Installing replacement dashpads

[Alpine 1789]

Warren recently sold a replacement dashpad on the For Sale forum. http://forum.sunbeamalpine.org/index.php?threads/dash-pad.29188/. One of his pictures is below. I held off responding because I didn't want to hijack his thread and decided to start a new one here. I have a decades old dashpad that came with a car purchase and it looks just like the one in Warren's photo. I always assumed mine was warped by sitting in a hot Georgia garage for so long, but apparently this is normal. The curve as they come out of the box certainly doesn't match the curve of the dash area. Installation of these has been discussed many times before, but I don't recall this ever having been discussed. Are you supposed to warm them up before installing them?

 

[65sunbeam]

Oh yes-lay it out in the sun and let it get really warm before installing on your car! Makes fitting much easier and flattens out any ripples, etc.

 

[Alpine 1789]

Thanks, Eric. I always thought mine was trashed. Good thing I never throw anything away.

 

[DanR]

A lot also depends on how and where it has been stored for a given period of time.
I had one purchased about 6 years before an attempt was made to install.

It had been stored in a dark cabinet away from any above normal room temperature (around 68 to 72 degrees). Also wrapped in tisue type paper then in heavier brown wrapping paper.

When installing I did in fact lay it out in the sun for a limited time to get it warm and workable. But even them it had some areas that tended to be stubborn where I utilized a heat gun very cautiously and limited.

Worked nicely It is the one in Blue Boy.

Have another that has been in storage for several years (3 ?) that will be going in the GT hopefully soon.

 

[Alpine 1789]

It is certainly possible that mine will turn out to be unusable, as it was badly stored before I got it: At least 20 years in a shed. But, I will certainly try to get it to lay flat and will almost definitely need a heat gun, unless I am lucky enough to get to the right point at the height of summer here.

 

[phyrman]

It is certainly possible that mine will turn out to be unusable, as it was badly stored before I got it: At least 20 years in a shed. But, I will certainly try to get it to lay flat and will almost definitely need a heat gun, unless I am lucky enough to get to the right point at the height of summer here.

Jim, the last one I installed was tweaked as well try this, lightly use spray adhesive and put the dash pad on the car with some padded weights
the spray adhesive will not hold the pad down after about a week or so, the pad should be properly formed and then you can use the real contact cement to glue it into place

BD

 

[Alpine 1789]

Thanks Bruce. I will definitely give that a try when the time comes. This is for one of my BAT Tigers, so it will be awhile before we get to that point.

 

[Gordon Holsinger]

Thanks Bruce. I will definitely give that a try when the time comes. This is for one of my BAT Tigers, so it will be awhile before we get to that point.

If you have a clothes steamer it will help

 

[Warren]

It's spoken for but deal isn't closed till Bruce is ready. I have two and they look the same. It's doubtful that Sunbeam Specialties has a temperature controlled warehouse at least the one that I have been in. Most things move when warmed up you should see my black LAT hood on a Summer day

 

[mikephillips]

One other thing that hasn't been mentioned, do dry fitting and adjusting before using glue. I found with some of what I've fitted that I had to shave a slight amount of foam from where it wrapped around above the dash to get the cutouts for the vents to align with the holes in the metal dash.

 

[65sunbeam]

PS-use some high quality old school contact cement-not the spray on type or even worse, water based.

 

[jumpinjan]

Shaving the foam at the pad's front is a mandatory thing to do to Rick's dash pads. The Lemans have a tight fitting windscreen with no extra room and needs a very "close shave"...LoL!
Jan

 

[Tim R]

Your roll top looks to be of a much higher quality than the pattern ones that we get in the UK but here is a video from The Sunbeam Alpine Channel on YouTube that shows how we fit ours, in case it might be of use to you. As mentioned above some need to be 'shaved' at the leading edge to fit nicely.

Tim R

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[hartmandm]

Jim's pad is a little different design than the one I have from Sunbeam Specialties from June 1989. Still waiting to be installed.



Mike

 

[jumpinjan]

There's a lot more to installing than mentioned. One doesn't need all of the contact cement to hold the pad in place (as mentioned in Rick's instructions that comes with a new pad). Also, the release agent needs to be removed with lacquer thinner on the back side so the cement can get a grip. Roughing with sandpaper will help a lot too.
Jan