[TxCajun]

Bonding the outer roof back on, Part II.

After reading the product descriptions and MSDS for several panel bonding adhesives, I decided to go with Evercoat FIB-816 Maxim Large Panel Bonding Adhesive. I chose this because it is a two part, one-to-one epoxy adhesive with a mixing nozzle but it is packaged in a single tube that fits in a standard caulking gun (unlike some others that require a special applicator gun).

The product description sheet claims that the adhesive has corrosion resistant properties which I thought was good since the panel-bond-line has to be left as bare metal. Also, the Working Time is 90-110 minutes which is good since I was doing this work by myself and it took the full 90 minutes to apply the adhesive, get the roof in place, and apply the clamps.

Clamp Time for the adhesive is 6 hours and Full Cure time is 24 hours which is fine for my schedule.

The adhesive application instructions say to brush the adhesive to a thin coat to cover all exposed bare metal, then apply a 1/4” to 1/2” bead of the adhesive to the frame or new panel, align the new panel to the frame, slide the panel to re-position, clamp the new panel to the frame. I had been concerned about how much money I would have to spend on clamps to go all around the roof perimeter, but my brother suggested heavy duty spring clamps that can be found on eBay or Amazon for about $25 for a “Lot of 24 - 6" inch Clamp Large Heavy Duty Spring Metal - 3 inch Jaw opening”. Using these clamps and several 3/8” square wood spacers that I cut from a scrap 2x4, I was able to apply an even clamping around the perimeter, and I used a few C-clamps that I had on hand in areas that needed some additional force.

The pictures below show the roof bonded/clamped in place.

Next step after the panel adhesive cures for 24 hours is to remove any excess adhesive, prepare the rain gutter area, and then apply seam sealer in the gutter.