Cracking in the engine bay

PostPost by: tdskip » Thu Oct 31, 2019 4:53 pm

Getting ready to do some fiberglass repairs and I?ve noticed that I have a crack in what appears to be a hole on the passenger side engine bay compartment near the shock absorbers.

I?m assuming that is not a good day and I need to fill the hole and reinforce the crack, is that correct? Hole is circled in red, crack is in blue.

Thanks for humoring my two rapidfire questions this morning. Happy Halloween!

46be6ab9-a09d-4218-9e19-0bed8b79abc4.jpeg and
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PostPost by: Concrete-crusher » Thu Oct 31, 2019 5:59 pm

Doesn't look that bad, I'd just go over it with some matting wetted out with resin, I'd also see if the boot coating cleans off with thinner

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PostPost by: tdskip » Thu Oct 31, 2019 6:59 pm

Thank you Steve
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PostPost by: Vaughan » Fri Nov 01, 2019 12:46 am

Easy repair I agree, but i would check the front turret of the chassis to see if its rusted and moving that has caused the crack to appear.

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PostPost by: tdskip » Fri Nov 01, 2019 5:23 pm

Will check that, thanks.

Acetone didn?t do much so used a rotary drill with wire brush and a very light touch. That seems to work.

Bit unsure how to address the hole here and the heat damage here. Any tips? Just layer in material until it is filled?

f2d56310-f4a8-4662-8210-9694e696dd17.jpeg and
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PostPost by: tdskip » Fri Nov 01, 2019 5:26 pm

78bbd418-0b8d-453c-845c-476d0ba58d4a.jpeg and
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PostPost by: bitsobrits » Sat Nov 02, 2019 2:16 am

Not sure how you feels about modification, but that bump or protrusion you are looking at is there to provide some extra clearance for the steering shaft. On most cars it protrudes much more than is required. Trimming it back a half inch or more then laying in new 'glass is, IMHO, a worthwhile mod, as is then covering it with a section of thin foil faced thermo insulation to prevent future issues from exhaust heat.

Better yet to have the exhaust manifold ceramic coated which will reduce heat significantly.
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PostPost by: tdskip » Sat Nov 02, 2019 12:50 pm

Good morning Steve, thanks for the response and info. I am fine with sensible mods that improve the car so I will take a look at clearance. Having a bit more of an air gap is probably not a bad idea, and will use heat shielding for sure.
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PostPost by: tdskip » Sun Nov 10, 2019 2:37 pm

Good morning gentlemen, hope everybody is having a good weekend so far. I am planning on addressing this hole and crack tomorrow and wanted to get some coaching on how much coverage is needed to repair those.

To be more specific and clear In my question how far over those damaged areas do I need to overlap the fiberglass?

Are the blue and red circles in the first post about the right size of what the overlap needs to be? Just one layer of additional material on the crack or should that receive several layers of mat?

Thanks!
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PostPost by: Quart Meg Miles » Sun Nov 10, 2019 11:23 pm

I'm confused. You say it is passenger side yet there is talk of steering clearance, what am I missing? And if there is heat damage, presumably from the exhaust, you must be RHD.
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PostPost by: tdskip » Mon Nov 11, 2019 12:25 am

Hi - sorry if this was confusing.

I am LHD, I have cracks on the passenger side and heat damage on the driver side.
Last edited by tdskip on Mon Nov 11, 2019 2:21 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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PostPost by: alan.barker » Mon Nov 11, 2019 7:24 am

I had this problem with cracks on a plus two and it was the Towers collapsng .
You need to check the camber angles of the Wheels. Easy to check with angle cube.
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PostPost by: tdskip » Mon Nov 11, 2019 2:22 pm

Thanks Alan, will check.

As for the crack itself any ideas on how large of a patch overlap and thickness to use?

Thanks!
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PostPost by: alan.barker » Tue Nov 12, 2019 7:19 am

I would feather from cracks 3 cm.
Use only chopped strand matt and finish with Tissue. If you finish with Tissue when it"s rubbed down you will never see the repair. Imho i don't use filler but Tissue and resin to finish.
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PostPost by: tdskip » Tue Nov 12, 2019 1:11 pm

Thanks Alan.

Tissue is new to me, let me get searching.
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