Trunk tabs broken

[lordsunny]

Hello Everyone!

I have an 86 venture Royal that my grandfather gave to me over the summer, and the trunk is driving me crazy. The two tabs that allow for the trunk to be locked are broken off, so I have no way to secure it closed. Grandpa never worried about it because he was in Minnesota and trusted people not to go snooping thru his bike when he left it parked somewhere. I, however, am in California and don't share his optimism about my fellow human beings... Has anyone else experienced this issue, and how did you resolve it? I've tried the simple fix of using a two-part epoxy to glue the tabs back in place, but that repair attempt failed within about a week.

[bongobobny]

EBay?? Motorcycle boneyard??

[Marcarl]

You're ot the only one, common occurrence. What I have done is to repair the plastic with Plastex and an extra support around the body of the lock area. You must, repeat, must clean and roughen all the areas where you want the Pastex to take hold, no glue, no finish either from paint or the finish of the plastic mould. Then you need to make sure that the inserts run nicely into the lock area, they might need to be adjusted a little.

[lordsunny]

You're ot the only one, common occurrence. What I have done is to repair the plastic with Plastex and an extra support around the body of the lock area. You must, repeat, must clean and roughen all the areas where you want the Pastex to take hold, no glue, no finish either from paint or the finish of the plastic mould. Then you need to make sure that the inserts run nicely into the lock area, they might need to be adjusted a little.

 

Thanks! Never heard of plastex before... Do any stores carry it or is it only available on their website, and how strong is the bond? The epoxy I used last time failed after about a week, so I'm hoping to find a product with a bit more holding power...

[KIC]

Yea what Marcarl said. If you have the pieces that broke off, I have used epoxy to fix mine.

[Prairiehammer]

While my trunk lock tabs were not completely broken off, they both were exhibiting disturbing cracks; each was barely hanging on.

I fixed them by applying ABS cement to the fissures, gently pulling the chrome bits to allow the fractured plastic parts to receive the ABS cement. To strengthen the plastic to which the chrome parts were screwed to, I added ABS plastic to the holders; cut pieces of one-eighth inch thick ABS sheet and applied those pieces as reinforcement utilizing more of the ABS cement. After those reinforcements had cured, I used a Dremel abrasive drum to clean up and sculpt the repairs.

When you go to the neighborhood home center to get the ABS cement (NOT the ABS/PVC all purpose cement), stroll over to the paint section of the store and procure a quart of MEK solvent. This solvent will clean and even bond minor cracks in ABS.

 

Edited February 15, 2016 by Prairiehammer

[taz112]

I used foam. Let it dry, shave it down for a smooth fit and then screws and gorilla glue. Works great!

[Marcarl]

Lots of ideas, and all of them work,, some for some, others for others,,, but none seem to work if the prep work isn't done right. Everything needs to be clean, no foreigners in the area, no grease, oil or dirt and any finish needs to be removed.