Dog House Cracked

[Scooter7]

My Dog House was cracked for awhile and has completely separated (just about perfectly) down the middle. Curious of the best method of repairing it vs. buying a new one. Thanks in advance.

[Texas710]

I crushed the back corner of mine and had some success using gaffers tape to hold it together. Was a temporary fix that sort of turned permanent (once I realized how much a new doghouse cost...)

I would be interested in knowing if anyone else had a good repair option. Sadly, I think replacement is the way to go once it gets too bad.

[Smiley]

I actually just repaired my doghouse which had an 8-10 inch crack going up the middle. I researched from previous threads and random internet information and used a product called Q Bond. It worked really well thus far as I patched it this morning. Time will tell but it looks good and is a nice strong bond. I did v out the crack as to allow the powder used in the reaction to fill a space and allow for a good bond. If your doghouse is completely cracked I would push it back together and use tape underneath and v out the plastic above to allow for a good powder fill. Once you have the power filled in the groove you use the superglue like liquid to solidify the bond. It seems to melt it all back together. I wish I had taken photos, but didn't think too. I purchased the Q bond from Amazon.

[rollingpinz]

Hello

My cover has a couple of cracks right behind the locker levers. I imagine this area is most prone to this because it’s where you hold it when you pick it up. My question is has anyone tried to reinforce this area? Every time it flexes there, it pulls the cracks apart. I was wondering if a piece of sheet metal could be glued or riveted. Of course it would have to be contoured to cover the widest area from one side to the other. An upside down skateboard half-pipe if you will. Thoughts?

[pcolette]

J-B Weld makes a couple of epoxies that work well with the material that the engine cover is made from. One I've used on similar repairs is their #50132.

J-B Weld 50132 PlasticWeld Quick-Setting Epoxy Syringe - Translucent Yellow - 25 ml

[Puty]

I've reinforced it with kevlar/armid and epoxy resin (my engine fan exploded and damaged the dog house)

K1600_PXL_20230811_130705802.JPG (324.89 KiB) Viewed 2904 times

K1600_PXL_20230811_140339703.JPG (382.88 KiB) Viewed 2904 times

"welded" the cracks:

K1600_PXL_20230821_152446449.JPG (150.45 KiB) Viewed 2904 times

K1600_PXL_20230821_152459304.JPG (240.28 KiB) Viewed 2904 times

Repaired the holes with carbon/kevlar:

K1600_PXL_20230822_175456193.JPG (359.15 KiB) Viewed 2904 times

8-10 Layers of aramid/kevlar in the fan area:

K1600_PXL_20230823_185338936.JPG (319.73 KiB) Viewed 2904 times

[Puty]

K1600_PXL_20230828_161832618.JPG (272.34 KiB) Viewed 2903 times

Another layer of carbon/kevlar for the whole dog house

K1600_PXL_20230828_191013131.JPG (468.57 KiB) Viewed 2903 times

K1600_PXL_20230828_191032318.JPG (268.41 KiB) Viewed 2903 times

Painted with Mipa Protector

K1600_PXL_20230905_170058801.JPG (483.59 KiB) Viewed 2903 times

Done

K1600_PXL_20230907_161438335.JPG (290.53 KiB) Viewed 2903 times

Nice side effect: It also reduces engine noise

[rollingpinz]

Hello

Great work. Better than new. Curious. Did the extra outer layers make it quieter? I know it would compensate for the surrounding area, but better at all?

[rollingpinz]

Hello

I’m considering the Kevlar layers, but I have some questions.
What did you do to prep the surface?
How did you cut the material?
Are there any recommendations after having done it?

Also, sorry about the stupid question about noise reduction. I hadn’t seen the last caption.

[Puty]

I only sanded the surface, no special treatment with primer.
I've used a Kevlar scissor to cut the raw fabric and a small angle grinder (Proxxon LHW 28547) to cut the excess on the dog house.

[rollingpinz]

So my plan is to lay fiberglass this summer. In the meantime, I tried a plastic welding kit. The iron wasn’t hot enough to melt the engine cover. It took a lot of time and effort to get the wire mesh to lay flat. The end result wasn’t pretty, but since I was going to cover it with fiberglass, it didn’t matter. The kick in the nuts came when, while sitting in the sun, the whole thing let go along the edges. I was able to peel it right off with little effort.
So for those of you considering this to fix cracks in your engine cover… No.
I’m going to try J-B weld plastic binder next. I’ll report on that soon.
Wish me luck.

[eric1355]

Hello
I didn't make it (I found the photo on FB)
but it's a good idea for soundproofing
and aesthetics
Eric

[rollingpinz]

Now that’s fancy.

I applied the J-B Weld plastic bonder yesterday. It cures pretty hard. Where the worst crack runs to the edge, I put some fine wire mesh. We’ll see how well it holds up. I’m still plan on laying fiberglass cloth over the summer. Then, some kind of spray on bedliner.

[rollingpinz]

I’ve pulled the cover off a few times and the JB-weld stuff seems to be doing fine. It’s sat in the sun and got pretty hot. No problems.
I think the mesh adds to the strength and, considering, that the cracks run through the edge it was necessary to, but it creates a couple of raised areas. I’ll have to work around them with the fiberglass to keep things level.
Oh well. That’s a problem for this summer