I recently purchased a lawnmower that is in need of a new hood. The replacement cost for the hood is $400 so I am looking at a way to repair the old. As you can see its severely cracked. I am more concerned with structural stability than aesthetics at this point. Does anyone have any thoughts on fusing the cracked plastic and fixing the gaping hold on the top of the hood?
Or alternatively I am looking if anyone knows of a model that would be compatible as a replacement. Its a Craftsman DLT2000 (Model 917.272264).
Best Answer
Sheet aluminum and pop rivets. Extra points for using old beer cans as the aluminum source, label side out, but flashing is a bit thicker than today's beer cans.
Hairy (loaded with fiber reinforcement) Bondo. "Bondo Hair" is the actual label on the can. Some screws or pop-rivets might still be needed to help the bond to the plastic at the edges. Looks awful, but quite sturdy.
Run with no hood at all. It doesn't really serve a functional purpose. And then you can start taking parts to a chrome shop and have a real hot-rod lawn tractor eventually.