Plastic Repair using Eastwood's "Hot Stapler"

[KlassicMotion]

It's no secret the the late 60's and 70's introduced us to plastic parts on our cars.  The problem is, these parts are made cheap and don't last.  I've tried all the different epoxy's the parts stores sell, with no success.  So when I came across Eastwood's "Hot Stapler" I put down the $$ and I have enjoyed success in repairing my broken plastic parts everytime.

 

http://www.eastwood.com/eastwood-s-hot-stapler-plastic-repair-system.html
 

I'm not sure why they call it a "Stapler" it's technically a Stitcher.

 

I went ahead and ordered an extra pack of each different style staples.  If your the average hobbiest, that won't be necessary.  It comes with 100 of each different style staple.

 

Basically this Stapler is just a soldering iron that uses the staple as the "fusable link".

 

I'm of the opinion that everyone needs one of these, but if the cost is too much, go in together with a friend and share it.  Or rent it out to your freinds...

 

There is a video link on the website.  Check it out.

 

Here is what I did on my 620 grill.  Keep in mind that the 620 I'm putting together is a little better than a parts truck, so I'm not concerned with quality of the finish job.

 

This took me about an hour from start to finish.  Before I stapled the two halves together, I repaired one of the headlight buckets the same way.  Then I sanded the two halves down.  I wanted to sand them before I joined the two halves so I didn't add unecessary stress to the repair joint.

 

Here is the setup:

 

Here's what I'm starting with:

 

First I wired the two halves together to get them close.  As I put the staples in, I manupulate the fit more with my free hand, to get the best fit.

 

Next, I put the first staple in.  Turn the machine on, put your staple in the gun, and press the button.  As the staple gets hot, it turns brown, then red hot.  In about 5 seconds, is when it turns brown, this is usually hot enough to get the staple into the plastic without melting the plastic too fast.  I'm using the medium setting on this application.  You want to put the staple about half way in.  If you do burn through, don't worry you can fix it, it's just better not to have to deal with it.  Two ways to fix a burn through:  One, feed the staple back into the gun, and pull the staple back into postion.  The other way, which I think I prefer is to take a standard solder iron with the attachment you will see in coming pictures, and heat the staple from the other side and push it back into place. Eastwood recomends twisting the staple slightly to help hold it in... sometimes I do that, but I find for basic cracks it's not necessary.

 

In tight spots, you will sometimes need to trim the staples before putting the next staple into place.  I use a basic pair of side dikes (or diagonal cutters).

 

Once all your staples are in, I like to go back with my solder iron and push the melted plastic back over the staple.

 

Once I've melted the plastic back over the staple, I use my dremel and grind the remainging staple down flush.

 

On corner repairs, I like to bend the corner staples to the same angle as the plastic needing repair.  In this case, I had to expand the staple out to 90 degrees.  I actually bent it out just past 90 (because you need tension on the arms that go into the gun, so you get electical conductivity), then I bent the arms back in to be able to stick the staple in the gun. (The bottom staple is how it comes out of the package.  The middle is expanded out, and the top has the arms bent back inward).

 

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Like I said, if this were a restoration, I'd finish the parts off to a better quality with some filler or epoxy to get it a little more strength.  Then I'd sand everything smooth.  I'm not going to that extent here. But here it is "finished":   This took me about an hour from start to finish.  I had some repairs to make around the headlight buckets

[Dawa]

cooooool, thanks for this!

[Camtron]

Looks good! Thanks for the info!

[elmerfudpucker]

NICE! I think I need to get me one.

[]2eDeYe]

Excellent write up. Thanks for the tech :D

[walpal]

Very nice write up! The photos really help.

I see myself needing this is in the future.  :thumbup:

[Jdm720]

Oh this is sweet. Grassy-ass señor!

[KlassicMotion]

Thank you.  Your all welcome.  I really love the tool.  For anyone that buys one, I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.