Joelt9791
New Member
I wanted to added the admore lighting turn signals and running lights to my Barkbuster hand guards, but I didn't like the look of them attached to the outside of the hand guard.
So I found a post on the stromtrooper website where a guy cut a slot into his hand guards and put the admore lights behind the slot.
So I thought I would attempt to replicate it.
I did but I didn't like the open slot. So here is what I did.
I decided to fill the open slot with clear silicone. A quick trip to the local hardware store for clear silicone and I squeezed and filled the gap. A little water on my finger and I smoothed it over. It dried and it was not clear at all. So I ripped it out, this is where I screwed up because I got some of the silicone on the hand guard and it apparently fused to the plastic and I ended up scrapping and scratching up the hand guard getting all the silicone off.
So then I repainted the hand guards. Turns out plastic is harder to paint then I realized, the smallest blemish and it shows through. I ended up stripping sanding and painting the hand guards multiple times and they still look like crap.
Well, I gave up on painting and went back to trying to fill the gap with a product. This time I taped off the slot and I then tried an adhesive that was supposed to dry clearer than silicone. It had all sorts of air bubble and shrunk a lot when dried.
Off to the craft store to buy a hot glue gun and crystal clear glue sticks. This worked ok, but not good enough, still air bubbles and not crystal clear.
Then I tried E6000 adhesive. This worked well, but what I did this time is I laid a fat bead of it on a silicone pad that I got with the hot glue gun. As soon as it started to harden a little, about 2 minutes, I dabbed my fingers in water and worked it like puddy rolling it in my hands into a long thin roll just a bit bigger than the slot in the hand guard. I stuffed it in the slot and was able to smooth it using a little water and my fingers. I made sure it stuck out a little as I was sure it would shrink which it did. I let it sit a few hours and then I removed the painters tape. The E6000 actually dried clear with only a couple tiny bubbles.
Finished Product:
The lights are extremely bright and shine through the E6000 and I like the look even though it is not perfect.
The hand guards still need to be repainted, I have a friend who owns a Maaco in Virginia Beach. Maybe one of his guys can make it look good and remove the barkbuster letters while they are at it. I will probably tackle that this summer, but right now I really need the hand guards in the cold.
So I found a post on the stromtrooper website where a guy cut a slot into his hand guards and put the admore lights behind the slot.
So I thought I would attempt to replicate it.
I did but I didn't like the open slot. So here is what I did.
I decided to fill the open slot with clear silicone. A quick trip to the local hardware store for clear silicone and I squeezed and filled the gap. A little water on my finger and I smoothed it over. It dried and it was not clear at all. So I ripped it out, this is where I screwed up because I got some of the silicone on the hand guard and it apparently fused to the plastic and I ended up scrapping and scratching up the hand guard getting all the silicone off.
So then I repainted the hand guards. Turns out plastic is harder to paint then I realized, the smallest blemish and it shows through. I ended up stripping sanding and painting the hand guards multiple times and they still look like crap.
Well, I gave up on painting and went back to trying to fill the gap with a product. This time I taped off the slot and I then tried an adhesive that was supposed to dry clearer than silicone. It had all sorts of air bubble and shrunk a lot when dried.
Off to the craft store to buy a hot glue gun and crystal clear glue sticks. This worked ok, but not good enough, still air bubbles and not crystal clear.
Then I tried E6000 adhesive. This worked well, but what I did this time is I laid a fat bead of it on a silicone pad that I got with the hot glue gun. As soon as it started to harden a little, about 2 minutes, I dabbed my fingers in water and worked it like puddy rolling it in my hands into a long thin roll just a bit bigger than the slot in the hand guard. I stuffed it in the slot and was able to smooth it using a little water and my fingers. I made sure it stuck out a little as I was sure it would shrink which it did. I let it sit a few hours and then I removed the painters tape. The E6000 actually dried clear with only a couple tiny bubbles.
Finished Product:
The lights are extremely bright and shine through the E6000 and I like the look even though it is not perfect.
The hand guards still need to be repainted, I have a friend who owns a Maaco in Virginia Beach. Maybe one of his guys can make it look good and remove the barkbuster letters while they are at it. I will probably tackle that this summer, but right now I really need the hand guards in the cold.
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