Re: Thoughts of Spring #2

I have completed repair of the eyebrow pad. See the pictures at the link below. I used a Dremel tool to grind down the damaged area and used a Permatex Ultra Vinyl & Leather Repair kit to make the repair. This was probably a bigger repair than this kit was intended for and the results were so-so. The main issue was the texture transfer was not as good as I had hoped. In the right light the repaired area is quite obvious. I searched for awhile to find a local dealer for SEM brand vinyl paint. I used #15363 Portola Red, which was a good match for the vinyl I've been using to rehab my interior. I also used an adhesion promoter base coat.

If you recall I had explored the idea of recovering this piece using a vacuum forming process. I was unsuccessful finding the right kind of material to cover it. Regular Naugahyde type upholstery vinyl is too heavy for this application and only stretches in one direction. The two way stretch product I have used in the past is even heavier. While I had things apart I measured the thickness of the material used to cover this dash pad, .022". I also measured the thickness of my vinyl, .044". Looking at the original covering it is as I remembered. It is more like a plastic than a vinyl.

Here is the link to the pictures: http://s868.photobucket.com/user/63mopar/library/Sport%20Fury

Paul L.

On Friday, March 13, 2015 at 7:07:59 AM UTC-5, Paul L. http://1962to1965mopar.ornocar.org/ml-le wrote:

We have had fantastic weather for the past week with temps is the 60"s and 70's and dry. March can be quite a different proposition in these parts. So I have been taking advantage and driving the 63 just about every day. After being out of commission all of last summer I'm trying to make up for lost time. The fresh 440 is running great. So with mechanical problems in the rearview mirror I can start tackling some cosmetic things. First up I'm going to work on the eyebrow pad over the instrument cluster. I posted a few things about this awhile back. I was thinking about having it recovered. But have since decided to try refurbishing instead. I bought a Permatex kit for repairing tears in vinyl to use to repair the one long split. I will then have to paint the whole thing as it is badly sun faded. There has been discussion on here in the past regarding painting armrests and the like. Can anyone recommend paint for this operation? Color match will the next challenge.

Paul L.