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Plastic Types used on Honda ATVs

15K views 5 replies 5 participants last post by  toodeep  
#1 ·
I have a Honda Foreman 450 and want to try and plastic weld the air box.There are a lot of expensive parts used to create the seals and I wanted to try a repair before I started trying to pull the seals and boots to replace the box. I am trying to re-connect a mounting tab/wing that broke and need to use a plastic welding rod of the same plastic type to fuse stainless mesh for reinforcement.

Can someone tell me with a good degree of certainty what plastic material the black air box is made?

I have searched the boards and so far the closest guess is polypropylene but this was information about a different make and different component for a street bike.

If anyone could provide some insight I would greatly appreciate your time! Also, if someone is able to provide the plastic types of other major parts it would be a benefit for myself and others down the road. I believe the colored parts of the fenders are ABS while the black extensions would be similar to the air box although much more flexible.

BTW if anyone knows how to contact a division of Honda that can and will provide technical details of this nature (not OEM part lookup only) please let me know.

Thanks for any help!
Sean






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#2 ·
i would just replace the air box no sense in wasting time/money with epoxy's that might work or might not work a new box isnt that much
 
#3 ·
I spend most of my time in a body shop and I used a product made by 3m called 8115 to modify my air box to my snorkel. The stuff will adhere to most any type of plastic. It's also durable as anything I've ever seen. I know for a fact it will fix the tabs on the air box. It's an epoxy and its 40 bucks a tube so it may not be cost effective
 
#5 ·
Thank you for the follow up help. If the epoxy has a good shelf life after being opened that sounds like a good product to have around the house for repairs.

In this case I am going to first attempt to plastic weld the tab. Plastic welding involves using a tool similar to a soldering iron to melt the plastic and allow it to re-bond. When necessary you use a plastic welding rod of the same material to fill gaps for sanding. In my case I will not be trying to leave a flawless finish but need to know the material for the heat setting. The list above should be perfect for determine the material. If i run into problems I will use the replacement air box I purchased but prefer not to disconnect all the seals as more parts could break due to age like the tab.

Sean



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#6 ·
Look up a burn test for plastic welding, that will tell what type of plastic it is. That is all I have ever done to determine the type of plastic. I haven't done any plastic welding in 3-4 years though. I have some things to fix so I just ordered a plastic welder again. I have always used the air/electric welders with the rod.