Fhuber

Well Known Member
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I have Sikaflexed the windshield on my RV-7A and am preparing to epoxy the fiberglass trim. I am wondering if the epoxy will adhere to the Sikaflex ok or is it necessary to apply the primer first?








Frank Huber
building an RV-7A
dues paid for 2017
 
It will adhere, just sand the surface as usual to increase surface area for adhesion.

However, don't make it too thin. You want an appreciable amount of filler above the point over the lower/forward-most edge of the canopy. Otherwise, the inherent canopy flexing (temperature and aero forces, which the Sika accommodates through its inherent ductility) will allow the filler to crack at the surface along the canopy edge. I have that, and I need to build the filler fairing up to repair it.
 
Whoa hoss. Sikaflex 295UV is paintable and sandable, and probably bondable. However, the structure proposed here makes no sense, and the result is predictable, as Scroll describes.

You've bedded the plexiglass in an elastomer rather than flox/epoxy. In essence, you're floating the plexiglass on a 35 Shore A jello base. Nothing wrong with that idea. In fact, I think it to be an excellent choice in some applications, notably the long RV-8 rear canopy-to-frame joint.

However, if I understand correctly, here you're then trying to add a much stiffer epoxy/glass overlay connecting the aluminum to the plexiglass (and the sika) via an epoxy surface bond. There are only two possible outcomes. One, the plexiglass will move around (it has a huge coefficient of thermal expansion) and either crack or debond the epoxy/glass. Or, two, the epoxy/glass layup can be made thick enough/strong enough (including enough bond area) to resist the forces from the plexiglass and aluminum expansion/contraction rates...in which case the sikaflex was pointless. At best, it has been relegated to being a sealant and nothing more. The epoxy/glass is now the structural member.

If the windshield is bonded with Sikaflex, the fairing at the base of the windshield should be built as a stand-alone component, and subsequently be bonded into place with more Sikaflex, so it too can float in relation to the other parts.

Slick-tape the entire fairing area, mask everything else, shoot a little PVA, then do a fairing layup. When cured, peel it off, trim, sand, and finish the surface, much as we might finish the empennage fairing. I'd take it all the way to finish paint color. Then lay it into place, run 3M Fineline tape on the plexiglass a consistent distance from the edge (pick something, 1/16" to 1/8" should look right), and mask back from there. Sika the fairing into place and wipe all the squeeze-out to tape thickness along the tape, which when peeled, defines a nice finished edge.
 
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I did as Dan explained above, Sika the windshield on, packing tape on and laid up the fairing, removed and sanded and sanded and sanded into shape......for about a month...and then bonded into place with Sika, turned out great. Did I mentioned I had to do a lot of sanding? Ok, just checking :rolleyes:
 
Thanks Dan for the heads up. I will follow your directions as I have done on other projects.







Frank Huber
building an RV-7A
 
Dan I am wondering how many layers I should use making the fairing?

Depends on cloth choice. Glass in the 9 oz range is roughly .008 to .010" per ply, so four to six plies is about right. Thicker will be a bit easier to finish.
 
As an aside, if you have any situations where you are bonding fiberglass/epoxy directly to the canopy (for example, perhaps, the strip over the roll bar) the epoxy will adhere much better to the acrylic if you apply Sika primer first. The same mask/scuff/clean/primer steps as with the Sikaflex urethane. I did a bunch of coupon tests 5 or 6 years ago when I did mine. The difference is without primer you will get an adhesive (bond joint) failure. With it, a cohesive (the glass rips apart but the epoxy remains stubbornly attached) failure.
 
epoxy and sika

Great tips in this thread. I was planning to use fiberglass as recommended by Van's on the bottom part of the windscreen and Sika to glue the windscreen to the roll bar. Fiberglass also to provide the transition between the windscreen and the canopy. Might switch to Dan's suggested method.