[V8] Old plastic....grrrrrrrrrrrr

[Mike Arman]

>  "Roger M. Woodbury" <rmwoodbury at roadrunner.com>
> Subject: [V8] Old plastic....grrrrrrrrrrrr
> To: <v8 at audifans.com>
> Message-ID: <17CCE11A77C946BABD83E0DD40DC7B6A at roger6a391dba0>
> Content-Type: text/plain;	charset="us-ascii"
>
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> Warmed all the way up to 38 here today, so I decided to tackle the problem
> The trim panel is composed of three pieces, all of which are held together
> by stupid screws and the best that I can say is that UNlike the typical
> German fashion, are not seventy in number with equal numbers of odd shaped
> washers.  But the some of the screws are pulled through their mating
> surfaces, and at least one third o fthe obnoxious plastic plugs that hold
> the bottom of the panels to the steel of the tailgate are broken or broke
> when I pulled them out.  Grrrrrrrrrrrrr.
>
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>
> Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.  And once I have that and get it in place, I will have
> to get all the friggin' plastic panels back in place.
>
>
>

Cessna plastic interior panels are every bit as bad - they are very thin so they will be light, and 
they are incredibly fragile. They are also awesomely expensive, and even if you pay big bucks for 
them, they have to be trimmed to fit. Cessna also uses this same sunlight-biodegradable plastic on 
wingtips, elevator and rudder caps, etc. Real easy to spend $500 replacing cracked plastic parts.


There are a couple of fixes, though. First is talcum powder plus super glue - you can build up and 
fill the cracks - takes patience. Second is model airplane weight fiberglass, it goes on the back of 
the panels and reinforces them somewhat. Everything is still held on with a bazillion screws and the 
panel will crack next time you take it off anyway. At least with an Audi you don't need the panel or 
cap to be airworthy . . .


The problem here is "old plastic" in general. Remember the GM cars with the plastic bumper fill 
panels? Look at them the wrong way and they disintegrate. JCW sells replacement fillers. Plastic 
just doesn't LAST - sunlight makes it brittle, cold weather makes it even more so. It is a shame 
that VW/Audi uses so much plastic inside the cars - and outside - washer bottles, vacuum plumbing, 
door actuating hardware, a whole litany of busted bits of unobtanium plastic every Audi owner is 
familiar with.

Years ago I had a CD player stolen out of my 5KS - never saw so much busted plastic in my life. 
Parts were around $1,400 (console, surround, you name it), I took the check and fixed the car with 
stuff out of my Audi 5000 parts stash, only had to BUY a replacement CD player.

Best Regards,

Mike Arman
90 V8Q