Crack Repair Plate

thingiverse

I ran over a raccoon. For those of you that are not blessed to live in a region with these little trash bandits, they are tough, densely built critters. They are solid little masses of muscle and bone and will do serious damage to the bumpers of small, fuel efficient cars. Like mine. Upon assessing the damage, I found a sizable crack in the inner fender of the car. Now, I've been no stranger to cracked plastic car parts. I like to think that I can do a pretty nice job repairing plastic parts with a 3/16th drill bit and a fist full of zip ties. However, up until now, the cars I have worked my magic on weren't my own (my sister's mainly). Now that this is MY problem, it dawned on me that I can do better. I have the technology. The resulting solution is fairly simple. It is a rectangle with holes. The holes are spaced far enough apart to enable the use of 1 inch wide (25mm) 3M exterior grade waterproof double sided adhesive tape for additional security along the length of the crack. While the repair is mostly mechanically fastened, a little adhesive rarely hurts. The holes are sized for 3/16 inch (5mm) zip ties. Look at the pictures and you'll see the idea for installing it. While I built this for use on a car fender, I imagine that the design could be employed to repair any sort of crack in light plastic that could be zip tied together (please see warning below). I would suggest using it only in locations that are not visible, but, hey, live your life the way you want to. Notes: 1) Adhesive adheres better to a clean surface. 2) Size: 4 x 1 3/4 x 1/16 inches (100 x 45 x 2mm) 2) Before you comment on the picture showing that I didn't finish the job. I know. It started raining. Just my luck. Warning!!! I shouldn't have to say this, but I suppose I must. Don't use this to attempt a repair on something that could fail and cause danger to the life or health of yourself or another person. This was designed to repair plastic automobile trim pieces or other insignificant pieces of plastic.. Raised heavy objects and things made to support the weight of a person are a strict NO NO! Don't be stupid and get yourself or someone else hurt!