Congratulations on your purchase of Polyvance’s Kenworth T880 hood repair kit forrepairing damaged hood strut mounts. With proper installation, the repair will lastfor years, saving you the cost of purchasing and installing a new hood.
Tools and supplies required (Not Included):
1000 Super Prep of 1001-4 EcoPrep Plastic Cleaner
Permanent Marker
Tape Measure or a ruler
Dust mask and gloves
Die grinder with a cut-off wheel or aDremel style rotary tool with a cutoff wheel
25 to 60 grit Roloc disks and Roloc sander
40 to 60 grit sandpaper
Drill with a 9/64” drill bit
Ratchet wrench with 9/16” or 14 mmsocket
Low strength thread locker
3M style dual cartridge adhesive gun
Body spreader or plastic putty knife
#2 phillips head screwdriver
Clean the area to be repaired with soapand water, then 1000 Super Prep or 1001-4EcoPrep to remove all contaminants fromthe surface. Gently force dry the area with aheat gun if necessary.
Measure approximately 1” up from the flatsurface of the hood and draw a cut line allthe way around the strut mount bulge.
In a well-ventilated area, use a rotary toolwith a cut off wheel to remove the top of thebulge
Removing the top of the bulge providesclearance for the reinforcing ribs on therepair plate to clear the hood, allowing theplate to be fully seated onto the hood’ssurface. The 1” (2.5 cm) wall provides extrabonding area between the plate and thehood.
Test fit the plate to be sure it can be fullyseated onto the hood. It should be snug, butif it does not seat with moderate pressure,trim a little more of the hood away until it canbe fully seated.
With the reinforcing plate on the hood, tracearound it with a permanent marker to markthe area to be sanded.
Sand the hood’s surface with 25 to 60 gritsandpaper on a Roloc disk to remove thepaint and any oxidized plastic. Sand untilthe area inside the traced line shows 100%fresh, sanded plastic. Hand sanding may berequired in some areas due to the complexshape of the hood.
Aggressively sand the inside surface of thealuminum reinforcement plate with 25 to60 grit sandpaper on a Roloc disk. Sandevery surface that will touch the hood untilthe sanding scratches have 100% coverage.It’s very important to leave no unsandedsurface where adhesive will be applied onboth the plate and the hood. Hand sandingparts of the reinforcing plate will also berequired in this step.
Place the reinforcing plate back on thehood and double check the fit. Make surethe plate can be fully seated over the entiresurface and there are no large gaps at theedge of the plate where it meets the hood.PlastiFix is a very strong adhesive and willwork well filling gaps up to about 1/8” wide,so perfection isn’t needed. If there are largegaps, further trimming of the hood may berequired to clear the aluminum reinforcingribs.
Once confirming the reinforcing plate canbe fully seated, use the plate as a guidefor marking the 6 locations for drilling 9/64”holes. The plate itself can be used as a drillguide, or drill at the marks as we have donehere.
Before bonding the reinforcing plate to thehood, install the OEM bracket onto thereinforcing plate using the included 1-3/4”bolts, flat washer and lock washer, with thefork facing the large side of the bulge. A fewdrops of low strength thread locker on thebolts is recommended to reduce corrosion ofthe bolt in the threaded hole.
Blow the dust off the mating surfaces andclean a second time with 1000 Super Prepor 1001-4 EcoPrep. Wipe dry with a cleandry cloth. Make sure the surfaces arecompletely dry before proceeding to thenext step.
Apply a generous amount of adhesive tothe surface of the sanded area on the hood.Use a body spreader to cover the entirearea.
Apply an even larger amount of adhesiveto the reinforcing plate, zig-zagging acrossentire sanded surface.
Place the reinforcing plate onto the hood.Secure it using six (6) #10 x 1 screws.Gently snug the screws when first installingthem. Making them tight immediately cancause uneven distribution of the adhesiveand may cause the plate to be seatedimproperly. Tighten the screws in a starpattern, the same way you would tightenlug nuts on a wheel, until an even bead ofadhesive squeezes out along the perimeterof the plate. Do not over-tighten. If thereare any gaps after the screws are tight,squeeze more adhesive into the gap untilits full.
After curing a minimum of 4hours at room temperature,or 24 hours for full strength,it’s safe to attach the hoodstruts. Be sure the hoodstruts are functioning properlybefore mounting them, asthis is typically the reasonthe mounts failed in the firstplace.
