BAC Forum
General Boards => Technical Support => Topic started by: richard kirkbride on July 20, 2009, 10:42:37 PM
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1994 Contessa Bay door. The bay door fell off the hindge. it appears that the door skin was epoxyed to the hindge. I am reluctent to pop rivit the door back on the hindge. Does anyone know what expoxy to use to fix this problem? We are traveling, so any quick response would be appreciated.
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I am sorry that I do not know what epoxy Beaver used on your coach, but in the auto repair business the most widely used epoxy is JB Weld. It can be purchased at any auto supply, and if properly applied it should hold.
Gerald
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We have a 1997 Marquis and a few years ago the skin on the water bay started falling off. Lucky we were on our way home and I had a friend who does welding look at it. It seems that there is a weld on each side and one side was coming off and would soon pull the remaining door off the hinge. To re weld would require a paint job so he used an adhesive that was in a tube just like your silicone would come in and it was purchased at Lowes. I cannot think of the name, but it held well until this winter when it started to come off again. I then tried JB Weld and it held for a while. I then decided to have it riveted, and it is hardly noticeable. He used a rivet with about a 1/4 inch head. I recommend just riveting as you don't want to lose your door going down the road.
David Fischer
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JB Weld can work wonders. I had a cousin that owned a Marina at St. Helens, Oregon, on the Columbia, and he even used it to mend outboard motor driveshafts.
That said, however, you have to use it properly, like Gerald said, or it won't work. My experience has taught me to thoroughly clean the area, and then roughen each bonding surface with coarse sandpaper or a file first; this exponentially expands the area the epoxy contacts, and gives it some "bite" to resist coming loose or failing. Take into account when applying the stuff that it will sag, especially on vertical surface application; in that instance, I apply the epoxy in thin amounts in multiple applications, so each layer dries and sets up a bit and doesn't sag much before applying the next one. A popsickle stick makes a handy applicator. A heavy application spread over a large roughened area and allowed to cure adequately should hold well for awhile.
But like David commented, eventually you'll want to reweld or rivet the repair to give yourself peace of mind down the road. A bay door coming off on the road could play havoc with following or adjoining traffic, not to mention bay contents coming out, so don't consider epoxy a permanent fix.