Repairing Windshield Frame

[Jay!]

:o I have bad luck with windshields, I guess...

I have a Hasegawa 384ts. I was really looking for their 348tb, but was happy to find the ts, so I grabbed it when I saw it.

The 348ts is, as indicated by the 's' in '348ts,' a spyder, or open-top car. A targa, if you will. Still need an example? See Alex's primo build of the same kit:
http://italianhorses.net/Has348ts/348ts.htm

My problem: The body comes braced across the roofline gap and in the center of the windshield hole by huge, fat blobs of sprue. When I went to cut them off with my side cutters, one came off with no problem (since it was braced by the other), but when cutting the second, my side cutters spread the sprue just enough to put pressure back on the top part of the windshield frame to crack it, right directly in the center.

I'm anxious to get it repaired, but I'm having trouble finding the correct position for it. When I bend the halves to meet in the middle, the top line sags, and looks awkward. When I hold the halves so that the are parallel, there's a gap in the middle! Where'd the extra plastic go?

Anyways, what can I use as a guide to make sure I put it all back together nice and straight? I really don't want to use the windshield itself, for fear of damaging the clear plastic. The targa roof might be a good guide, but there are no aligning marks at the back side of the roof gap, so I'd just end up eyeballing that, too.

So, what's the optimal solution that I haven't thought of yet?

[Jonno]

could you get some think wire (like from a coat hanger) and stick that on with masking tape or something? then use that as a guide for the the gluing (and maybe filling).
I am not sure how well this would work, but it is all I can think of right now...

I will post again if I think of anything else.

[ZoomZoomMX-5]

Simple solution: mask the windshield front and rear, that way you can tape it to the A pillars and get the header in the right position over the top edge of the windshield. Masking will keep you from getting any glue on the windshield. You'll want to use a tiny drop of Ambroid Weld Glue or Tenax 7, to weld the two halves. Once the area has dried, you can finish the repair. If there's any gap, use a toothpick to apply a tiny amount of Zap a Gap to fill the void, then carefully sand/file the repair to match the surrounding area. Once the piece has been glued (prior to applying the Zap a Gap), but before it is "dressed", you could remove the windshield and take a paper-thin piece of styrene and weld it across the underside of the repaired area for extra strength. Then you go back and do the Zap a Gap repair and sand/file/polish the area. Make sure you test fit the windshield to make sure the contour of the header is correct.

Be patient, but this repair can and will work...been there, done that

[Jay!]

I think I need a bit of clarification for your method, Bob, for two reasons:
1. The gap at the top of the frame is significant, even with the windshield part 'shaping' the broken part.
2. I've never worked with Ambroid Weld Glue or Tenax 7 before. I am quite familiar with gap-filling CA, and am comfortable adding extra mass, then sanding excess to shape. Do Ambroid Weld Glue or Tenax 7 have gap-filling properties?

I understand the part about making the bridge across the gap, but I'm confused by the order. Do you mean that I weld the brace in place, then use the CA to fill in the missing part?

[Asmenoth]

Not sure about Ambroid Weld Glue, but Tenax 7r does not have gap filling capabilities. It's a water-thin adheasive that only affects plastic. Grear stuff once you get the hang of using it...hold two peices together, add a drop the join line, let capilary action go to work and run the glue along the seem, press together(causing a bead of plastic to appear athe seems from the preasure of holding the parts together), then after it's dry...take a new xacto blade and trim away the bead of plastic leaving no seem. The plastic welded together. Awsome for putting to halves of airplane fusalages together.

[ZoomZoomMX-5]

The Tenax/Ambroid are not gap-filling, they are liquid cements that soften the plastic so it "welds" itself. If the two pieces are not straining to touch each other when the windshield is in place, the weld glue will give the strongest bond, especially if you can use a very thin layer of styrene underneath the repair as well. Use the gap-filling superglue as a secondary repair-it is strong, and it will fill the gap.

If the gap is too large for you to be comfortable w/using the liquid styrene glue, I'd still mask the windshield and use it, and use some tape on the underside of the frame to permanently hold it together and give some strength to the part before you start w/the Zap a Gap glue.