What are the inside end caps made of? Glue to use?

[ventport]

The inside end caps and sink base of my 77 24' Argosy have a crack in them. What kind of plastic are they made of, and what can they be repaired with? Are they ABS? If so can they be repaired with plumbers ABS glue then painted?

[dwightdi]

The endcaps are vacuum formed ABS. I have never tried Plumber's glue to repair cracks in them. The cracks are from shrinkage over the years and sometimes road stress.

[TG Twinkie]

Don't know if you could make a paste from ABS filings and glue to repair the crack. I've heard that Bondo works, but if the repair is in a thin spot it probably won't last. The problem I see with the ABS glue is that it melts the plastic to form a bond, but only in tight fitting joints. The crack is not exactly a tight joint. Also; would the area be sandable?
I know in sheet metal if you drill a hole at the end of the crack it will prevent the crack from growing longer. Don't know if it will work on ABS.

[Orlop]

same problem with my 78 Argosy 24 as well as a few cracks in the shower. I fixed them by cutting thin strips of fiberglass cloth and used epoxy (West System) to cover the cracks (be sure to wet the places to cover with epoxy and I used cardboard to wet down the cloth.

Once dry, sand relatively smooth and use a filler to smooth over the fix, let dry and sand smooth. Paint as desired.

Sounds worst than it is and mine looks great.

Cheerz

[meredith]

Originally Posted by Orlop

same problem with my 78 Argosy 24 as well as a few cracks in the shower. I fixed them by cutting thin strips of fiberglass cloth and used epoxy (West System) to cover the cracks (be sure to wet the places to cover with epoxy and I used cardboard to wet down the cloth.

Once dry, sand relatively smooth and use a filler to smooth over the fix, let dry and sand smooth. Paint as desired.

Sounds worst than it is and mine looks great.

Cheerz

Hey you.... ( LOL I must be getting old I forgot your name from the time I hit the quote button to when I need to write your name!)
anyway can you please post some pictures of your patch job and also what kind of paint did you use?
Meredith

[Orlop]

The end caps I just used Behr latex, but primered them well before painting. The shower, I primered as well and believe it or not used appliance epoxy spray paint ..... the beige color matched well.

I will see what I can do with pics.

Cheerz

[idroba]

At least two different materials were used on Argosy interior end caps. Argosy's are famous for being built differently. My 74 20' made in Ohio model has a very thick and heavy, almost fiberglass, interior end caps. They never have cracked, great material. They did yellow and I painted them with Krylon Fusion Satin white paint for plastics. They look great now.

My 22' rear door was made in California. It uses a completely different material, much thiner than the 20' one for the interior end caps. It has a built in very light pattern that the 20' does not have. The front one has one crack in it, and I can see the material is quite thin. It has not yellowed however, like the 20' one did.

I can't tell you the plastic material, other than one yellowed and one does not.

[dwightdi]

If the material yellows, it is likely ABS plastic. The B stands for Butadine, which is the rubber contained in the formula. It yellows with age. Fiberglass is a thermal set. The simple test is: If you heat up a paperclip with a lighter or torch and touch the plastic, fiberglass will not melt and ABS will.