Hood Adhesive failure

There are plenty of stories on the Internet about failed adhesive attaching metal parts to fiberglass body panels. In this case, I am referring to the hinges on the front hood that allows access to the generator on my 2005 Journey. One side had completely detached, and the other was loose. It is surprising to me that Winnebago would rely entirely on adhesive for something like this. This is not the only location they did this. I reattached the lower part of the rear cap some time back using Devcon Steel Plastic epoxy with good success. This time I am using J-B Weld 8281 which has a higher bond strength and some 3/16 diameter pop rivets. The pop rivets fit neatly onto the lip just under the hood but require a little trick to insure they come out flat and to get the rivet gun in place. I found a You Tube video describing using a metal wedge under the gun to offset it from the corner. With some tiny "Kant Twrist" clamps I aliened the hood, held the hinges in place and drilled holes for the rivets. I then cleaned the surfaces, applied the epoxy and inserted the rivets. The rivets along with the epoxy should prove to be more reliable.

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