zenki lip repair?

[d3m14n]

how would i go about repairing a crack on the bottom of a s13 zenki lip? tried searching but nothing. I've been told to resort to fiberglass but had doubts since the lip is way too flexible for that. i was thinking of laying wire mesh over the crack area from the back and covering it with industrial grade glue. and maybe even bondoing the front to fill in the cracks? what do you guys think? i just bought the lip and would like to fix it up to mount. any help would be much appreciated. thanks.

[TOMKAIRA93]

Regardless of what you use, if you hit it, its going to crack. I mean...if you hit it hard enough. Use fiberglass. that's what I use and it works fine. Just be careful, that's all!!!

[d3m14n]

thanks for the feedback, yeah its kinda hard to be careful with that thing driving in boston... i'm gonna give the fb glass a go and see how it comes out. if anything ill just fb glass again if it cracks even more.

[TOMKAIRA93]

just make sure you clean the area very well and sand it with 80 grit sand paper about 2 - 3 inches past the crack for better adhesion. Be sure to do it from behind the crack (inside) and used a lil body filler to cover the crack. Sand it down and you'll be good as new. Of course, after you spray paint it black.

[womenbeshoppin]

just zip tie it, that shit is going to keep breaking anyway.

[d3m14n]

i'm ocd man. i cant stand looking at the crack. shit drives me insane. imagine getting keyed on your driver side door right by your door handle... yeah. you know its there and you see it everytime you go to your car.

but any how, gonna fbglass and post before and after pics when im done.

[burnsauto]

yeah fiberglass matte on the backside of it, and to fill up any imperfections on the front of it, short strand fiberglass filler should do the trick. no plastic repair (no bondo), it wont stick to the urethane, second it bends, it'll just pop right off.

[JDMClifford]

maby you can mix fiberglass resin with latex, i have never truyed it buy it might work.

[aznpoopy]

i would add

find the tip of the crack and drill a small hole. that should stop the crack from growing.

[d3m14n]

aznpoopy could you expand? what do you mean drill a hole on the tip of the crack?

[aznpoopy]

its something i picked up from an old air force mechanic buddy who did some stress repair or something or other on military airplanes

if you have a standard crack, vibrations and slight motion will cause the crack to expand. if you have ever had a small crack on your windshield you see how this works. the crack tends to 'grow.'

by drilling a hole into the head of a crack, it stops the crack from growing. it's called "stop drilling."

i've done this myself and it works. i have a pair of fiberglass skirts in my room that were splitting in the middle in the worst way possible. they were not glued. if you twisted them slightly you could hear that shit cracking. once stop drilled the cracks no longer extend from every slight movement. then i epoxied that shit back together, etc.

[HyperTek]

how low is your car and how big is hte crack?

it might not be worth spending the time if your car is low.. those lips scrap all over the place =p

[JDM671]

I used a bumper repair kit. Not sure what brand but it is really flexible and it worked. I put some fiberglass matte to reinforce it. :D

[d3m14n]

@aznpoopy
so you mean to say drill it where the crack has ended? (the point furthest from the edge) if so that makes sense. thanks for the advice.

@hypertek
i've had the same lip on but sold it a while back. i bought another one to put on again cause i missed it so much. my old one wasnt cracked but i done gone sold it. the new one is cracked so i want to repair it before putting it back on.

even though there are ginormous potholes here in boston, i have always been good about keeping it off the ground. car isnt slammed.

---
and thanks everyone for their input... gonna fbglass this baby once i get some free time over the weekend. look out for the pics.

[Jus Skott]

man what did you hit? I have a piggy lip on mine and i an wearing holes from the bottom ends but i havent cracked it. even when mu boy went thru an intersection at 45 and the car bounced off the ground across the intersection. "whip lash FTL"

[hegamiz]

Any of you ever try this (http://jbweld.net/products/jbweld.php)?

Trying to repair some valances, just wanted to see if it's ever been used.

[PF ALL DAY]

Any of you ever try this (http://jbweld.net/products/jbweld.php)?

Trying to repair some valances, just wanted to see if it's ever been used.
you can never go wrong with JB's! :keke:

[shifteds14]

search plastic weld . if u come up short pm me and ill write u up step bye step direction

[hegamiz]

you can never go wrong with JB's! :keke:

Kay I'm gonna try JB's.
Just thought I'd ask, never done any body repair before...
This should be interesting lol

[aznpoopy]

jb weld should work fine but its a bit brittle

if the material flexes a bit too much i would guess it'd crack

imo some kind of epoxy glue would work better. we used that on a greddy lip cracked three ways. you can twist it like crazy and it doesn't come apart. i don't think that'd work with jb weld.

but since its a rear valence (doesn't get hit much or move), it'd probably be ok.

[firelizard]

lol, too flexible for fiberglass but not for bondo?

Anyhow, if it's not a structual repair, use a plastic repair kit. Back it up with fiberglass if it needs strength.