I have a 2013. It has a crack in the rear fender. I have a plastic welder and If I knew the type of plastic the fender was I could weld it up. (I would need the correct type of plastic welding rod) but I could fix it. Anyone know what plastic GEM uses?
Use PVC glue.
I used Pvc glue on my last repair job and the cracks came back. I wanted to try and weld these
Grant
Don’t think it’s Vinyl or Poly. Probably ABS
However: I would suggest you shallow vee the cracks out and use
3M 5895 Plastic Bumper Repair. Very expensive, About 60 bucks for the kit but
doesn’t crack chip or peel. I use it for fascia repair on front and back of cars. This is
the best material out there that I know of. Easy to work with and sets up quick.
Sometimes available on Ebay
Rodney
I have read on a site selling all types of plastic repair compounds & glues that its ABS… can’t remember which site. The first thing that goes is your memory. I can’t remember what is the second…?
You don’t wanna know.
Has anyone heat formed Gem plastic?
I want to get an 1/8" more clearance on an inner fender lip.
It could be pulled back with a mounting bolt, but if the plastic could learn a slightly new shape, it would be a neater fix.
Preliminary test seems ok. If I get serious with more heat it should reform.
All-thread rod where slotted bolt head is, back to frame. Heat and pull back.
Moved it 1/4". Might be all I need.
The Clear Coat on my 2002 is thicker than most fenders on other cars. It got so it had bubbled up all over and is the thickest I have ever seen
Just noticed that my 2008 has an inch more clearance to the fender.
Wheels seem forward a little more.
You are in a world of hurt! Some have posted here regarding what a mess of a problem it is to get that “clear Coat” (which it is not) and sand prep and re paint it. It is part of the factory manufactured body and not just sprayed on by the factory as newer automobiles. To get it to where you can repaint the items you have hours of scraping and gallons of paint solvent ahead…
It will be much easier labor wise to buy new or used body parts if you can find them or sell the car. Did you just buy this “gem”.
Good luck with this job. Do you have a heated garage to work on this project? You will be spending some time their…
Kind regards,
Jerry
so far the heat gun has been my biggest friend I would say 80% has come off with just that. Get it just warm enough that it releases but not hot enough to bond again. I actually think the clear coat is a low temp powder coating.
Interesting low temp Powder coat although I’ve never heard of it it wouldn’t surprise me because I don’t think you could spray that much clear out of a conventional spray gun and still not have the clear the optically perfect.
And your observation of using the heat gun at a temperature hot enough to release the clear but not hot enough re And your observation of using the heat gun at a temperature hot enough to release the clear but not hot enough re activate