Dent in my MIC hardtop!! Branch fell onto my roof

[erics667]

The thermoset plastic roof is a fiber reinforced polyvinyl with (esstentially) a corrugated cardboard core. It's super difficult to chemically bond without using heat. JBWeld, adhesives, or resins will only hold temporarily, and won't form a water-tight seal.

You can use a mechanical repair to fix this, meaning something to "sandwich" the plastic layer in between the repair plastic. Surfboard fiberglass repair kits are a good recommendation.

If you don't own one, borrow or buy a rotary tool (aka Dremel) to do the cutting. You need a plastic cutting bit, steel wire wheel, and abrasive disc (e.g. Dremel #500) . I also suggest the Dremel 565 cutting guide to control you depth of cut. Don't want to put a hole on the other side.
Cut away the broken pieces and about an 1/4-3/8 inch depth of the core with the cutting bit. Use the abrasive wheel to remove the cardboard core underneath the plastic. See diagram below. The fiberglass will lay on top of the core underneath the plastic layer. Use the wire wheel to get under the plastic top and rough up the underside of the plastic for improved adhesion. Vacuum out the mess.

Fold over the edge of the fiberglass so it will touch up against the underside of the plastic top and tuck it under. Add only enough epoxy resin to wet the fiberglass (coat it and fill the holes). Use cotton swabs to move the resin around. This seals off the core and will create the bottom of the "well". Let it cure (dry hard). Next, add enough resin to come up to the bottom edge of the plastic top. Let that cure. That will probably leave a slight indentation when it cures. Finally, add a small amount of resin to just cover over the plastic top, no more than a 1/8 inch thick, and extend out beyond the opening about 3/4 inch around the edge. Cover the resin with smoothed out plastic wrap that goes a good 3 inches beyond the resin on all sides. Cover the plastic wrap with a full sheet of 60 or 80 grit sand paper to match the roof texture. Put a weight on top to press it all down. Let it cure, plus another hour. Remove the sand paper and wrap and allow it to dry 24 hours before feathering out the edges. Use a semi-gloss gray spray paint for plastics to "blend" it into the top.

This is great, thank you! Appreciate all the thought you put into this.

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[Tex]

Ah, I was going to post a writeup very similar to what Doc posted, but he outlined the repair pretty well and was a lot faster than me LOL

Just remember to cover the fiberglass repair with -something- to prevent UV damage later on. Whether that's a can of spray paint or bedliner it doesn't matter as long as it's blocking sunlight.

 

[ET13]

If it were me, id do the insurance claim and get that anderson composites carbon fiber top

 

[Imaginary Friend]

These tops are cardboard inside?!?!?

Guess that's why it looks like, uh, cardboard in the center of the impact site. The outer shell definitely doesn't have a lot of thickness by the look of it.

 

[Tex]

These tops are cardboard inside?!?!?

Guess that's why it looks like, uh, cardboard in the center of the impact site. The outer shell definitely doesn't have a lot of thickness by the look of it.

Wait until you find out about what phenolics are and where they're used on aircraft lol

 

[Imaginary Friend]

Wait until you find out about what phenolics are and where they're used on aircraft lol

Yeah, utterly terrifying...

 

[Tacoman]

My suggestion is go to a fiberglass repair then do a line-x over the whole thing. Claim the whole the thing. You will likely come out ahead in money and have a decent looking top with a little extra protection.

I'd go that route too!

 

[j_marinelli]

only in partial jest. My husband and his dad patched the underneath of a camper that when all over the US with flex tape and it worked beautifully.

Agree Erin!

 

[Taco2Bronco]

Which panel got hit?

 

[subg]

Duct it and f*ck it...

I'd use the standard gray too so it really shows you mean business.

Yeah, you can buy duct tape circles.

Body shop will probably charge you $300(cash) for the repair & they will just blend it with some paint after that.

If you think your insurance won't hold that against you, your nuts. After a tree fell on my van, my agent insured me our rates wouldn't go up.....

 

[frdfan]

thinking outside the box... brought to you by the mfg of the hardtop:

 

[widnere12]

Ouch... Way more than a dent

 

[Lcubed]

marine grade jb weld.
mechanical abrasion and chemical primer to prep

 

[ET13]

thinking outside the box... brought to you by the mfg of the hardtop:

I wish there were some transparent panel options for the bronco top.

 

[indio22]

So apparently a branch fell onto my roof at some point, I park under a tree etc. About the size of a quarter. Did not go all the way through. 2021 Badlands with 2nd gen roof. Just saw it and am wondering about patching it. What would you use to repair? I'm thinking something that would soak into it and fill the void and would be self leveling. Some sort of epoxy maybe? Thinking home depot, auto parts store, boat repair sort of places. Thanks!

Curious how heavy and from how high up did the branch fall, do you happen to know? That could give an indication of hardtop impact resistance. Just based on your photo, the outer ply seems kind of thin.

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