Warped plastic trim repair

[Glen Davis]

In my J the plastic trim around them windows is covered with a material to match the seats. The trim around the windows has warped, I assume by heat from the sun. I was thinking about trying to de-warp them with a hair dryer or heat gun. Has anyone had any luck with warped plastic repair?  Glen

[anthonydesmet]

Hah!  Welcome to the club.  I just finished pulling all my panels and repaired plastic and “unwarped” the edges.  I found the best way was to use Bruce Yeager’s plastic repair kit and I used his aluminum repair tape.  
 

You can cut the aluminum into strips then bend them in half so they are about the width of the silicone edging that goes around the inside of the plastic that meets the window.

You will cover the aluminum with new silicone edging.  When the aluminum strips are on the edge of the plastic you can bend/shape as required to take the warps out of the plastic and now the plastic is ridged due to being aluminum reinforced.

[RLCarter]

I’ve had good luck with a heat gun, paint stir sticks and spring clamps. Use caution when heating the plastics as not to burn/blister it, use 2 stir sticks so the clamps don’t cause dimple. Cracks and holes can be repaired in several ways depending the damage

[carusoam]

Dewarping or unwarping probably isn’t a Thing.... 

Re-shaping is a real possibility...

Essentially, our plastic panels started out as flat sheets of ABS, then we’re thermo formed into the shapes they are now...

When heated, the material softens and tries to go back into the shape of the original flat sheet... through a process called stress relieving....

So heating it, without holding it in the shape you want... probably will just get worse...  similar to getting more sun heat on it...

The good news... the fabric surface covers a lot of irregularity... 

Heat, re shape, then glue new euro fabric material back on it...

90s Mooneys moved into using a fiberglass formed material, covered in euro fabric,  a stretchy material that forms to the shape very nicely... and has good wear and tear properties...

 

PP thoughts only, not much of a plastics guy... anymore...

Best regards,

-a-