Warped chassis

[Jaguar man 21]

Is there an easy way I can fix this

[1930fordpickup]

Put it in some hot water not boiling. Then give it some tweeking. Hot tap water may work. You just want to warm up the plastic before you try to bent it.

Edited September 2, 2014 by 1930fordpickup

[angelo7]

Great tip Andy. The idea is to warm up the part enough so you can bend it a little and bring it back to the correct position. Then you can use some masking tape to force the part in the opposite direction for a few hours. I warm up my parts by waving them on a stove top, not too close. But the water method is safer.

[unclescott58]

Put it in some hot water not boiling. Then give it some tweeking. Hot tap water may work. You just want to warm up the plastic before you try to bent it.

Yeh. What Andy said.

Scott

[vypurr59]

And tape it to a table and place a heavy object on it to cool after above methods.

[1930fordpickup]

They added the rest of the story.

[Jaguar man 21]

Thanks guys your tips are all very helpful

[Ace-Garageguy]

And...you will most likely have to bend it back FARTHER than you want it. Plastic has a "memory" and if you only bend it straight, it may slowly creep back to the bent state as it cools.

Get a pan of water big enough to hold the chassis flat, and use tongs to put it in and take it out of the water. Use some thick work gloves to hold it whole you're bending, and GO CAREFULLY.

Better to have to heat it gently several times than to get it real hot and go too far.

[Jaguar man 21]

How long does it have to be in water

[High octane]

Just long enough to soften the plastic.

[Ace-Garageguy]

How long does it have to be in water

That's the tricky bit. Get a canning thermometer so you KNOW how hot your water is.

T

The average Tg (glass transition temperature, where it will bend permanently) of polystyrene is about 100degC (212F).

PRACTICE FIRST WITH SPRUE to see how long it takes to soften enough to hold the new shape.

Edited September 3, 2014 by Ace-Garageguy

[Jaguar man 21]

Thanks again guys I'll have to try it tow marrow

[Krazy Rick]

I'll add one bit to the hot water method, I attatch a piece of straight hardwood, or a steel ruler, with a couple small clamps, or elastics to the bottom of a warped frame, to insure it comes out square & straight - let it sit a few minutes in the water, take it out & leave it to cool - it will be perfect.

Edited September 3, 2014 by Krazy Rick

[Ace-Garageguy]

While in theory Rick has a good suggestion as far as it goes, there are a couple of caveats.

1) Many steel rules just aren't stiff enough to hold a warped plastic chassis flat. You need something considerably stiffer than the chassis to do you any good. A piece of 1/8 inch steel plate ought to do it. And most chassis moldings aren't exactly flat either...they have dips and parts going up and down. You may have to make some spacers to actually hold the chassis "flat".

2) If you use clamps or elastics, be SURE they're not going to introduce more weird warpage. If they're clamped or wrapped around a part of chassis that isn't supported, you just might end up with a worse mess.

THINK. The WORST possible thing is exactly what will usually happen if you don't try to foresee all the possible disasters.

Edited September 3, 2014 by Ace-Garageguy

[10thumbs]

Good info here.

I'm building a 32 Ford that has a warped chassis and I'll try these methods too.

Michael

[Krazy Rick]

While in theory Rick has a good suggestion as far as it goes, there are a couple of caveats.

1) Many steel rules just aren't stiff enough to hold a warped plastic chassis flat. You need something considerably stiffer than the chassis to do you any good. A piece of 1/8 inch steel plate ought to do it. And most chassis moldings aren't exactly flat either...they have dips and parts going up and down. You may have to make some spacers to actually hold the chassis "flat".

2) If you use clamps or elastics, be SURE they're not going to introduce more weird warpage. If they're clamped or wrapped around a part of chassis that isn't supported

Edited September 6, 2014 by Krazy Rick

[southpier]

take the kit back and return it for another. write a review and bash the manufacturer for selling you a bogus made in another country kit.

[Krazy Rick]

my computer is really screwed up ....... it won't do "the quote thing" properly