Repairing a Bolt Hole in a Dirt Bike Fender Using the ATV Pro Welder

A bolt hole on this dirt bike fender has been ripped out. Luckily, this type of damage can be easily repaired with Polyvance’s ATV Pro airless plastic welder. Polyvance’s ATV Pro welder comes with either polypropylene welding rod or polyethylene welding rod in the round 01 profile. This fender is made of polypropylene, so selected the polypropylene rod to match.

Always wear proper safety gear while working!

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Products Used:

Note: This is a list of the Polyvance products that can be used to make this repair. This list does not include sanders, grinders, or other common tools you will need. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to call technical support at 800-633-3047.

• 1000 Super Prep Plastic Cleaner (several options available) OR 1001-4 EcoPrep Plastic Cleaner
• ATV PRO airless plastic welder
• Stainless steel reinforcing mesh (included with the welder)
• Red polypropylene welding rod (30 feet of polypropylene or polyethylene welding rod is included in the welder in the color you choose)
• Aluminum Body Tape (several options available)

Video Notes:

• English Closed Captions have been provided for this video. Click on the CC button to turn them on or off.
• The length of this video is in no way representative of the actual time required to perform a complete repair and therefore should not be used for estimating purposes.

Music Credits:

• "Sage" by Slenderbeats
  From the YouTube Audio Library

Narration:

• Rob Rode

English Transcript:

A bolt hole on this dirt bike fender has been ripped out. Luckily, this type of damage can be easily repaired with Polyvance's ATV Pro airless plastic welder. In this video, we will describe our repair process on this fender.

First, we cleaned the damaged area with plastic cleaner to remove any contaminants from the surface. We applied aluminum tape to the cosmetic surface over the damaged area.

Next, we began our airless plastic weld. Polyvance's ATV Pro welder comes with either polypropylene welding rod or polyethylene welding rod in the round 01 profile. This fender is made of polypropylene, so we selected the polypropylene rod to match. Because this is a fusion weld and not an adhesive weld, it's important that both the base material and the welding rod are melted and mixing together.

First, we used the tip of the welder to melt a small section of the plastic around the edge of the hole. Next, we fed the welding rod through the tube in the tip and laid the tip on the surface of the plastic. We slowly pushed the rod through the tube and onto the plastic we melted. We also pushed out some extra welding rod onto the aluminum tape because we wanted to fill in the hole and re-drill it to its proper size later.

We then moved on to the other side of the hole and repeated the process. Once the hole was filled in, we used the welder tip to smooth out the weld. Once the backside weld cooled down, we removed the aluminum tape from the cosmetic side.

Next, we prepared to re-drill the hole. Using an undamaged bolt hole as a guide, we selected a drill bit that matched the size of the hole. We carefully drilled a new hole through the welding rod we had applied to the backside.

Next, we began welding the cosmetic side. This time, we melted the base material as well as the filler rod we had added on the backside. We fed the welding rod through the tube in the tip and laid the tip on the surface of the plastic. We slowly pushed the rod through the tube and onto the plastic we melted, smoothing and shaping as we went. Working a little bit at a time, we continued this process until we completely welded around the hole.

After allowing the welds to cool to room temperature, we started our cosmetic work. We began sanding with 80 grit sandpaper, moved to 180 grit, then 320 grit, and finished with 600 grit.

We drilled the hole out again and removed the scraps of plastic with a utility knife. Finally, we lightly went over the sanded areas with a blowtorch to return the color and shine to the plastic.