Stiffening my lip !!??

[ericbla03]

As some may know i took my lip off about a year ago cuase it was cracked pretty bad. Well im about to fix it up and put it back on cause im repainting my car in my autobody class. Any suggestions on how to stiffen it up so it doesnt crack so easily? I was thinking the following things. First drill some small holes at the end of the cracks to prevent them from further cracking, and then either........

1. scuff up the back of it and add a few layers of fiberglass.

2. scuff it up and add a good coat of kitty hair (long strand fiberglass reinforced body filler) to the back side of it.

Any body else have any good ideas that will actually last without the paint cracking on me after a few weeks.

Note... yes i do realize that im in autobody class so i should know the best answer, BUT my teachers are old farts that focus 90% on metal repair and know very little about urathane, plastic, and fiberglass parts. :?

[pinoyesv6]

what material is your lip made out of??

[ericbla03]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(pinoyesv6)</div><div class='quotemain'>what material is your lip made out of??</div>

ABS i believe..... right. Its the integra mugen lip.

[AVERAGE]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ericbla03)</div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(pinoyesv6)</div><div class='quotemain'>what material is your lip made out of??</div>

ABS i believe..... right. Its the integra mugen lip.</div>
Hmm....that's going to be tricky considering your basically trying to "mold" a flexible material. Fiberglass would be your best bet, but odds are down the line the fiberglass would eventually crack again. I thought they were urethane?

[Serstylz2]

When you paint it just use Krylon that can adhere to plastic, thats what I used and it came out great, no primer/sanding needed

[ericbla03]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Serstylz2)</div><div class='quotemain'>When you paint it just use Krylon that can adhere to plastic, thats what I used and it came out great, no primer/sanding needed</div>

Yea when i originally painted it a long time ago i didnt use any plastic or adhesion promoter, which i will definately do this time. But the paint cracking is the least of my worries. This thing is cracked so bad it almost broken in half.

My teacher suggested putting some kind of fine stell mesh on the back of it, and using a BUNCH of urathane epoxy to stick it on there really good. That would help prevent it from further cracking. I was thinking about doing that and then putting a layer of FG reinforced filler, or fiberglass over that. What do you guys think.

[Serstylz2]

Hmm.. mine was only held up by 4 screws, lasted me a whole year and many driveway scrapes, it died in a MONSTER pothole that woulda knocked any kit/lip off no matter if u were dropped or not

[ChikagoGTZ]

What about filling the back in with "Great Stuff" expanding insulation?? It's pretty sticky and strong.

[Proto]

i used fiberglass to fix my last jdm bumper since it was cracked in the middle. cut some 3" by 6" sheets and alot of resin. held up damn good. the kitty hair would work good also but i suggest FG then kitty hair if you want it that stiff.

[02galant]

Get it rhino lined like what they put in the bed of trucks and friend did that with his lip and rear ended someone fucked the whole front end up but the lip never cracked just paint was scuffed.

[ipaintu]

ok your on the right track tho.
I would use a mesh with 2 part epoxy and maybe a urathane glaze. Once this is done in many layers your lips should be able to take a direct hit... Its urathane and regular FG matting would work but newer stuff would be better

[Shadow19]

Mold JB weld around it https://www.thegalantcenter.org/style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif let it cure for 14 hours and sand it smooth...

[ericbla03]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ipaintu)</div><div class='quotemain'>ok your on the right track tho.
I would use Â*a mesh with 2 part epoxy and maybe a urathane glaze. Once this is done in many layers your lips should be able to take a direct hit... Its urathane and Â*regular FG matting would work but newer stuff would be better</div>

Im unfamilliar with "urathane glaze"... and what kind of 2 part epoxy should i use, i know theres a ton of different kinds out there. Are you talking about the kind at autozone or the stuff at the autobody store.

And should i use the vinyl / nylon mesh or that really thin metal mesh?

[Makaveli51017]

fiberglass get yourself a long sheet of fiberglass and do the whole length underneath. get a good resin also . or get some good clear epoxy and cut up fiberglass really thin and into small almost grainlike pieces then mix it in with the epoxy (clear so u can tell how much FG is in it then slap on a few coats of it then sand and paint the FB will reinforce the epoxy.