by chuckthebeatertruck » Fri Aug 04, 2017 7:20 am
Yes, they can often be repaired. Post a photo so we can see how bad the damage is. What follows below are some generic hints. While I have personally used these techniques, every bag I've worked on presented a unique challenge.
Original hd bubble bags are royalite, an early type of abs. The rivets are also common items if you need to replace any in the lids. There is no effective way I know of to thoroughly make repairs and keep the original pebble texture. Thankfully, sem makes a product for texturizing repaired plastic parts, including abs. It isn't going to get you a 100 score from a judge, but it's darn close to the right appearance.
Step one is to thoroughly clean and degrease the bags. Next drill small holes at the terminus of every crack you find. Dents can be heated with a heat gun and gently worked out a little bit at a time. You've got to let the plastic set after heating so you don't over stretch it and create another issue. For holes and extensive breaking, I use layers of jb weld, building from the outside in, just as you'd fill a hole in metal with weld. For the missing triangular section, you can build it or you can cut a piece of abs to fit. Abs molds relatively easily with a heat gun. Cracks can be glued up using abs cement from the home store. The small holes you made will just get filled in by the abs cement. After everything dries, you sand and lightly fill with skim putty. Clean the bags with plastic prep. Then spray with sem plastic tecture paint and top coat with their bumper black in semi gloss.