Series II dashtop conditioning?

ghce

ghce

Well-Known Member
I know it will have been asked before but maybe there is a fresh take to the subject.
I purchased a 2nd hand dash top as I mentioned in another thread (spotted on ebay etc) Whilst in good looking condition it looks a little dry.... dont know why maybe it has been cleaned with a degreasing surfacant cleaner.
I have a deeply held belief that armoural is not good and will merely leave it greasy and forever evaporate onto my to windscreen as it does every time I have foolishly used it, I was thinking to use black boot/shoe polish to freshen it up and can buff off the excess till I get back to the standard factory dash sheen of yesteryear.
Any thought scientific or other wise appriciated

Graeme
 
AutoGlym Vinyl and Rubber Care (Yellow label in squirty bottle) is the best interior vinyl product I have used by far! You squirt it on and start massaging it in with a cloth. It pulls out all the dirt and leaves a lovely even lustre with an anti-static finish. The more you rub, the less lustrous the sheen will be so you can control the finish. It doesn't streak or leave swirl marks (provided there are no water droplets on the vinyl before you treat it). One treatment brings it back to life and it lasts for months and months. I redo my whole dash (dashtop, shelf and centre console) every 2-3 months or so, but it's never dull. I reckon it would take a good 6 months in constant sunlight to get back to being dull, dry and grey again.
Give it a go... it smells nice too!

Michael
 
I have used vaseline with success in the past, if you don't drive the car every day you can leave it on for a couple of days to be absorbed and then you can buff it to achieve the required finish. In my case it turned shiny new, but not bling, so i was pretty happy with it.
 
Demetris said:
I have used vaseline with success in the past, you can buff it to achieve the required finish. In my case it turned shiny new, but not bling, so i was pretty happy with it.
Click to expand...
Just as well we're all mature adults on this forum, isn't it. :twisted:
 
Willy Eckerslyke said:
Demetris said:
I have used vaseline with success in the past, you can buff it to achieve the required finish. In my case it turned shiny new, but not bling, so i was pretty happy with it.
Click to expand...
Just as well we're all mature adults on this forum, isn't it. :twisted:
Click to expand...

I tried hard to resist writing it in a less serious way... :LOL:
 
Another endorsement for Autoglym. When I bought my car the vinyl on top of the dash was in such a state I thought it was beyond redemption. Took several applications, but it's now like new.
 
I like using Turtle Wet & Black (if not only for its name) pretty much everywhere and it keeps for weeks. I find its the best thing on the exterior rubbers too. I'll give Auto Glym a go though, and have heard much good about Mother's in the past. I understand the turtle stuff = silicone and maybe fragrance and is cheap.
 
Replacement dash top fitted

Fitted the replacement dash top in the weekend, not overly happy with the quality of the replacement unit, vinyl was lifting away from the metal backing plate on the passengers side and the front edge in general was not as close to the metal backing plate as I would have liked (windscreen edge).
A temporary fix was to apply lashings of heatgun to the offending edges and then clamp in place to cool which has provided a satisfactory result but one which I will revisit at another time when time is not so pressing and some glue to ensure the hold would not go amiss when I revisit it.
The most depressing thing about the whole job was my cars origional dashtop apart from the cracked vinyl was in superb new like condition as is every thing else about the body work and interior componantry, once you lift the carpets or look in to internal details its the same as the day it rolled out of the factory in Nelson in 1975.
Putting a worn looking and very slightly shabby dashtop in depressed me somewhat though externally it looks great.
I would feel happier if a NOS unit could be found or if my origional could be re-skinned (not recovered) in the appropriate factory plastic.

I didn't get around to beautifying the top surface yet as still researching what might be the best product to use, having second thoughts about trying the Vaseline treatment as it is a petro-based product and I am thinking that probably is not to good in terms of long chain polymer plastic bonds.

Graeme
 
I spoke to them a few years ago and at that time they only had GM style vinyl grain which is quite coarse in texture compared to the P6 origional and would have looked out of place.
Time has moved on, so I guess I should give them a phone call again and see if they have mananged to get vinyl of the correct grain.
At the time they sited the huge cost of getting batch lots in and Rover was not a priority in comercial terms for them to get the stuff in.


Edit Just gave them a phone call , it appears that if any thing different vinyls are now harder to obtain than earlier howevr he will send me a sample of a fine grained vinyl for me to look at.
I will post once the sample arrives and will attach a photo of as well.


Graeme
 
I suppose if one were to get a dash re-skinned then it would be worth while to try and track down the origional vinyl that Rover used, the question would be how would you go about finding who the origional supplier to Rover was? does the company still exist or are there still rolls of the material available sitting gathering dust on a refinishers shelf.
I was lucky a few years ago to get the origional factory vinyl for seats and side trims sitting unwanted at an auto upholstery refininshes and got all the seats and side panels redone with the new vinyl in the matching colour and the cost was astronomically cheap or is that microscopicaly cheap :LOL:

Graeme
 
I guess I was just lucky on this. I got a section of vinyl from my local furniture upholsterer, and it matched great. Can't imagine someone closely examining it for original grain.
 
A furthur update on what I used to condition the dash top.
I rang the dash top reskinning business after reading that they suggest that a silicone based product not be used for dashtops as it sealed the top not allowing the vinyl to breath and that this was a bad thing and aided in dash top cracking. They suggested something as simple as baby oil, though there were other suitable products available, bearing in mind that they were not in the practice of endorsing one product or another.

Furthur to my own instal of the dash top I am far from happy. The top I fitted does not seal to the front plastic trim as my old one did and lets light through which can be seen readily by the driver or passenger, some fettling maybe neccesary however I can not see that there is that much adjustment in bending the locating tabs nor should it be neccasary to do it and would be far from healthy to stress the plastic pad in this way.

Graeme
 
Willy Eckerslyke said:
Demetris said:
I have used vaseline with success in the past, you can buff it to achieve the required finish. In my case it turned shiny new, but not bling, so i was pretty happy with it.
Click to expand...
Just as well we're all mature adults on this forum, isn't it. :twisted:
Click to expand...
And now we have introduced baby oil into the conversation :shock: :shock: :shock:
 
Hi Graeme,

I know that you are not too keen on using Armorall, but I have been using it on my dashtop since 1986 and it still looks like new. No fading, cracks or anything of that nature.

Ron.
 
Yes it is suppossed to have a UV inhibitor in it, when I have used it in the past the vapour from it condensers onto the windscreen.

Graeme
 
Possibly what ever you use would evaporate and then appear upon the windscreen. To be honest I have never really found this to be a problem. I do get the occasional smear, but then I just wipe it clean with a soft cloth using some metho or similar and bob's your uncle.. :wink:

Ron.
 
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