Any tips on repairing a snapped plastic bracket?

[nicklonguk]

Hi,

I'm converting my car for European roads, and ordered some new headlights from German eBay. Trouble was, one has arrived with two plastic brackets, from which the lights partially hang from the front of the car, have snapped in transit.

I think that there are other screws which support the light, so I'm thinking of trying to repair and buttress the bracket somehow - I don't think UHU plastic bonding glue is going to be strong enough though.

Any tips on fixing broken bits of plastic? I've got a big heat fun and was considering trying to melt the touching surfaces, but that's a last resort - if I get it wrong they will never sit flush again. The alternative is to forget about the rackets altogether and try to secure the light in place with tape and plasti-ties, and hope the other screws take the weight/shock.

Will post some pictures when I get home - is there any sort of fibreglass fabric / patch that I can wrap round both ends of the snapped plastic and melt it together?

Thanks,

Nick

[nicklonguk]

Here's a photo of a pair of the headlights - you can see the brackets (two per light) sticking out from the top:

http://www.bavauto.com/assets/product_images/e/e90...

[PaulV]

I used a one shot epoxy glue with half an ice-cream lolly stick to mend mine.

The ice-cream was nice too.

[nicklonguk]

PaulV said:

I used a one shot epoxy glue with half an ice-cream lolly stick to mend mine.

The ice-cream was nice too.

Brilliant. Might use that idea for inspiration, was thinking of a disposable razor blade as its thin and strong enough, but prob a little harder to shape into place.

[ian_uk1975]

You could use Araldite (or any other 2-part epoxy glue), but I don't think it would last very long with the vibration and the general environment it would be subjected to.

If the bits arrived damaged, I would contact the seller for a resolution. Raise an eBay/PayPal dispute if you don't get any joy.