I repaired hundreds of cracks with Bondo back in 1986. That's what I
was told would adhere well to both the fiberglass and the acrylic. It
seems to. However, after all these years, in the right light, at the
right angle, you can see them. Some have re-cracked also. I used a
Dremmel tool with a tiny round cutter to hollow out all of the cracks.
A lot of work. Then it was professionally leveled, fine sanded and
painted with an acrylic enamel and a clear coat. It does have a nice
deep look to the paint. There is probably a better filler to use than
Bondo, but I think the method was good. I often wonder if I had the
whole thing gel-coated after the cracks were fixed if that wouldn't have
done it. You have to be careful if you are thinking of painting the car
- use acrylic enamel so as to not have any chemical reaction with the
acrylic panels. If you use something like lacquer you have to use a
barrier coat first. Good luck.
Amo (#1207)
jugeauj@gdls.com wrote:
> My Bricklin's body panels are riddled with cracks and ripples.
> The cracks were filled in by some previous owner and the entire car
> painted.
> With the car painted red (and now faded) it overall looks like a
> topographical map of Mars.
> The paint job is pretty crappy so if I own the car long enough I'm fixing
> to strip the paint off and hopefully refurbish the acrylic.
>
> Question:
> Has anyone had any experience in repairing the acrylic on these body
> panels?
> i.e. filing in a crack with the same type of material possibly using some
> sort of solvent to "melt"/blend the area together.
> I don't know the chemical properties of acrylic nor what solvents would
> lend the best working properties.
> I realize that color matching will pose problem.
> Or, is there an acrylic patch kit readily available?
>
> Question:
> When a body panel cracks, does it crack all the way through (ie: to the
> fiberglass side) or is localized to the surface.
> I haven't done any exploratory surgery yet so I'm wondering what the depth
> would be when digging and cleaning cracks.
>
> What I'm trying to get away from is painting.
> Part of the selling point of the Bricklin was the acrylic panels and is
> what's often quoted about when now talking about the car.
> So, I'd like to keep the acrylic showing even with blemishes dismissing it
> as one of the Bricklin's idiosyncrasies when explaining to those curious.
>
>
> Thanks All,
>
> Louis
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