Trim panel restoration (51451810685)

vabole.lv

vabole.lv

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Hi!

Need a bit of advice for renovating my 1971 3.0 CS. The front trim panel has a small piece missing - was damaged already when I bought a car and now felt offtotally. I would like to renovate it, because a) a new part is not available anymore; b) I'm anyway over my restoration budget. So my question - does anyone have an experience how to renovate the trim panel? What materials to use? What would stick to this foam?

Also, have a smaller crack in the trim panel dashboard (51451810900), but that's something I can live with. But... if there's a chance to fix it as well, I would be thankful for any advice. All wood is restored already... these are the final bits that stands between me and a finished car

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Very good question.

Polyurethane foam is difficult material - unstable and UV sensitive.

Filling with some resin/putty and new covering (vinyl?) of the part will only be some solution but the overall look with suffer.

Parts were probably vacuum formed together with press and heat.
 
I have used black silicone to fill a crack before in my dash. It is hardly noticable even up close.

I used a syringe to get it nicely into the crack, making sure to fill it deep. Fill entirely and scrape but leave a slight dome to it.
Then after a while to allow it to set, press another piece of vinyl into it, imprinting its grain (texture) in it. Cover your pressing piece with a light coat of oil so that the silicone does not stick to it.

If you play a bit with the silicone on a practice piece then you learn how it behaves and solidifies /sets before pressing the texture into it.
Search for a piece of vinyl with the same grain; I stole a bit from the bottom of my C-pillar trim.
 
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Do you mean "black silicone / seam sealer" is the black windshield mounting glue? I know it is very hard

@eriknetherlands ,
Won't imprinting the vinyl make negative of the structure? Typical, leather-like has more surface of "island" than "rivers"?
As the silicone is quite dense, what size of needle worked for you?
 
@Krzysztof ; I used silicone that stayed flexible. Windshield mounting glue is most likely a Polyurethane.

I used a syringe without a needle, so just the plastic tip that is 2-3 mm wide. I pressed the tip vertically on the surface, So it rests on the sides of the crack and then started the filling process. It ensures that the material is pressed a few mm's into the crack, and does not escape onto the surface of the vinyl next to the crack (= contamination).

Indeed pushing a piece of vinyl into the half-set silicone with give it a inverse (negative) impression, but it will give you at least the correct pattern. If you do not give it any pattern it will dry up flat and shiny. The fact that the texture is negative is not noticeable in my dash at all.

I used this product, but then the black version:
link:
Bison | Product
pic:
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I used a vinyl repair kit like this one to fill in some screw holes on my door panels. The kit contains uncured vinyl that you inject into the hole or crack and then cure with a heat tip using a grain paper in between to impart a pattern to the vinyl as it cures.

 
That dash grab rail is wood in U.K. cars, so is replacing it with wood an option? It would be easier to make one from wood than foam and vinyl.
 
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