2005 Pace Arrow Fiberglass Adhesive for Hood latch

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PCarillon

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 11, 2010
Posts
309
Guys my hood latch has come loose from the back of the cover. It was attached with a black colored adhesive from factory. I have tried Silicon, Liquid nails and an Epoxy mix and it will hold for a short time  but then come off. Anyone know what would work for a permanent bond.

Thanks Paul
 
Maybe this will work for you. The epoxy let go on the hinges of my Fleetwood Bounder, near as I can tell consumers can't buy that stuff. I drilled holes through my hood using the holes on the hinges for a template, then fastened them back on using stainless steel oval head 1/4-20 machine screws with stainless finish washers on the outside' with 3M 5200 hundred as an adhesive and thread locker Those hinges aren't going anywhere and the oval head screws, in finish washers, look like they belong there.

Bill
 
The black stuff may be Sikaflex, one of Fleetwoods favored adhesives and a well-regarded industrial product. Several Sika products are black. Sika makes a two-part Acrylic adhesive that might be ideal for that - see Sikafast adhesive. May be hard to find in less than case lots, though. Fleetwood uses the black Sikaflex sealant to bond windshields to the frame, so maybe that's what they used for the latch as well. I've used that one myself and its a bit of a pain to work with but really holds tight once it cures (24+ hours). I have a piece of glass that is bonded to a metal frame on only one side and it's holding firmly under stress.

Here is a chart of Sika products and their usages.
http://www.jamestowndistributors.com/userportal/document.do?docId=1007
 
Make sure you get all traces of the silicone off before trying anything else. Nothing else sticks to silicone very well.
 
A lot of OEM's simply try to bond the metal side of the hinges into the fiberglass on rear engine covers etc and they end up coming off. I use a small die grinder to dig a sort of valley into the fiberglass surface and then I mix up some JB Weld and make sure it goes into both surfaces and through as much of the hinges as I can get. Has lasted for over 5 years on some repairs and is easy to find, good luck.
 
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