37 replies to this topic

[chris_uk]

I used tiger seal to seal my front and rear light. Works fine.

[cosmicegg]

(as others have said) tiger seal sets flexible, but surely that's what you want. If it set hard / brittle, the vibration of the car would possibly work the lens loose, whilst a flexible seal would merrily shake around as the car moves. The real queestion for me is, do you seal all the way around, in an attempt to keep moisture out, or leave a gap, probably at the bottom in an attempt to let any moisture escape to stop fogging...

[chris_uk]

There is a breather pipe at the back of the headlight so seal all the way round.

[jonnyboy]

Silicone will not do. If you get plenty of heat on the tiger seal it will come apart but really it should be viewed as permanent.

will it not?? i think you are wrong

Silicone dries out especially with the extreme heat cycling you get. Its a sealing agent rather than a bonding agent after all. Silicone will stick lights but you run a big risk of them flying off at some point. The lights have a decent amount if peel force on them when you are going at speed. I know people have lost rears after using silicone.

[MrSimba]

I tigersealed two bits of metal plate together to test how strong it was & then attacked it with just about everything trying to get them appart & never managed it! Very very very strong adheasive used it for lots of 'VX' jobs like bonding louvre panels in rear wheel arches I'd only use it if an absolute permanent fixing was needed!!!

[FLD]

The key with any PU adhesive / sealant like tigerseal is getting good surface contact. Given the viscosity of it there is potential for it to sit on the surface without really bonding to it. This is why there is a primer used on screens, crashboxes etc. The primer is a low viscosity version of the PU adhesive which gets into any texture on the surface giving a good bond. Without the good surface prep there is the risk that lenses etc will come off especially if your slow applying it and the bead of adhesive gets chance to skin over. If you are just using the sealer make sure the two surfaces are immaculately clean and then dont hang about. Alternatively you can get primer from a screen fitter. I bought a bottle a few years back for about 20 quid. I wouldn't be too confident in silicone as it has a high peel so doesn't have the same bonding characteristics as PU. If you wanted uber strong then acrylic or epoxy would do but as said before they are very rigid.

[MWS]

The key with any PU adhesive / sealant like tigerseal is getting good surface contact. Given the viscosity of it there is potential for it to sit on the surface without really bonding to it. This is why there is a primer used on screens, crashboxes etc. The primer is a low viscosity version of the PU adhesive which gets into any texture on the surface giving a good bond. Without the good surface prep there is the risk that lenses etc will come off especially if your slow applying it and the bead of adhesive gets chance to skin over. If you are just using the sealer make sure the two surfaces are immaculately clean and then dont hang about. Alternatively you can get primer from a screen fitter. I bought a bottle a few years back for about 20 quid.

I wouldn't be too confident in silicone as it has a high peel so doesn't have the same bonding characteristics as PU. If you wanted uber strong then acrylic or epoxy would do but as said before they are very rigid.

I've been told that Tiger Seal is the best thing to use to bond a JB spoiler to the rear clam, but now I'm worried i'll mess something up and end up with a right mess on my clam

Any tips on how to do this Matt?

[anz3001]

I dont know much about sealants and adhesives but having kept some pretty large (200 gallon plus) fishtanks im suprised silicone is being questioned?

[FLD]

Use masking tape around where the spoiler will sit so if it does go beyond where you want it to be it should be on the tape. Wear gloves, if you get it on your hands its a case of letting it wear off! Have some acetone (not nail varnish remover) or gunwash handy along with a cloth. Whilst its not set you can remove it with solvent. If you have nail varnish remover it will have oils etc in it so will cause bonding broblems. Make sure the surfaces are dead clean. Its just some care with doing it. You should be fine.

[turboluca]

I have used tigerseal , many times its always been good until recent that when I done my lens it came away ! Strange. So I recently use windscreen bonding stuff , you put a thin substance on with sponge then when that dry add the windscreen bond on. They both react with each other an are solid .

Edited by turboluca, 06 March 2013 - 11:26 AM.

[MWS]

Use masking tape around where the spoiler will sit so if it does go beyond where you want it to be it should be on the tape. Wear gloves, if you get it on your hands its a case of letting it wear off! Have some acetone (not nail varnish remover) or gunwash handy along with a cloth. Whilst its not set you can remove it with solvent. If you have nail varnish remover it will have oils etc in it so will cause bonding broblems. Make sure the surfaces are dead clean. Its just some care with doing it. You should be fine.

Thanks Matt

[FLD]

Nay bother. If it helps I can pick up a tube of generic PU for you. Its about 4 quid a tube! I'll be off shopping friday or monday.

[ghand]

I dont know much about sealants and adhesives but having kept some pretty large (200 gallon plus) fishtanks im suprised silicone is being questioned?

Yes watched them on tv make a large tank just butting the glass edge up with silicone when dry they filled it full of water and two blokes pushed it off the table.it smashed to bits but not one bit of the silicone came away.we use it a lot and on the right stuff it is very strong.i stuck a metal plate to conti board with it and could not get it off even levering with big screwdrivers it was solid.

[Darcini]

Nay bother. If it helps I can pick up a tube of generic PU for you. Its about 4 quid a tube! I'll be off shopping friday or monday.

Ooh, get me a couple of tubes will you Matt?

[Bargi]

Main thing I want is to be able to split them again later to re-use the lens on one of them. I'm leaning towards the windscreen bonding tirboluca mentioned. I'm basing this on the assumption that windows need to be cut and resealed so should be easier than tigerseal.

[chris_uk]

Its practically the same stuff i think. To split the lights after tigerseal just get a hair dryer on them and just slide a knife down.

[FLD]

Same stuff, just formulated slightly differently for a faster cure on screens. If you WD40 the knife blade its easier too.

[Crabash]

I had some probs with tiger seal type sealants, mine looked well stuck but over time I noticed it starting to come away. I think it might have been FLD (might be wrong there) that mentioned trying a special paint that was also the primer to get the jet black edge back and a proper key to the cover. However I was not willing to risk loosing a cover so I went with the string stuff EP sell, used it before on PC's and I know what a pain it is to get off but it never goes hard.