Weldon has been the product that has been often recommended for acrylic shell repair.

i have looked into this stuff. if anybody has experience could you please tell me if it would be wise to use the quicker setting #3 or the slower #4?

also ive found about 3 bands on the top of the bass with fairly gnarly cracks. is there a way to color match the black and white acrylics? ive read of people saying use this or that but ive never heard any results or how it may effect the bonding of the cement.

again any help is much appreciated. this is my first complicated restoration and the best advice ive gotten from any local drum shop was to 'just use crazy glue'.. which just sounds stupid

I have all the help in the world for you... but that 'derogatory reference' in the last sentence of your post has really put me off my feed. There are people who have friends or relatives with Down syndrome or other disabilities that would take great umbrage at your easy use of what is a pejorative term.

Good luck with your project...

John

shuffle i understand. i actually have a brother and a few family members with said afflictions. and though no harm was meant i could see where you would take offense. i guess in my frustration of dealing with halfwits who sell acrylic drums but have no insite on them i didnt think that i might offend someone

i hope that you will accept my appolagies and be kind enough to pass some pointers my way. but either way statement altered

You're a good man, Charlie Brown!

Repairing the vistas:

Use the Weld-on heavy, slow drying glue (#4) for seam repairs. Use the runnier, faster drying glue (Weld-on #3) for spider cracks around lugs or hairline cracks on the shell. I use a syringe to fill spider cracks. They're still visible after filling, but the glue will help to stabilize the shell.

For the seams; use an adjustable ratchet strap for seam repairs. The strap comes with 90 degree steel corners. Leave one of the steel corner pieces on the strap. Position the corner piece over the seam (it'll prevent you from gluing the strap to the shell!) and tighten/ratchet the strap until the seam is closed up nice and snug. Make sure the surfaces on both sides of the seam are flush before adding glue.

Inside the drum, (resting the drum on its side, seam down,) you'll notice that the seam forms a 'V' shaped channel. Use some blue painters tape to mask out the shell on either side of the seam. Use the slow-dry #4 and fill the channel with a bead of glue. Wait at least 24 hours before removing tension from the strap. It'll be a stronger seam after you repair it than it was when it left the factory. Ludwig didn't fill the channel with glue, ergo, seam breaks are common with vistas.

Refurbishing the shells is just pure elbow grease. I've done it many times. I don't envy you the job.

For the badges: straighten them very carefully by hand and then use a small 1" rubber roller to go around the grommet pressing the badge to the shell. No need to add glue to those badges. They already have an adhesive on the back.

Hope this info helps... if I can be of any further service, all you have to do is ask.

John

thank you john. thats more kowledge than ive gotten from every person ive asked combined.

i actually just stumbled upon you saying in another post to use a transparent epoxy to color match. can the same be done for the black and white? if so any suggestions on brands? way to proud of the set to not go all out

and to clean the shells i dont think will be hard. im more worried about the cleaning of the hardware and replacing the front t's and claws. despits the split snare and the cracks in the top of the bass everything else looks pretty good. the colors are bright and i can still see myself in them through a couple decades of dust. maybe a hand full of light scrapes. not half bad for being in the trunk of a car for a few years

on a completely different type of question, i managed to clean the top hat that had been painted by soaking in warm water. im looking at a green vista tom to match my other set that has been painted the same way. would this process work on a vista or is there an efficient process to removal without foxing the shell?

If the warm water worked on the painted cymbal, you can only hope they used a water based paint on the vista as well. I've never removed paint from vistalite, but if I was going to do it, and it was some kind of spray paint that was used, I'd use spray Grafitti remover. It Lifts off the paint in one layer and doesn't harm the surface underneath. Spray on, wait 10 minutes, wipe the whole mess off with a soft rag. Let me know if the hot water bath works.

Epoxy comes in black and in white.

John

awesome. thanks again john. with your insight and some patient repairs i might have myself a really nice kit in a couple months. and the satisfaction of having done it myself. now its time to start rounding up missing hardware and a good set of heads.

only down side is it sounds like im going to have more in epoxies solvents straps jigs and buffing agents than i do the drums so far. lol.

If that is the case (more in glue and solvents) then you got the deal of the year so be happy about that and get to fixin now when you are done you take nice pictures and show John what you did have fun .... on this site if there is no pictures it don't exist/... a before and after pictures would be great..