture on the front .
All fairly extreme options, but, you cant buy new panels are good luck finding used ones that are not cracked these days.
12-04-2018, 09:39 AM
Interior plastic fix... epoxy or what? 
