Quote:
Originally Posted by cori 64
hahaha ....yeah but one of my tops looks like a bathtub on top!  |
I understand.....I have two double wall tops but they don't sag that much....just a couple of places in the center maybe ½" or less. I can see wanting to fix yours..
On a separate but relevant note....I'm working on my hatch right now too...I thought that it may be fairly easy to separate the halves but the glue they used was good stuff.....so I'm just doing some surgery on it.....it's overall in good shape just busted out where the left side latch attaches.
I cut out a cracked section to experiment on with different adhesives....
I plan on fabricating a bulkhead out of stainless steel to strengthen that area and I want an adhesive that will bond well to the SMC and stainless metal.
I tried a couple of different epoxies but ran across 3M EC 2216 epoxy that seem to be the ticket....it makes a strong but flexible bond for all different conditions...I bead blasted the stainless to rough it up and cleaned the SMC with acetone...it's curing now....
I've bent up a piece of 16 gauge stainless to test fit the angle at the bottom of the hatch....
I plan on making it about 8"-10" long in order to gain more strength.....
I'll weld the backing plate for the latch to it and then fit and weld a large flat piece to cover the curved section in the corner that I cut out....
then bond it all in and fiberglass over it.....we shall see..?
You can see the stainless piece up against the bottom in this picture....
a few degrees of bend and it will fit the contour perfectly...
