- First Name
- John
- Joined
- Mar 22, 2021
- Threads
- 36
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- 1,955
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- 2,583
- Location
- Charleston SC
- Vehicle(s)
- 2021 Bronco 4dr OBX MIC 2.7 Rear Locker A51 Roast
- Your Bronco Model
- Outer Banks
- Thread starter
- #1
Last month, I became an inaugural member of the 2021 Bronco Flying Roof Club (FRC) because I forgot to latch the drivers panel, and didn't notice until the roof took flight at 45-50 MPH. Aside from some scratches, there were two edge gouges that i cut and layered with successive layers of an epoxy mix, the final layers with graphite epoxy.
The decorative front corner suffered the worst damage, it was fractured and delaminated, although there is no coring in this area so the repair was to a limited area. That section was glued and clamped with a west system silica & adhesive filler. The substance was injected with a syringe, so that the epoxy penetrated deep into the separated laminate for a complete restoration. Also, it is important that there be no water intrusion at speed. Once cured, the edges were built up and sealed with several applications of an epoxy/graphite/adhesive mix. This takes a day per application for cure, sand and reapplication. Conversely, you can't wait longer than a day so that each layer has a chemical as well as mechanical bond.
Finally, there are several layers of graphite mix, faired out & sanded. Lastly, the repairs were topped with several layers of matte clearcoat. This is because epoxy cannot stand up to UV rays. The carbon (graphite) is a UV shield, then topped with clearcoat for further UV protection.
The point of the graphite was to try to match the MIC, which is a color impregnated into the outer laminate sheet. I decided to not try and paint, deeming the color unmatchable, but to create an epoxy MIC paste.
The repair is quite successful and sturdy, and will be fine for now. The color matching was not as successful, I'd have to experiment with more concoctions that are also UV stable. That might include a white tinting to lighten the black to gray, or an aluminum powder, which I avoided due to concern of a aluminum-graphite chemical reaction.
Of course, the best look would be a full-panel prime, fair and paint. But then, the panels wouldn't match, and I'd have to paint all the panels. And I'm not into that right now. In the future, however, I may well paint the roof white.
The first step of the repair of the damaged front corner was to inject thickened epoxy into the void of the delamination, and clamp it overnight. Below, the layers are separated with a wedge, then injected with epoxy and clamped (above). I didnt have enough hands to use the syringe and photograph! The entire curve had to be done at one time.
But as imperfect as the home repair may be, the Bronco OBX looks fine enough, and as of August, 2022, still fine!
The decorative front corner suffered the worst damage, it was fractured and delaminated, although there is no coring in this area so the repair was to a limited area. That section was glued and clamped with a west system silica & adhesive filler. The substance was injected with a syringe, so that the epoxy penetrated deep into the separated laminate for a complete restoration. Also, it is important that there be no water intrusion at speed. Once cured, the edges were built up and sealed with several applications of an epoxy/graphite/adhesive mix. This takes a day per application for cure, sand and reapplication. Conversely, you can't wait longer than a day so that each layer has a chemical as well as mechanical bond.
Finally, there are several layers of graphite mix, faired out & sanded. Lastly, the repairs were topped with several layers of matte clearcoat. This is because epoxy cannot stand up to UV rays. The carbon (graphite) is a UV shield, then topped with clearcoat for further UV protection.
The point of the graphite was to try to match the MIC, which is a color impregnated into the outer laminate sheet. I decided to not try and paint, deeming the color unmatchable, but to create an epoxy MIC paste.
The repair is quite successful and sturdy, and will be fine for now. The color matching was not as successful, I'd have to experiment with more concoctions that are also UV stable. That might include a white tinting to lighten the black to gray, or an aluminum powder, which I avoided due to concern of a aluminum-graphite chemical reaction.
Of course, the best look would be a full-panel prime, fair and paint. But then, the panels wouldn't match, and I'd have to paint all the panels. And I'm not into that right now. In the future, however, I may well paint the roof white.
The first step of the repair of the damaged front corner was to inject thickened epoxy into the void of the delamination, and clamp it overnight. Below, the layers are separated with a wedge, then injected with epoxy and clamped (above). I didnt have enough hands to use the syringe and photograph! The entire curve had to be done at one time.
But as imperfect as the home repair may be, the Bronco OBX looks fine enough, and as of August, 2022, still fine!
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