Dahboard Repair

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Bwana

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Any good way of glueing this back together? It's the panel under the instruments and steering column. I don't think just spraying in the upholstery contact glue will work as both sides are probably both dirty and rusty.

Remove the whole panel from the metal backing, clean, and then use what? Or do I have to make a whole new section of whatever this thing is made of?

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This same issue is going on in my glovebox area. I've got higher priorities, but am interested in feedback needless to say. I'm thinking- Clean and Glue with some low heat to reset the shape. Anybody??
 
I jumped in neck deep several years ago and found the same issue. I didn't think about it much and used gorilla glue with a bunch of clamps. The gorilla glue expands therefore it oozed out between the pad and metal backing. After it dryed I trimmed it off with a blade. Now 2 years later, everything is tight fitting and no longer drooping at all.
 
I used epoxy and it worked great. See the pictures below of before and after.You can buy epoxy at any Home Depot. I don't recall what type, whether it was plastic or metal epoxy. I suspect that any would be OK. Use any kind of clamps after you put he epoxy inbetween the layers you want to glue and and let sit for 24 hrs.However, make abolutely sure you use a thin piece of wood, metal etc between the clamp and the item. Otherwise you will have marks on the piece you fixed. Again, see the images. Hope this helps and works for you.
 

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Rust and dirt?

andre said:
I used epoxy and it worked great. See the pictures below of before and after.You can buy epoxy at any Home Depot. I don't recall what type, whether it was plastic or metal epoxy. I suspect that any would be OK. Use any kind of clamps after you put he epoxy inbetween the layers you want to glue and and let sit for 24 hrs.However, make abolutely sure you use a thin piece of wood, metal etc between the clamp and the item. Otherwise you will have marks on the piece you fixed. Again, see the images. Hope this helps and works for you.
Click to expand...

Sounds good but did you clean any of the rust/dirt off the two surfaces before using the epoxy? If not, I would think it would just pull off the rust and dirt without holding the pieces together. But it obviously worked for you.

Was this the two part epoxy that comes in the tandem plastic tube?
 
Bwana said:
Or do I have to make a whole new section of whatever this thing is made of?
Click to expand...

You may know this, but since you asked the question: These lower dash panels appear to be made of sheet metal (steel) covered with rigid foam, and finished with a leather-textured vinyl on the outside, and some sort of flocking on the inside. It would be pretty tough to re-make them - finding good, used parts would be easier.

The steel is susceptable to rust, which causes the foam to separate. Re-glueing - as others have written - seems like the best fix, though cleaning off the rust is the challenge.
 
Bwana said:
Sounds good but did you clean any of the rust/dirt off the two surfaces before using the epoxy? If not, I would think it would just pull off the rust and dirt without holding the pieces together. But it obviously worked for you.

Was this the two part epoxy that comes in the tandem plastic tube?
Click to expand...

Yes I cleaned the rust ( as best as it can be done given the space constraint) it would be pointless otherwise as you correctly state that it could come apart again later. After cleaning the rust I may have used Por 15 on the metal part, wait to dry then use the epoxy. Yes it is the two part epoxy that comes in tandem plastic tubes. I would not remove the whole panel from the metal backing ( as you were contemplating) as I think it would be too hard to put it back precisely. My zwei pfenig.
 
There are different kinds of two-part epoxies. The slower curing ones are a lot stronger. Given the tendency of these parts to "curl" I highly recommend using the stronger glues.
 
I also had good results with gorilla glue, but as noted, metal prep was crucial. Bead blasting was the quickest way for me to get rid of the surface rust, followed by thorough air blasting to remove residual media. After re-gluing the parts, I used leather/vinyl dye from World Upholstery to freshen up the exterior surfaces. Re-flocking the interior surfaces was fun and relatively inexpensive, as far as e9 restoration goes. Flocking supplies: www.craftflocking.com. Some pics of the process: http://www.vranedom.com/flockingrepairs/flocking.html
 
It worked!

Right, just finished glueing the halfs together with the epoxy in the tandem tube. Of course I got home from Lowes with the plastic/metal special stuff that cures in 50 minutes, minutes after Riblett suggested using the longer setting stuff! Oh well, I clamped the parts as shown above and it worked out great! Almost as new!

Thanks guys!
 
Jump starting this thread. Call me crazy, Yesterday I decided I had to face the music and take this on. I put the piece in the oven at 200F for about 3 min, covering came out nice and floppy and I was able to easily appose it to the metal backing. Held it with wood blocks and clamps till it cooled. Only a small gap after. I followed with Gorilla crazy glue which worked well. We will see the longevity.
 
I re-did mine using liquid nails and it worked a treat. The key was to make sure the surfaces were clean and to then clamp it up well and leave it alone for a week or so - depending on the temp where you live.
 
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