[e90yyc]

Given my car's vintage and mileage, the belly pan was really starting to show its age. Not only were there some cracks, there were actually chunks missing in some areas... I considered replacing it, but the cost of shipping was prohibitive (I'm in Canada), and let's face it: fixing is often more rewarding than simply replacing! I'm lucky because the particular variant of belly pan I have is one of the least expensive, but some are $200+, so it makes even more sense to fix in those cases.

Last I had checked, the shield was still relatively intact and in mostly one piece. But after removing it to install a Zip Kit in my GM tranny, it seemed to practically fall apart. I'm assuming the plastic was simply brittle from age and environmental factors.

At this point, the shield was in two pieces and was looking like absolute shit. I've circled where the "arm" had broken off. In order to ensure correct alignment, I screwed both pieces back under the car and then fused them with fiberglass while they were attached. This was probably the most awkward part, but it was still very easy.

About $20 worth of fiberglass tape and epoxy later, it was back in one piece, and stronger than ever before. Since it isn't visible, I didn't bother making it look nice.

Here's what I did:

1. Prep area around crack with 80-grit or a wire brush
2. Spray a quick pass of 3M Super 77 on area where fiberglass tape will go. The 'proper' way to do this is to use epoxy to bond it down, but it wasn't worth waiting to let the base coat tack up. Spray adhesive is much easier.
3. Lay fiberglass flush against surface (I used 6-ounce, 3" wide tape rather than cutting wider mat to size)
4. Wet out the fiberglass with epoxy
5. Wait for epoxy to cure
6. Drill out any covered holes/trim rough edges using Dremel with sanding wheel or cutting wheel
7. Reinstall

I made sure to do this on both sides of each repair just to ensure no further cracking occurred. This process is incredibly simple, so much so that writing a list of steps is almost redundant.

Hope this helps. I couldn't find any similar reports about fixing them, so I thought I'd share my experience with you guys.