Author Topic: Baywatch Subway ramp repair using Fibreglass.  (Read 843 times)

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Offline Steevsee

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Baywatch Subway ramp repair using Fibreglass.
« on: October 12, 2011, 01:29:54 PM »
Looks like I've sold my first pinball machine.  ^^^

My old Baywatch is in pretty good shape and works well but one problem I had was that my subway ramp broke at one end.

I was playing quite happily when I sent a ball up the ramp and down the trapdoor only to hear a loud "thunk" as the ball hit the bottom of the cabinet. !@#
On inspection I discovered that my subway ramp was broken into three pieces. 

Now as usual I forgot to take any "before" photos but I cleaned and carefully superglued all the pieces back together. 
Wasn't too sure about the superglue but it seemed to hold well and got me playing again.

Anyway, after awhile the top piece did break again and although the other repair seems to be holding up well, I wanted to make sure that the future owner will have no problems.

I bought a fibreglass repair kit from bunnings for just over $20 and used it to reinforce the earlier repairs.

Was a bit anxious for awhile as the resin will definitely melt some plastics.
(using that old yoghurt container to mix the resin SEEMED like a good idea at the time!) !@) #@#

Anyway I was very pleased with how it turned out.  Doesn't look the best but it won't be seen anyway. (Sorry Nino!)


Offline Steevsee

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Re: Baywatch Subway ramp repair using Fibreglass.
« Reply #1 on: October 12, 2011, 01:32:23 PM »
The fibreglass kit is messy but pretty simple to use but just be aware that the resin/hardener will melt some plastics. 
I personally didn't experience any bad effects with my ramp but good idea to test first.

The ramp feels so nice and solid around the repairs now that I was tempted to keep going and do more of the thin parts.....but I resisted.

« Last Edit: October 12, 2011, 04:09:29 PM by Steevsee »

Offline pinnies4me

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Re: Baywatch Subway ramp repair using Fibreglass.
« Reply #2 on: October 12, 2011, 08:20:08 PM »
We used to use fibreglass to reinforce the centre section of wings on RC model aircraft years ago (not sure if its still used, been out of that for a long time). I found using fibreglass fairly easy, and it does have some great repair uses like you have shown.
“If you wanna escape, go up to a pinball machine. There’s a magic button on the front that takes you to a world under the glass and makes the the rest of the universe disappear.”

Offline ddstoys

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Re: Baywatch Subway ramp repair using Fibreglass.
« Reply #3 on: October 12, 2011, 10:16:14 PM »
Fibre glass is Awsome stuff I've made moulds of all sorts of stuff and repaired endless stuff with it.    Bloody messy stuff lol

Offline Audioenslaved

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Re: Baywatch Subway ramp repair using Fibreglass.
« Reply #4 on: November 09, 2011, 11:55:13 AM »
looks pretty sweet and fibreglass is some strong stuff so hopefully it won't break

Offline deep six

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Re: Baywatch Subway ramp repair using Fibreglass.
« Reply #5 on: November 22, 2011, 07:03:34 PM »
Nice repair mate
One thing to remember though is that polyester resin is a very poor adhesive, its real claim to fame is that it encapsulates the glass matting, so it does work well when making a stand alone article.
If you want to repair something consider using epoxy resin, more expensive but definetely a far superior adhesive.
If you wanted to go a little crazy there are some excellent tutorials around showing how to vac form plastics at home using a domestic oven for heat.
Not taking anything away from your repair, it works and thats the thing, just my two bobs worth.

Cheers
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