repair/refurb the centre consul pad
#1
Oil Producer
Thread Starter
repair/refurb the centre consul pad
The 86 that I bought had been painted black on the inside, it looked horrible. I decided I would switch it back to the OEM light gray, which is a bit silvery and it's overtones. I love it.I found some SEM paint to match the OEM colour more or less. It's not an exact match but it's very close. I don't have to match anything because everything was painted black by Bubba. The centre consul needs to be repaired first though. It had the typical vinyl separated from the foam deal going on.
I did some research on the best glue and weldwood dap came up as the best. It's like a hard-core contact cement yellow, you apply it with a brush, you let it sit for about a half an hour and then you press it together. For an instant fit.It works amazing.My vinyl had separated very badly. I use the brush to get deep into between the foam in the vinyl and I had to leave it separated as much as I could so that it would get the tack time of 30 minutes. It took three separate applications to get the entire process done. I even had a split corner on the front driver side of the pad and it has held that split vinyl together. The only thing I couldn't fix was i think there was some foam missing in one spot and its got a bit of a low spot. but honestly im super impressed.
now for the paint vinyl dye /paint.
using SEM sandfree on the first coat.
fixed
fixed
fixed. low spot here.
split corner was very bad. fixed.
bad
very bad.
verry verry bad. thats the glue. bought on amazon.
I did some research on the best glue and weldwood dap came up as the best. It's like a hard-core contact cement yellow, you apply it with a brush, you let it sit for about a half an hour and then you press it together. For an instant fit.It works amazing.My vinyl had separated very badly. I use the brush to get deep into between the foam in the vinyl and I had to leave it separated as much as I could so that it would get the tack time of 30 minutes. It took three separate applications to get the entire process done. I even had a split corner on the front driver side of the pad and it has held that split vinyl together. The only thing I couldn't fix was i think there was some foam missing in one spot and its got a bit of a low spot. but honestly im super impressed.
now for the paint vinyl dye /paint.
using SEM sandfree on the first coat.
fixed
fixed
fixed. low spot here.
split corner was very bad. fixed.
bad
very bad.
verry verry bad. thats the glue. bought on amazon.
#2
Oil Producer
Thread Starter
once glue is tacky, use a table and roll the pad on itso its even. with it pressed against table u can run ur free finger along underside lip.
that should result in a smooth radius. (unless u r missing a piece of foam like i was. )
that should result in a smooth radius. (unless u r missing a piece of foam like i was. )
#3
Oil Producer
Thread Starter
"dyed"
hit with one misting of sand free + 2 light coats grey. near match to medium grey interior vinyl parts.
looks good. not "new" but about a 10,000% increase.
there was an additional coat after this.
looks good. not "new" but about a 10,000% increase.
there was an additional coat after this.
#4
Oil Producer
Thread Starter
if anybody else is looking to see what a origin low mileage medium gray interior looks like on and early C4, this video shows it very well
https://youtu.be/tIGR2MtDDeg
https://youtu.be/tIGR2MtDDeg
#6
Safety Car
Mine had a loose cover in spots along with missing foam. I made a form to hold it and used some of the 'foam in a can' material. Put it in and got it into the form and put pressure on it to old it down. I tapes off the inside of the cover ahead of time to make cleanup easier. It came out fairly good and it's been going on 3 years now.
Biggest time is to get your form right in the first place.
Biggest time is to get your form right in the first place.
#7
Oil Producer
Thread Starter
Good solutions i think in both cases.
bph, VERY interested in what you made the form out of?
if you can remember how you did it i do have another pd to do and would give your method a whirl
bph, VERY interested in what you made the form out of?
if you can remember how you did it i do have another pd to do and would give your method a whirl