To atone for yesterday's dickheadery on my part, I have today undertaken a long-put off repair to the plastic trim that covers the tow hitch on our 2003 Triton.

The part that broke off covered where the jockey wheel locates when raised for travelling. I found it under the van on-site five or more years ago and, not knowing what to do with it, it has languished in a drawer ever since.

A bit of research on t'Internet and as I currently have the cover off the van in preparation for re clear-coating, I decided to have a go at welding the piece back on.

First step was to fix the two parts together as best I could using aluminium tape on the outside face.

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I then replaced my soldering iron tip with a bolt so I could press down with its head.

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Next I stripped the sheathing from a length of co-axial aerial cable and flattened it out. This will reinforce the joint.

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The next step was to 'tack weld' the copper sheathing over the joint by pressing down on it with the hot bolt head.

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Then I went back over the whole length of the joint.

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I could probably have left it at that but as a belt-and-braces addition I then melted a cable tie over the joint. This was a bit messy and perhaps I should have used superglue and cotton wool instead?

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Anyway, here's the finished job which seems to be pretty damned strong. (The different colours of plastic are due to the broken-off piece still having its original clearcoat firmly attached while the main cover has been stripped ready for re-finishing.)

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All in all, a satisfying and not too difficult a job. I hate to think how much a replacement panel would have cost assuming they are available (which I very much doubt.)

Cor, we have another Inspecta_Gadget here

R