93 240 Speaker Problem

Ya, I gots some ideas. As I have previously posted:

------------------------------- On more than one ocassion I have touted the effectiveness of the 'new' super glues for plastic as well as the two-part epoxy for plastic (both products available in the adhesives section of places like Lowe's, Home Depot, etc.).

While replacing the original clock with the tach and changing out the various bulbs I found a broken part- to the left of the instrument cluster is the headlight/dash dimmer/rear fog light cluster. The plastic face that covers these and holds the rear fog light switch has a VERY thin area to the right of the switch. It takes a lot of stress and it takes a deft hand to remove the switch without cracking the plastic. Well, soemone before me was somewhat ham-fisted, and that piece came away in two parts when I removed the panel.

With nothing to lose, I removed the switch and at the workbench I used a dental pick to apply a small drop of the super glue to the breaks and reassembled the part. I allowed it to cure overnight and snaped the switch in the next morning... And yes, it has held together just fine.

The super glue is sort of a two function adhesive- it has a solvent that melts the plastic just a little on the surface, then the superglue sort of penetrates and hardens when removed from the air by pressing the parts together. The result is an amazingly strong repair. A little scraping or sanding might be necessary to remove the "weld bead" formed by the melting action, depending on how judicious you were with the application of the glue.

Locktite makes it now and it comes with a second tube which is sort of a little marker pen with a chisel felt tip that applies an "activator" to the plastic. Apply, allow to dry for about 15-30 seconds or so, then apply the super glue to one side and fit together. it is even supposed to work on polyethlyene and polypropylene- something that cannot be said for "regular" super glue for plastics.

The console in my car was cracked in at least five places. I super glued these as described above, then sprad an amount of the plastic epoxy on the backside of the cracks where it wouldn't show. This stuff can even be suused to form missing areas where the plastic has broken away and is not to be found.

If you have plastic parts in your life (and with cars, who doesn't?) you need to have some of this stuff on hand! It really is that good!

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Now, in your specific case:

1) Remove the door panel. You can do this with it still in the car, but it will be easier on a workbench covered with a clean cover. 2) Drill out the existing rivets and remove all the speaker mounting parts. 3) Take plastic parts, and make sure that you have all the missing parts. 4) Use the plastic super glue to reassemble the pieces. use a flat surface and a sheet of wax paper and align all the parts as carefully as possible. 5) If there are any missing pieces, get creative. If they are small you can fill the missing area with the plastic epoxy. If they are too alrge to easily bridge, get some scrap plastic (old 3.5" floppy disks, cut apart, work great! Us ethe outer shell and scissors to make patches) 6) If the door panel is damaged, use some five minute epoxy to rebuild and repair. If it is just cracked, wood working glue works well to glue the cracks. Bend the panel to open the crack, squirt in a good amount of glue and work it into the cracks, then press the panel flat. Placing a sheet of paper over the joint and placing a heavy weight on it will keep it flat until it dries. 7) While that is drying, go to the hardware store and get a can of black spray paint made for plastic (if you are that picky- I am. Also get replacement hardware to remount the speaker. Take the old parts with you. 8) When you get home you can use a power tool (like a Dremel) to smooth the repair. Pay attention to the back so that it doesn't damage the upholstery. 9) When replacing the mount, try to use hardware that is as flush as possible on teh back of the panel. Place a strip or RTV over the hardware to keep it from scratching anything behind the panel if necessary.

That should do it!

As I stated before, "If you have plastic parts in your life (and with cars, who doesn't?) you need to have some of this stuff on hand! It really is that good!" SEEE!? I was right! ;-)

__ __ Randy & \ \/ /alerie's \__/olvos '90 245 Estate - '93 965 Estate "Shelby" & "Kate" HIS HERS

Chuck Fiedler wrote: