Fiberglass glue separation

[John Locke]

I've seen a few other posts on this subject, and now I've been struck with the issue. However I got really lucky.

On my 2018 32Y Vista, the metal hood stops that adjust to hold the hood cover flush with the main body is attached with an adhesive to the insider of the fiberglass body. After completing 2200mi trip (4wks worth), I went to change the oil and noticed the hood appeared loose, and recessed further than normal. Sure enough the hood stops detached from the body, on both sides! The passenger side was totally missing. The driver side was detached, but hanging there because that side has a limit arm attached to the hood, which saved the bracket. However, upon further inspection, I looked down further on the passenger side and the passenger side bracket, which I thought was long gone, was actually hanging on the headlight wires down low. I couldn't believe it. Talk about luck. There is no telling how many miles that heavy bracket was hanging on the wires, precariously flopping around.

Then I found one of the 4 metal stops on the hood was also missing, it was long gone. So I had to fabricate a replacement, shown below.

To reinstall both brackets and new stop I used JB Weld. I think it will work just fine, metal to fiberglass. After cleaning up the old glue a little, and roughing up the metal surface, one JB Weld kit (2 tubes) was enough to fix up everything, barely.

I think the brackets detached because there was a plastic coating on the painted bracket that was weak. Although they have holes to help the attachment, by glue flowing through the holes, it's not enough strength. The first photo below shows the failed clear coat on the paint appears to have detached from the paint. The clear coat was left stuck to the fiberglass epoxy that Winnebago used.

In case of a future failure, I have safety wired the passenger side bracket so it cannot be lost, upon glue failure. I doubt if the bracket would get hung up on wires a second time, so I can't push my luck. I added some insurance with a little welding wire.

I've got another 3000 mile trip planned for this fall. We'll see how it goes.

[Eagle5]

Great observation about the plastic coating ruining the bonding. JB Weld is good stuff, and works best on bare metal. Nice to see the pictures too.
Thanks, Eagle5

[Winterbagoal]

Didn't have our Sunstar long enough to have this issue, but if it had happened, I would have substituted nuts/washers/bolts (stainless steel or some other corrosion resistant metal) for adhesives, and secured it that way. A little careful drilling, sealing, and the use of secure fastener hardware would seem to make it more worry free. For me, at least.