I have an old Coleman pop top caravan, the sides are aluminum, but the front and back are a hard plastic. I have two holes at the front in the hard plastic and a crack in the back. The plastic is very brittle from age. Does anyone know how I can fix these holes? My kids love camping and I can't afford to pay for expensive repairs. The whole caravan is not worth much, but we love to go camping the kids and I.
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I know someone who had a similar problem and he repaired it with duct tape and painted the tape to match the paint on the car. It's a cheap solution to the problem and worth trying. Good luck.
Hi Anne,
Thank you so much for your reply, one of the holes wraps around the corner so it needs to be a bit more supportive. But thanks anyway
My older Coleman also came with a badly damaged corner covered with duct tape. I removed the duct tape and found cracks and a gaping hole the size of my fist. At the auto parts store, I got the supplies for fiberglassing. Since the pup was hollow behind the hole I had no solid surface on which to work. So I used foam insulation, the kind that comes in a spray can.
Why not stop by an auto-body repair shop, Marina, and ask them about using "bondo." It's a type of putty which dries when applied and the technicians then sand it down to match the countours of the vehicle. No drilling of holes (in your already fragile plastic) and of course you don't have to sand it down, just apply it to fill the holes and reinforce the strength of the front and back.
Good luck!
Thank you so much for the advise. I hadn't thought of going down that avenue. I will certainly follow your advise and I will keep you posted. Once again thank you for taking the time to post your idea to me
kind regards,
Marina
Bondo doesnt stick long term to ABS. You can make your own goo by melting white ABS filament in a jar of acetone. It because like a paste
What about using a flexible cutting board as patch? You could use the duct tape as someone else mentioned, or a product called Fiber Fix, that was featured on Shark Tank?
I have not heard of this product before, I will google it now. Many thanks for your suggestion.
Kind regards,
Marina
Since my son is the camper in the family, I ask him for an opinion.
He said he had repaired fiberglass on a boat but never anything else - so - his suggestion was to take it to a local shop and try to get their opinion on repairs and cost as this may turn out to be a big job and may only be necessary for "looks".
If there is no local RV/Camper repair shop near by maybe there is a boat sales/repair shop that may be able to help you - either with a cost to repair or a shop that does that sort of repair.
If it is determined there is no structural damage maybe you can think of a way to "camouflage" the damage?
My daughter even suggested asking someone at a Corvette repair shop for advice seeing as how they have to repair this "type" of stuff on Corvettes.
Hope you and your family are able to go camping soon.
Thank you so much for your reply, I am very greatful
warmest regards,
Marina
I wonder if you could use the fiberglass repair kits on it? Its a fiberglass tape and you brush on the adhesive, then it all dries to a hard finish.
I will seek advise on this and see if fibreglass can be applied to plastic? it will be a great idea as you can buy kits, if it will adhere to hard plastic. Thank you so much for your idea
kind regards,
Marina
If the parts involved are hard plastic? Then it is ABS plastic. You can make repair glue/filler for cracked pieces. and with the proper backing until dried. You can rebuild damaged or missing sections with a thicker mix similar to bondo or body filler putty. You need a clear glass jar with a good twist on cap, a pint of MEK ( Methyl-ethyl ketone ) solvent. You also need to get some air soft ammo from your local sporting goods store variety of colors to choose from. Fill jar with air soft ammo top off with solvent let stand and desolve over night. Stir you want a consistency of between room temperature honey or creamy peanut butter. add additional ammo or solvent to achieve. stir and let stand again over night.
Gorilla Tape may work. It comes in a wide clear tape now. I've used it on holes in the bottom of a latex pool and it has held up. You could cover the holes with plastic from food containers, which would be bendable for the corners, and then tape over it on both sides. A square food container would provide you with four corners.
Perhaps you could fill in the cracks with an outdoor silicone. The same company puts out clear Gorilla Sealant, which is for outdoors and is waterproof. Best of luck
Marina, I have a 1989 coleman pup and used the fiberglass method and it worked great. you can buy a fiberglass repair kit and any auto repair store.
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