2010 Proto SLG body construction/repair

[MrBarraclough]

I have this 2010 Proto SLG that, wonder of wonders, has been a very reliable and fun little marker. It's often my go-to loaner. Last month though, tragedy struck: the little pillar/tab of GRN that the rear grip frame screw threads into sheared off. Now I'm trying to figure out whether it is repairable or if I should start trawling for a replacement body.

The 2010 SLGs had the GRN-sleeved bodies instead of the single piece aluminum bodies that other years had. The core of the body is an aluminum tube, but it appears to be adhered in place in the GRN body sleeve/shell. The rear grip frame screw threads into a square protrusion on the underside of the GRN shell; the threads do not continue into the aluminum cure within. This is a design flaw as the GRN is fairly thin (only about 1-1.5mm I'd say) on the underside, so having this protrustion break off completely is probably inevitable.

How should I repair this? The most straightforward way would seem to be use of a two-part epoxy to readhere the threaded piece, but I'm not so sure it will hold. I've got some Gorilla Glue non-expanding epoxy that I intend to try. If anyone knows of a particularly good adhesive for bonding aluminum to GRN, I would love to hear about it. My other thought would be to solder or braze a nut directly to the aluminum, but I worry that the heat would damage the surrounding GRN. Next up would be to use a slightly longer screw and tap threads into the wall of the inner aluminum body, but it doesn't appear to be very thick there and I would risk breaching a pressure-holding chamber.

I presume that replacing only the outer GRN body shell is not feasble, both because I think it is probably bonded to the aluminum and because finding a replacement shell is likely no cheaper or easier than sourcing a complete replacement body.

Anyone else encounter this same problem with an old SLG?

[rawbutter]

That sucks about your SLG. Hopefully you can get it fixed.

Please also post some pictures so we can tell better what's going on.

There are some really strong two-part epoxies out there. If it was a clean break and the two pieces match up well, I'd be very tempted to try that first. Go to your local hardware store and look at what they got. Pick the one with the highest psi rating. It will probably also be the one with the longest set time. Be careful when applying it to none of it leaks into the threads. Otherwise you'll have a hard time getting the screw back in.

Even if that works, you will want to be careful about overtightening the screw in the future. Maybe just get it snug and then add a zip tie around the body and frame to give it some extra strength. Luckily there's no air pressure going through the frame, so mostly you just have to keep things in place.

If that doesn't work, you could replace the GRN part with a helicoil. That's more involved, but it would hold up better than just epoxy.

[MrBarraclough]

Thanks for the suggestions. You're quite right about keeping epoxy out of the threads, which may present a bit of a challenge.

The zip tie thing occurred to me. Janky as that might look, I bet it would work. Might need to cut a groove into the grip frame to keep it from sliding.

A helicoil had crossed my mind as well, but I am not sure it would work without a surrounding structure to support it. The threads don't continue into the aluminum underneath the GRN body shell. I really wish Dye hadn't cut that particular corner and instead made the aluminum thicker so it would have been the threaded part (like PE did with the EMEK body). But if using expoy to reattach the threaded piece of GRN doesn't work, maybe I could mold on a replacement out of epoxy putty and install a helicoil into that.

Worst case scenario, I suppose I could adhere the body and frame together and just rock it until it either breaks loose or something breaks that I need to access by separating the two.

[rawbutter]

Can you post a picture? I've done lots of repairs like this, but I've never owned an SLG. I'm having trouble visualizing the parts.

[superman]

not sure what the differences are between the 2 bodies, but there is one listed on ebay (https://www.ebay.com/itm/255939569518).
I bet by the time you pay for the epoxy, you wouldnt be that far off the price of this body.

[MrBarraclough]

Thanks, but that is a UL body, which won't match my grip frame. The screw hole spacing is the same and the frame and body will more or less fit together, but the clapper solenoid and the sear will be misaligned and won't engage. I know this because some schmuck once sold me an SLG on ebay that he'd mistakenly reassembled with the grip frame from another SLG (different year) and I about drove myself crazy trying to figure out what was wrong with it when every component I tested appeared fine in isolation.

[zinger565]

Also, I have a yellow SLG in that year I can let go at a reasonable price (because it's just taking up wall space).

[MrBarraclough]

Here are the pictures of the break. The part that sheared off is a square pillar of GRN that protrudes off the underside of the body and fits into a square cavity in the top of the grip frame. The pillar has threads cut into it that the rear grip frame screw threads into.

Here it is sitting back in place before I applied the epoxy.



That's the underside of the inner aluminum body tube you see inside the hole, with marks from the tip of the screw grinding against it when overtightened. It's a flawed design that looks like it will inevitably cause breakage




Grip frame cavity the pillar/tab fits into.


I used some two part Gorilla Glue epoxy last night to reattach it. Haven't taken any pictures after the repair yet because I'm going to leave it clamped up for at least 24 hours. We'll see if that holds.

[rawbutter]

Those pictures definitely help. I can understand now what you meant when you said a helicoil wouldn't work. You would just be adding the helicoil to a part that's not really attached.

Let us know how the epoxy holds up.