Hood Repair

[givetoget]

what is the best way to glue or repair a sled hood. Its a crack about an 1 1/2 long by the latch, and if it continues the corner will break off. Thanks for any and all help.

[Macgyver55]

If you are more concerned about breakage than looks, the easiest and strongest way to repair it is to make a small aluminum patch that fits on the inside and bridges the crack fully. Then drill and rivet as needed. If it is going to be a permanent repair some structural adhesive in between will help keep it solid. The sooner you stop the crack the better!

[broken_line]

you could aslo drill holes and use zip ties and JB weld. i have a buddy where his entire snowmobile body was put back together with zip ties and plastic weld.

[kdawg]

You could fiberglass the underside of the hood. It would definately stop any further cracking. Probably the easiest solution (I think??)without adversly affecting the appearance.

[jeffreyd]

well one thing i would do anyway would be to locate the ends of the crack and drill a very small hole at the end. this way the crack hopefully will stop there and not continue on. we do this in metal when we have a running crack it will allow the fiberglass to flex a tad. you could get some fiberglass cloth and resin and do a patch on the back side of the hood to keep it tight. good luck

[croixflats]

Go to an auto body paint store. I cant remember the part # but 3m makes a two part epoxy that will glue that right up strong as all get out. I used it on a couple of different sleds with cracked hoods and they are still holding up fine after 10 years.

I mentioned the epoxy last for porta sleds I will look back and try to find the part # for you.

[croixflats]

Found it. As I said its a 3M product. Called rigid parts repair kit part # 5883 there is another one for flexible parts the part # is 5895. The stuff is spendy at around $50 but well worth it.

I wish I still had the stuff,loaned it out and never got it back.