[VAL] RE: plastic waste tank repair/plastic bathroom part repainting

["Colin Hyde" <chyde@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Tom,
Your waste tank can't be fixed properly with fiberglass. It might look
pretty good initially but as RJ said, the patch will soon fall off. We have
a clients 65 Caravel in our shop at the moment that has the same problem. A
previous owner had attempted to glass it up and it failed miserably. Hunt
around a bit for a specialty plastics supplier that custom welds tanks. This
will be the best way to repair the tank. Our client opted to have a custom
built black tank out of stainless steel. We will be showcasing this project
on upcoming episodes of thevap and will include photos. The client has also
had tandem gray water tanks fabricated in stainless steel that will fit
within the belly pan cavity.

Gelcoat is not the way to go to refinish the plastic bathroom components.
Gelcoat is typically used as a surface coat when laminating fiberglass parts
within a mold. Normally gelcoat does not dry completely in air as it is
generally laminated over during the fabrication process, however when frp
components are repaired i.e.boat hulls etc, an additive is used in the
gelcoat to allow it to dry in the air. As the gel coat is fairly thick, a
lot of wet sanding and buffing are required to get the patch to match. Also
gelcoat is nowhere near as flexible as the parts you plan to refinish so
would eventually crack and fall off. The best method we've found to refinish
these components is to use a high quality 2 part automotive paint along with
a plastic adhesion promoter primer. This is the same stuff Auto body shops
use to repaint plastic bumper parts. Good Auto Body supply shops should have
a device to match any color sample you bring in and create a formulation in
the high quality paint color you desire. The parts look better than new when
you're finished.
Colin Hyde
GSM Vehicles Inc.