Hole repair success- makeshift plastic welding on my Outback

So a few years back I installed the yakattack GT90 rails onto my 2015 Outback. Even with additional backing, I never really liked their performance, nor the position of the rod holders I had installed them for. It worked, but not great.

I deciding to remove them and replace the old setup with something sturdier and better positioned. First, that meant removing the rails and plugging up the old holes. Since I plan to mount new hardware in the same area, the plug job needs to be sturdy.

At first I considered just using screws and silicone to plug them, but it would be an eyesore and would definitely interfere with mounting the new hardware as well. I remembered an old post on here about plastic welding. I think the guy was using a plaster spatula, camping tarp, and a torch. I went for something that was just a bit more sophisticated, but not much!

I ordered some yellow plastic welding stock on Amazon for $11, and used a piece of scrap metal and my wood burning tool to get the job done.

The process  was pretty simple, and I’m really happy with the results. Here’s what I did for anyone that may decide to try the same.

Cut a small piece of plastic about 1 cm by 1 cm and put it on the top of the scrap metal. Use the wood burner to heat the underside of the scrap metal until the plastic gets a bit melty. Flip the metal piece and use the wood burning tool to press it firmly over the hole so the plastic is forced into the hole. Smear the material as flat as you can.

After all the holes were plugged, I used a little sandpaper to smooth it up and touched it up with a bit of spray paint. Pics in the morning when the paint dries.

There’s a guy called Tony Johnson, who did a pretty thorough research on how to fix scratches in kayaks, and I believe his results apply to cracks and holes. He tried lots of different materials. Surprisingly, the one that had the best results is tarp. That’s right - that flimsy thin material. He shows how to warm up a putty knife and weld the tarp to the scratch.
You have to watch to video to believe

Very nice. I've got scratches in my new Compass that's really bothering me. Now I can fix them. Thanks for the great info. 😁👍

That's a neat repair method.  Will have to give it a try.  Wonder how it would work on the front keel if it stronger than the plastic?

I would love to hear how it worked for folks. Right now the only deep scratches (should say scars) I have in my kayak are from going to sea when the wind was 20mph and pushing me into barnacles on the breaker in HMB. I can’t believe I did it.

here’s a bunch of photos of the process and the results.
1. Materials (Polywelder Pro polyethylene strips, wood burning tool, scrap metal)
2. Plastic getting all nice and melty with the wood burner underneath
3. Firmly press the material into your hole, gap, or scratch
4. Use pressure to smooth the material out as much as possible
5. Backside. You can see the material went all the way through the hole and filled it completely.
6. Final sand to remove excess material

End product on the Outback after a little paint and clear coat. I’m pretty happy with the outcome. It looks decent, but more importantly is strong and waterproof.

Nice patch job!

Aloha,

Isao

Thanks for the info.  I might be using this method for filling some screw holes of my own.

Looks good.  Thanks for showing us.