Crack above right door hinge filled - experience report

[Oliver S.]

2 years ago I posted a question regarding a crack above the right door hinge:
https://www.forums.ncrs.org/showthread.php?https://www.forums.ncrs.org/newthread.php?do=newthread&f=179604-65-Crack-above-door-hinge
I was reluctant to tackle this problem an hoped the crack would not extend as seemed to be the case until this winter. But I was wrong.
I've never worked with epoxy or polyester and opening the crack slightly terrified me because I feared paint chips would break away. Despite being given the advice to open the crack 3/16" I opted against it. I wanted to open it only as wide as to get an epoxy resin with filler in by using a suitable syringe and hollow needle. I'm aware that this is most probably only a temporary fix, but I wanted to gather experience with the involved steps of the fix itself and how long it lasts. I only drive 800-900 miles a year. May be it lasts a couple of years and then a real fix will be done in conjunction with a paint job. And, opening it more is still anoption.
After numerous tests with different hollow needles and epoxy/filler mixings I thought I was ready. I opted for a 18 G and 16 G needle , which I cut to 0.16 inch.
For grinding I ordered some dental millers to be used with my Dremel. There are several types available (white mark - ultra fine, blue marked - coarse).
Today I've started my work:
I widened the crack with the ultra fine dental miller an then used the coarser one to the final width of 0.06 inch - the crack itself is 2.2 inches long. Fortunatetly, no bigger paint chips broke off. So far so good, but despite having tried the hollow needle/Epoxy-filler mixture several times before, the epoxy clogged and after a short time I gave up and used the syringe alone. Surprisingly the crack filled easily and as it seemed -deeply. Afterwards I cautiously removed a bit of the Epoxy to create a little recess for the paint to be used later in order to get it even with the remaining surface. I'm going to use Dr. Color Chip Paint system, since I don't have a suitable paint sample. Most probably the aquired paint will slightly be different.
Attached you see some pictures - the measures are in cm.

Oliver

[Gene M.]

Re: Crack above right door hinge filled - experience report

Oliver,
I would suggest this is a bonding seam on the forward inside of the door?

If this is the outside surface there is no seam to seperate. The glass has opened up. Gotta grind out in a sizeable v both sides and rosin and fiber strand fill. No easy quick fix here. Do it right or don't bother, it will break again.

[Oliver S.]

Re: Crack above right door hinge filled - experience report

@Gene: Here's a overview picture of the area.


Oliver

[Gene M.]

Re: Crack above right door hinge filled - experience report

OK I see where your at. This is a stress riser area. Sharp corners are tough to get to the inside to "v" out. I might suggest grinding all thru and roughen the inside as best ya can. Surface needs to be clean and rough. The rosin and matt will need all the surface area you can get. Be sure to pack tight and press firmly against inside walls. Multi layers works best. 6 or 7 is reasonable. Do the same on the outer surface and it will be as best that one can expect and last forever. You can't rush this typ repair and get the results you want. Sometimes curing a couple hours between layers makes application better.