doors armrest broken tabs

[topolone]

just fixed the broken holding tabs of doors armrest and reinforced the bended and nearly damaged others. I post some pictures of the armest and detail of the tabs, because I searced for details of the armrest but haven't found, in NSX Prime and in the net.Maybe will be useful for somebody else.

 

[I_M_Legend]

nice! so you riveted it?

 

[Old Guy]

The replacement metal tabs the OP used works.

I expect that the existing 'plastic' tabs are ABS. ABS is easy to solvent weld with readily available solvent cements (not the yellow stuff - clear is available if you search). Sheets of ABS can be obtained from Amazon and EBay vendors. If you want you can cut a little piece of ABS to replace the broken portion of the tab and cement in place. You will have to cut a backing piece (just like the metal pieces that the OP cut) to reenforce the tab and cement this in place. Drill holes for some small sheet metal screws to hold the reenforcement in place while the cement sets up. The screws can be removed later if you want. If you need to fill some gaps, take some ABS filings and mix with solvent cement to create an ABS slurry which can be spread into gaps - file and polish after it sets up if it needs to be pretty.

This isn't a better solution than what the OP came up with for the armrest tabs; but, it is probably slightly easier to cut and fit ABS than pieces of metal. The up-side is that you will have enough left over ABS to repair all the other tabs on the NSX in the future. I used this process to repair broken tabs on the trim pieces that hold the door liner in place where fabricating replacement metal tabs is not really an option (I tried) if you want it to look good.

 

[topolone]

The replacement metal tabs the OP used works.

I expect that the existing 'plastic' tabs are ABS. ABS is easy to solvent weld with readily available solvent cements (not the yellow stuff - clear is available if you search). Sheets of ABS can be obtained from Amazon and EBay vendors. If you want you can cut a little piece of ABS to replace the broken portion of the tab and cement in place. You will have to cut a backing piece (just like the metal pieces that the OP cut) to reenforce the tab and cement this in place. Drill holes for some small sheet metal screws to hold the reenforcement in place while the cement sets up. The screws can be removed later if you want. If you need to fill some gaps, take some ABS filings and mix with solvent cement to create an ABS slurry which can be spread into gaps - file and polish after it sets up if it needs to be pretty.

This isn't a better solution than what the OP came up with for the armrest tabs; but, it is probably slightly easier to cut and fit ABS than pieces of metal. The up-side is that you will have enough left over ABS to repair all the other tabs on the NSX in the future. I used this process to repair broken tabs on the trim pieces that hold the door liner in place where fabricating replacement metal tabs is not really an option (I tried) if you want it to look good.

I riveted 1.8 mm thick aluminium with superglue between the surfaces , just to give an extra strength.It is easy and did it with what available in my garage at the moment

I have to fix also the door trim's tabs. am very interested in what you described and use of ABS solvent weld.
the matter is that is not clearly defined of what material door trim are made. there are no marks printed, not any sign.
So you confirm that you did it using ABS solvent weld and ABS plastic strings?
is the ABS solvent weld the one in the picture?

 

[Old Guy]

I did not use that particular brand of glue. It does work on ABS; but, it is very runny and evaporates very quickly. Because if evaporates quickly, you need to apply the glue, reapply and then re apply again in order to get the ABS tacky so that it will bond together. It will work well on very small parts; but, you will use an awful lot on large pieces because of the evaporation and it can give you a good 'buzz' with the vapour. A mixture of Acetone and MEK (the more MEK the faster the ABS melts - MEK is very aggressive) will probably work just as well as the Plastruct.

The glue I used is not absolutely clear, I think it is actually called milky clear.

https://www.oatey.com/products/oatey-all-purpose-cement--1970824977

A transition cement like this will also work

https://www.neoseal.net/neoseal_294_clear_transition_cement.html

Its not a an ABS only cement; but, works fine. Oatey and others make pure ABS cements in milky clear in grades from thick to thin. I like to use the thin. They are also available in black which should work, just stay away from the yellow which will work; but, look ugly. The Oatey products and similar products should be available from building suppliers.

It looks like you are repairing one of those plastic inserts that are at the front, bottom and the back of the door liner? If so, those are the same pieces that I had to repair on my car and the all purpose cement worked just fine. I thought that on the back of the insert near the part number the letters ABS were stamped. I bought a 17"x21" sheet of 1/8 thick ABS sheet from Amazon or Ebay. I cut a strip of ABS about 12-15 mm wide to make the replacement tabs and the reenforcing strip for the back of the tab. I thought I had a photo of the repair; but, I can't find it.

 

[topolone]

ok, so you mean the solvent for PVC that is used to glue PVC pipes, such as those used in swimming pools and water systems

so I know which products I have to look for.
about the material of the door trim, isn't written anywhere , but on the footwhell speaker case is marked "ABS" .By symilarity the material of door trim should be the same.

 

[Old Guy]

Yes, the cement used for ABS (not PVC) sewer pipes works just fine. There are cements that are just labeled PVC, do not use those types of solvent cement. There are also ABS to PVC transition solvent cements which will work and there are all purpose solvent cements that will work (read the label to confirm that they are good for ABS - most are). I used an all purpose solvent cement mainly because it was the only one that was available near to me in the milky clear color that was thin. The heavy bodied (thick) cements will work; but, the carrier for the solvent will tend to squish out from the joint making a mess and a repair that does not look nice.

Do a test close to the repair area with the cement. Wet a couple square cm with cement. In about 30 - 60 seconds the surface of the plastic should get soft and sticky. About 5 minutes later once the solvent portion of the cement has evaporated the plastic should have mostly returned to its normal hard state. If that happens, the cement should be OK for the repair.