Solvent adhesives... why don't more people use them?

**Pestilence** · 03-28-2005, 11:55 AM

I don't know and would also like to know if anyone knows where to buy abs in sheet form. I've seen pics of people using it, but never seen anyplace selling it.

**galpd320** · 03-28-2005, 01:47 PM

Well, crap. I just looked at the dash panel on which I want to install my monitor and it is stamped with "PP". I am assuming it is Polypropylene (sp

). Will this acetone solution work with polypropylene? If so, where can I get scrap? I imagine it will not be as easy to find as ABS.

This may have thrown a wrench in my whole design so far.

Coach, If you are still monitoring this, I need your help.

**FailedSenses** · 03-28-2005, 07:16 PM

What exactly is that HzEmall.com "icing" and I wonder how they altered the substance to make it work with more kinds of plastic? This has been the best thread that I've read and it was worth the hour it took to read through all of it. Keep the updates coming!

**woeful** · 03-28-2005, 09:10 PM

if you all have trouble buying plastic, you can always try the duramix 4040, faster, cleaner, but also expensive. It's a 2 part epoxy, i think it cost around $25-30 a tube. I am making a kick panel now with the oatley and abs pipe, not have any good result so far, it seem to come off easy once it dry, I don't see any bonding at all. hmm, maybe I should check to see if my kickpanel is abs or not.

**Pestilence** · 03-28-2005, 11:28 PM

From what I've been able to find, there aren't any good safe solvents for PP or PE plastics. I found a site that says zinc chloride can dissolve PP, but nothing at all for PE. Zinc chloride sounds very dangerous too. Also, from what I've seen with PE plastic, I doubt bondo would adhere to it worth a crap either. it's very waxy and 'slippery' feeling. ABS goop just pops right off of it after it hardens.

**coachreed** · 03-28-2005, 11:37 PM

Dang! I spend a week of working long, late hours and then follow it up with a little road trip to San Antonio, TX over the weekend and what do I find when I get back?! The thread went nuckin futz! First off, definitely not any reason for anyone to get rude of flame... there are no such things as stupid questions and sometimes, the answers don't just pour in the second you ask them. Be patient and we'll get through it all!

I was trying to figure out a good source for smaller quantities of ABS plastic sheeting. I know Select Products sells these in 12"x12" pieces, usually 1/8" thick (give or take)... I have noticed a few people mentioning Select Products for supplies a few time but didn't realize they would sell to the general public... the last time I dealt with them, they only dealt with dealer accounts. Anyway, that is one idea...

As for UPC codes... I think I purchased my ABS pipe from Lowe's... the UPC label on mine is, "59388 10025"... this is for 1½" x 10' ABS Pipe. The pipe is used for drain waste vent (DWV) and is usually marked with lots of numbers and info... including ABS and DWV.

The first time I messed with this process was when working for a company who manufactured the little countertop kiosks for Sirius Satelite Radio... we had hundreds of these things sitting in our storage trailers and for one reason or the other, they managed to crack... we sacrificed one kiosk by way of table router and ground it into the flakes mentioned a number of times in this thread. Since this repair process, I have dealt with a few different types of solvents and different types of plastics.

Pretty much every type of plastic has a solvent that is best for disolving... there may be more than one solvent that will work with it though. The first step would be to verify the type of plastic you are dealing with. Like someone mentioned already, many or most dash panels will be labeled in some way with the material type. ABS is very common... inexpensive material that can be injection moulded or vacuum formed. I'm having a moment right now... I can't recall some of the other types of plastics in car interiors... the PP is right on the tip of my tongue... polysomethingorother (and no, thats not the name of it... just me being stupid)... lol I know this plastic is less rigid... the rear interior panels around the hatch of the F-body (camaro/firebird) were made of the same material... it is more flexible and resists high heats much better than ABS... if I can recall the materials official name, maybe we can find a solvent that will work the same with it.

One things is for sure about this process... it's strength is superior to fiberglass and bondo... I need to do some sanding (hopefully tomorrow) and then I can take pictures to show the panel and a picture showing its strength... I showed it to a long time installer friend of mine tonight... I showed him that I could twist, bend and contort the panel and that it doesn't affect it, he was in awe! He wanted to know what it was since his dash in his Bimmer is cracking out and he needs to redo it. He was sure my work was with some kind of expensive, two-part, epoxy based adhesive... I guess I'm gonna have to teach him a thing or two! lol

Anyway... I'm glad this thread has at least opened up the eyes and minds of a few people... I'm not trying to take over and run people out of the fiberglass/bondo arena... those materials are superior in many usages... and perhaps can be used well for some monitor installs, but for most of them, I think this stuff works better...

I'll post back within a day or so... Catch y'all later!

**galpd320** · 03-29-2005, 08:59 AM

Coach,

In my post above, I mention that I have a dash panel that is stamped with the PP. I beleive it is polypropylene (may have to check the spelling on that). Can we work together to try and come up with a solvent that will dissolve polypropylene. I have done some research to no avail.

I am glad I found this post before I started cutting into my dash as I was going the fiberglass/bondo route.

**tj!2k4** · 03-29-2005, 09:04 AM

http://www.polymerweb.com/cgi-bin/message1/591.html

Eidt: You might even want to post your questions on that messageboard....

**tj!2k4** · 03-29-2005, 09:09 AM

http://www.bpf.co.uk/bpfindustry/pla...opylene_PP.cfm

**galpd320** · 03-29-2005, 09:13 AM

Well, I also found that the acetone will dissolve the polypropylene. However, because my dash piece is polypropylene and the LCD bezels are ABS, I don't think that this solution will work for me.

This sucks bad. I really did not want to remove my factory radio and lose my steering wheel controls, purchase an amp, and find a place to hide that in my car.