Ford Kuga

 Service Manual

Body Repairs - General Information » Plastic Repairs
General

The proportion of plastics used in vehicle construction continues to rise. Up to now damaged plastic components often had to be replaced.

These days, plastic repairs are becoming more and more widely accepted because of the increasing cost of spare parts.

NOTE: Plastic adhesives are chemical products and are subject to the safety instructions of the manufacturer.

In repair work, the material properties of plastics are highly significant. There are two main groups:

• Thermoplastics.
• Thermosets.

NOTE: Elastomers make up a third group of plastics. These are not mentioned below because they have no plastics repair applications.

Thermoplastics

Heat causes thermoplastics (also called TP polymers) to transform from the solid state into the thermoelastic state and then into the thermoplastic state. When thermoplastics are cooled, they return to solid state.

Thermosets

Thermosets (also called TS polymers) are much harder and more brittle than thermoplastics. Their strength remains largely unchanged when they are heated. Thermosets are destroyed when heated above the critical temperature. Also, the original state will no longer be restored on cooling.

General

Plastic identification

Safety instructions

Plastic welding

Plastic adhesive bonding

GRP repairs