Fill Old Screw Holes?

Geek's 65 · 12-23-04, 05:04 PM

The guy who had my car before me was a firm believer in the "Bigger is Better" theory. Especially when it came to screws in fiberglass. Strip it? Hey no problem. Get a bigger screw. Is there something (epoxy, JB Weld) that you fiberglass pros use to fill the old screw holes in order to put back the original size screw?

Thanks ahead of time for all the suggestions.

John Mcgraw · 12-23-04, 06:05 PM

Unfortunately, anything you use to fill the holes with will pop out when you screw the new screw in unless you glass up the hole. This requires you to dish out the hole on both sides with a grinder and then glass up the depressions, and sand back to level. Another quick fix that I use, is to countersink both sides of the hole, put masking tape on the back side of the hole and fill the hole with bonding adhesive with a body filler applicator. This will leave a repair that needs little sanding, and will not pop out since it is countersunk on both sides. You still cannot run a new screw through it, but you can drill another hole right next to it, and in most cases no one will ever know the difference! If the holes are blind holes that can't be seen on the backside (like sill plate screws), plastic wall anchors work very well.

Regards, John McGraw

skids · 12-23-04, 10:36 PM

I've had good results with JBWeld on my halo and rear glass trim screws. It is possible to ram some in the hole far enough to give it some bite, then I applied it over the hole approx one inch wide, kinda thick, so as not to interfere with trim, then redrill new hole.

WayneC · 12-24-04, 02:38 AM

If the screw holes are for holding the door panels, or other similar holes where the backside of the hole is accessible but the hole is not an appearance issue on either side of the panel, you could take a flat speednut that fits the screw you want to use and epoxy it to the backside of the panel.

JohnZ · 12-26-04, 03:02 PM

In addition to plastic wall anchors, I've used LOTS of the steel plates in Corvette Central's "Mount Hole Repair Kit"; they're about 1/2"x 1-1/4", with two pre-drilled holes for 1/8" pop-rivets (included). You drill holes for the pop rivets and attach the plates to the back side of the panel you're working on, then drill the proper size hole in the plate (through the oversize hole you're fixing) for the screw, and you're good to go. Excellent permanent repair for self-tapping screw applications, especially for door inner panels.

Donny Brass · 12-27-04, 10:02 AM

I hate to admit this in public, but I fixed a lot of screw holes in fiberglass with a box of large paper clips

Take the paperclip, cut a peice off and bend it so it hangs in the hole.

This adds a little soft material for hte screw to hold onto in the hole.

I have used up to 3 peices in really enlarged holes and have never seen one come loose. What the NCRS does not see can't hurt you, right ??

BarryK · 12-27-04, 10:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Donny Brass

I hate to admit this in public, but I fixed a lot of screw holes in fiberglass with a box of large paper clips

Take the paperclip, cut a peice off and bend it so it hangs in the hole.

This adds a little soft material for hte screw to hold onto in the hole.

I have used up to 3 peices in really enlarged holes and have never seen one come loose. What the NCRS does not see can't hurt you, right ??

ahhh, reading this reminds me of all the times we had to fix stripped out screws on my buddy's boat on the interior of the cabin. We always drove that boat so hard that screws were always stripping out of the interior wood panels and we would 'fix' them with wooden toothpicks. slide one or two toothpicks in the stripped out screwhole, put te fresh screw in and the toothpicks gave the screw something to grab onto. I wasn't sure about this the first time he showed me that but it worked very well actually and we did it like that each time afterwards.

We abused the hell out of that boat of his while he had it but had so much fun doing it! It was great when the water would get really rough and choppy out on the bay and even the serious 30' - 40' offshore racing boats would slow down and take it easy, we just redlined the throttle and held on. We would spend more time in the air than in the water on those days! The offshore racing guys would look at us like we were crazy as we flew past them.

That little 20 footer of his was sure a lot of fun.

Geek's 65 · 12-27-04, 12:09 PM

Thank all of you so much. I knew I came to the right place for the answer to this. My biggest offender are my doors and am certain that where one of these solutions won't quite pan out, another one will.