Got a little niggly one on the Ascot(?). The dash foam is lifting either side of the drivers windscreen vent. There's the vinyl covered foam and underneath that is the plastic shell and they have parted company. I can make up a clamp to be able to hold it down but need a glue to put in there before clamping it. I'm thinking along the lines of some sort of epoxy but it needs to be something that doesn't go off too quickly or it will be going off before I get the clamp in place. It also needs to be something I can put on with a (bent) brush as I think taking the windscreen out or the dash off isn't really an option.

Anyone got any recommendations?

Leftfield idea, but I'd give Tigerseal a go. Not an epoxy, it's a PU adhesive/ sealant. Will give a bit of flexibility to cope with the dash cover moving I use it a lot on my resto's. Never stuck a dash lid down with it though.

Mitre mate 2 part. You won't need a clamp. Sets in 10 secs. You'll just have to be quick.

That's not going to be any good, it'll have set before I've even got a layer over the full width. I had considered Tiger Seal as I've got an unopened tube of it that I bought for something else but have been saving uses up as once the tube is open it goes off after a week or so. With Tiger Seal I can put a longer tube on the nozzle and get it into where it needs to be too.

could you not work along it with the mitre mate? put the glue on the whole surface, and then spray the activator on as you're working along it.

How am I supposed to spray anything when there's a windscreen in the way? It needs doing in one hit, get some glue in there, then clamp everything down and wait for it to go off. How long I have to wait isn't important as long as it's gone off before I take the clamp off.

i see. I was under the assumption that you could put the glue on the dash, and then spray the activator on the part you want to fit.

In which case, i'd use a contact adhesive. I buy it from Yorkshire trading or wilkinsons.

Gilbertd wrote:

How am I supposed to spray anything when there's a windscreen in the way? It needs doing in one hit, get some glue in there, then clamp everything down and wait for it to go off. How long I have to wait isn't important as long as it's gone off before I take the clamp off.

I've used Gorilla glue http://www.screwfix.com/p/gorilla-glue-115ml/54593 for sticking awkward bits of trim back together, I think blueplasticsoulman thinks your looking to stick the insert back down, rather than stick the covering back to the dashboard. They had 3 packs of Gorilla Glue in Costco if you go anywhere near one and can go in there (or know someone who has a card) for about £12 last time I was in there.

Tiger seal would probably stick it if you could get it in the right place, I find its good for making a mess with if your not careful though, and suspect the gun used to put it in would make it rather clumsy. The smaller bottle I think should be able to get right down in the gap so you can just squirt it in there and clamp it.

If you need more tiger seal Amazon have it on sale at £4.15 at the minute, which is far cheaper than it usually is. (seems a shame to waste a full tube for such a little job thats barely going to use any of it, unless you can find another use for it). I've got a pair of sunroofs to fix so have just brought some hoping that will sort it for a few years.

Just be aware that the gorilla glue does expand a bit as it goes off (think expanding foam but on a smaller scale) - A trial on something not required might be an idea first.

blueplasticsoulman wrote:

i see. I was under the assumption that you could put the glue on the dash, and then spray the activator on the part you want to fit.

No, the dash is a plastic moulding that then has a vinyl covered foam layer bonded to it and the bind has let go. I'm assuming it's due to the car being left standing in sunlight, but rather than crack like a lot of dashtops do, it looks like the vinyl has contracted so it has pulled the foam away from the plastic moulding. I need to get some adhesive on the underside of the vinyl/foam bit and then clamp it down to the plastic moulding and hope it stays stuck down. Then I can put the vent back in.

Incidentally, it's also started to lift above the instruments but not so much that the edge can be seen as it is covered by the surround. If you look at one of the pictures of his car that DevonP38 posted (http://i.imgur.com/WbA7s9d.jpg), you'll see that his has done the same but a little more so you can see the edge of the vinyl/foam sandwich.

Gilbertd wrote:

Incidentally, it's also started to lift above the instruments but not so much that the edge can be seen as it is covered by the surround. If you look at one of the pictures of his car that DevonP38 posted (http://i.imgur.com/WbA7s9d.jpg), you'll see that his has done the same but a little more so you can see the edge of the vinyl/foam sandwich.

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Same on my blue one, which has spent a chunk of its life in the Spanish sunshine. Fixed (hidden) with a strip of black self adhesive foam which fills the gap nicely.

Is it a common thing on the early ones? My first P38 was a 96, and it had the same thing around the instruments, and above the outer vents.

Not seen it on a later one though.

The Ascot is a 96, so that would explain it. I'd not seen it before either but the dash does seem to be a bit harder than on mine so maybe suffers worse than the later ones.

Could be a more common issue on the early ones then. Perhaps I was blaming the Spanish sunshine unfairly.
Here's the dash on the '95 with my "invisible" repair- even less invisible now because the binnacle shroud has dropped due to a ham fisted PO breaking off the top two fixings. The blue one has moved to maintenance only status now, so I don't anticipate doing anything more to improve it- just drive it and fix what breaks

That one is starting to lift in the same place as mine, you can see the end of the windscreen vent being pushed up. If this one was like that I'd probably leave it but it has lifted the full width of the vent so the vent sticks up about an inch and looks silly.

I had the same when I bought my dse, I waited for a nice sunny day, put a small bead of gripfill round the vent, wedged it down in place, was still good a year later when I got rid.
God help anyone who try's to get it out,, lol