How do I fix this....

[Chris12499]

I have a 77 Argosy minuet 6 metre. The curved wall with the front windows has cracks in it. Well it's the curved peice attached to the wall ( sorry I don't know the techy word for it). Is there a way to repair that or would I have to replace the whole thing?

thanks for any advice!

[RBolton]

Look at this thread. This may be the same problem. Not sure from you description. Roger

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f39/...fix-34572.html

[Lumatic]

Ditto what Roger is saying. We need more info. Photos if possible.

It sounds like you are talking about the interior endcap. They can be fiberglassed.

[Chris12499]

Yes! it's the interior endcap.
How do I tell what's it's made out of?
I don't think it's fiberglass. The cracks are smooth. I don't notice any fiberglass splinters.......

[Janet H]

The end caps in the minuets I've seen aren't fibreglass. They are plastic and have gotten brittle over the years.

We had a few hairline cracks as well and have drilled the end of the cracks with a tiny bit, to stop the crack from running and relieve some of the stress.

As far as I know there are no replacements available so repair is the only option.

[Chris12499]

Originally Posted by Janet

The end caps in the minuets I've seen aren't fibreglass. They are plastic and have gotten brittle over the years.

We had a few hairline cracks as well and have drilled the end of the cracks with a tiny bit, to stop the crack from running and relieve some of the stress.

As far as I know there are no replacements available so repair is the only option.

So I should drill a small hole at the end of the crack and it will stop it from cracking even more?

I thought it would be much tougher then that!
Did you do anything else to fill in the crack then?

[nodpete]

Drilling a hole at each end of the crack is right! Then use a piece of fiberglass that overlaps the crack by about 2" on all sides. Cover with Bondo (or some such epoxy), let it harden, sand it smooth (try to put it on thick enough so that there is some strength in the patch after sanding). I did this on my Argosy and it worked perfect!
Good Luck.

[Mikethefixit]

Keep in mind that plastic is thin. Don't be drillin the outside skin too.

[RBolton]

There are many epoxies available for repairing plastics. You can use a drimmel tool or something comparable to enlarge the crack so that it is "V" shaped to give you more surface area for gluing. Now clean the crack and surrounding surfaces with a solvent and let dry. If you can access the back of the crack - back it up with a heavy tape. If you can't get to the back side, don't worry about it. Use the epoxy to fill the crack. Level off the epoxy to make a smooth repair. The correct epoxy will be sandable and paintable. This may be all you need to do depending on the location and severity of the crack. I would make this epoxy repair step number 1.

Step number 2 would be to rough up the surrounding area and use a fiberglass repair kit and overlay the crack with the resin saturated fiberglass cloth about four or five inches wide. After the fiberglass repair dries you can glaze it with regular body filler or maybe more of the epoxy you used before, sand smooth and paint.

Roger