any ideas on how to fix this

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JeepOwner07

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So while i was strecthing in the jeep (i do a lot of driving and get stiff) i put my foot on the kick panel (down by the hood release) and applied to much pressure and snapped the clip off that attacthes the kick panel to the wall of the vehicle, and ideas of how to fix this short of getting a new one. I tried some to set up the clip with some appoxy but even a little pressure now knocks it off, seems my foot has a habbit of going to that spot in the jeep
 

tjkj2002

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Buy a new one,you will need the interior color trim code and the part is about $65.I need one also but they no longer willing to make my color trim color anymore so I'm SOL unless I find a good one in a junkyard.
 

HoosierJeeper

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Buy a new one,you will need the interior color trim code and the part is about $65.I need one also but they no longer willing to make my color trim color anymore so I'm SOL unless I find a good one in a junkyard.


Could always spray some of that Gila Orange on it.......;):D
 

HoosierJeeper

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It being broken would be enough for me not to drive the Jeep anymore...
 

kb0nly

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Get some better epoxy, i fix little crap like that all the time with good epoxy no problem.. Get this stuff called plastic welder epoxy, some auto parts stores carry it and its like $7 a tube. You squeeze it out and mix the two parts together and apply.

Take some light grit sandpaper and rough up the mating surfaces, then make sure the two parts are CLEAN. Hot soap and water and some alcohol. Make sure the parts are room temp also that helps it cure faster.

Apply a good amount of epoxy to the back of the panel and then press that piece into the goop and work it around, you have some time to work with it until it sets up, make it look like a nice weld all the way around the piece. Once it sets up enough that it will sit on its own, usually ten minutes or less, then just let the sucker cure overnight. You will actually feel the plastic get warm around the area thats being glued, and i have accidently distorted thin plastic with it before.

If you do it right its stronger than the original surrounding plastic. The only time i ever had a piece re-break that i fixed it actually broke in a new spot, the epox itself didnt crack or break.
 

kb0nly

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Oh and if all else fails go to Harbor Freight and get a plastic welding kit, still cheaper than the replacement panel and you might find many future uses for it...

I have used one for repairing fenders on ATV's and it works great... You can take a dremel with a cone shaped cutting bit and go along the crack to make a void to fill, lay in the weld and let it cool, and then sand flush and then use a low speed polisher and some plastic polishing compound and buff it out, you never know it was repaired.
 

JeepOwner07

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Get some better epoxy, i fix little crap like that all the time with good epoxy no problem.. Get this stuff called plastic welder epoxy, some auto parts stores carry it and its like $7 a tube. You squeeze it out and mix the two parts together and apply.

Take some light grit sandpaper and rough up the mating surfaces, then make sure the two parts are CLEAN. Hot soap and water and some alcohol. Make sure the parts are room temp also that helps it cure faster.

Apply a good amount of epoxy to the back of the panel and then press that piece into the goop and work it around, you have some time to work with it until it sets up, make it look like a nice weld all the way around the piece. Once it sets up enough that it will sit on its own, usually ten minutes or less, then just let the sucker cure overnight. You will actually feel the plastic get warm around the area thats being glued, and i have accidently distorted thin plastic with it before.

If you do it right its stronger than the original surrounding plastic. The only time i ever had a piece re-break that i fixed it actually broke in a new spot, the epox itself didnt crack or break.


thanks for the advice, i probably didnt let the epoxy set up long enough when i tried it either, as i was impatient and wanted it fix, just bought the Libby 3 months ago, and already broke that kick panel and slamed the passenger sideview mirror into the side of my garage while trying to back in, (its a small garage)
 

kb0nly

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Swing the mirrors in! Yeah i know its a pain to get out and flip them in though...
 
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