OH NO!!! MY HATCH!!!

[peggyearlchris]

Nic,You can do it. I know you can. That's what I keep telling myself anyway Get it done! Peg

[Nic]

If there are horizontal cracks in the skin, that doesn't mean it has anything to with the ribs and springback:

Unless they're REVERSE cracks.

My guess is that because of that tight curve/radius there, it's just the skin material being used that didn't hold up, and the epoxy fix seems like the best solution.

Where exactly is it cracking?

Hey Ira. Its cracking on the skin from not taking my time and letting it bend. But the BAD crack is on the left vertical part of the frame. Right where i have a screw at. I gave liquid nails a shot at holding that fram crack together but it didnt work. THAT crack came from the twisting of the hatch.

[Nic]

.......... Anyone wanna build it for me!? HAHAHA! .........

Just send a ticket and give me a couple weeks to arrange vacation!!!

You and all of my out of state family always "visiting" lol

[Nic]

:) Nic,You can do it. I know you can. That's what I keep telling myself anyway Get it done! Peg

Thanks Peg! Im sure if it comes to building a new hatch i can handle it just fine. But i sure would like a "fix all" to the hatch i have.

[Nic]

Nic... Yeah, you could make a new hatch and build it stronger; but that one looks fixable to me. About a quart of epoxy and some fiberglass or use some fumed silica or milled fiber filler in the epoxy... making some fillets in all the joints will make for some very strong joints. Then skin the inside, gluing it to the spars with PL urethane... And, add a new skin on top of the outside the same way.

I'm sure others will chime in with good ideas too, but that's about how I would do it. Good luck with your project... Nice lookin tear.

http://www.raka.com/Fillers.html

Hmm.... fillets...... what are those? Oh and thanks! It sure turns heads going down the road.

[Guy]

Dear Nic,

Here is a link to Mas Epoxies Epoxy School on their site.
It will explain everything. I just wish I were a better student. Raka.com has a good help section on the link posted above.


http://www.masepoxies.com/public/index.cfm?fuseaction=articles.view&id=2311&publicationtype=How-To


Nic, Here is a link to a video that Mas Epoxies has for making fillets. I wish I saw this a while ago.

http://www.masepoxies.com/public/index.cfm?fuseaction=articles.view&id=2304&publicationtype=Videos

[toypusher]

Nic,

Your said (if I remember right) that you already have two skins on the outside. It may be better to just rebuild it with the suggestions provided like the Generic Benroy hatch. You can build a new on that is stronger and much lighter than your current one. Build like the GBR and 'glass' the outside and put insulation and and interior skin,\.

JMHO! YMMV!

[Sam I am]

Nic, Here's an idea for a repair. Remove the screw from the hole where the crack in the rib is, then cut 3/4" off the end of the spar inside the hatch. A reciprocating saw might work well for that if you're careful! Make a rib doubler about a foot long from 3/4" plywood, and glue (lots of it!) and screw it to the inside surface of the rib with its center at the spar. The doubler should now be tight against the end of the shortened spar. Re-insert the original screw through the rib and doubler into the spar. You could then sheet the inside of the hatch, which would cover up the repair. You might even want to do the same thing on the opposite side rib. Epoxy would probably fix the cracked sheeting.
It would be easier than making a new hatch.
Sam

[Nic]

Hey sam thats a good idea! I think im going to look into this epoxy stuff. But to tell ya the truth. The more i think about a re-build. The more i think about how i could make a place for the tag and better looking tail lites. SOoo... im still thinking.