[DML] Binnacle repair - with Vinyl compound

["Tom Tait" <TTait@xxxxxxxxxx>]

I've done the same thing, but with different materials.

I stripped my entire binnacle down to cracked foam.  I then carefully filled the foam with a sandable expanding foam, sanding it back to the original profile.  I then coated the foam with a vinyl wall joint compound from lowes.  After sanding this to a good finish and uniform thickness (about 3mm) I thn used a vinyl based wall spatter spray to lay down and orange peel finish.  by knocking this down with sandpaper just a bit I got a good textured finish similar to the opriginal.  A coat or two of vinyl dye and it looked fantastic, except for the lip around the front and where it meets the black bezel.  That was a bit rough from a sculpting point of view.  Overall someone with a bit more sculpting talent could pull this off very nicely.

As this was a spare binaccle that I was playing with, I have not installed it.  Instead it has been stored in the house in direct sunlight for about a year.  No cracking, but in fairness it has not seen 160 degrees.  Its all been put on hold as I'm now out of the country a great deal, and when I am here I spend my hobby time trying to get my wife's new D on the road for her.

If your car is often garaged and not parked outside in hot hot sun I'd suspect these materials would last a few years.

In the meantime, I've been waiting and waiting for the new dash and binaccle sets from houston.  Last we heard there is that they may debut at Gettysburg.  I'm a little afraid to ask again, so maybe someone here has heard more on these units.  If I knew it would be another 2 years I'd probably move this up a bit higher on my list and put it in a car to see how it goes.

My main point is that by trying to match the foam and doing a good job patchjing the underlayer, and then using a vinyl based compound I think this is a pretty good combination of materials.  More flexible than bondo, and it accepts the same vinyl dye you would use on the rest of the interior so no matching problems. 

Tom
10902 & 03238

   

-----Original Message-----
From: dmcnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx on behalf of David Teitelbaum
Sent: Sat 4/26/2008 6:58 PM
To: dmcnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [DML] Re: Binnacle repair
 
It will look great for a while but it will not last. The bondo expands
and contracts at a very different rate then the foam and vinyl. A
better repair is to use a more flexible type of repair like 3M # 5895
Flexible Parts Repair Kit. Or maybe Randy the 3M guy can make an even
better recomendation. Bondo is too stiff. I used it on the Turbo car I
sold and it was starting to crack only a few months after I repaired
it. I sprayed it with the grey dye too. It looked almost factory. The
"trick" was to hold the spray can far away and put very light, dry
coats on so it would "orange peel". The effect was almost like the
textured surface of the origional vinyl. The other option is a very
nice dash cover.
David Teitelbaum
vin 10757


--- In dmcnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "Ed & Roxie Cohen" <rdcejc@...> wrote:
>
> Here is a great fix for cracked binnacles.
> 
>  
> 
> Mine was cracked and looked terrible.  I took it to a local shop here in
> Orlando to get it fixed.  The shop owner said that I can do it
myself with a
> little ingenuity.  He said to sand it down and use "bondo" body
putty on the
> dash.  Coat it about two coats each 1/8 of an inch thick, then sand it
> smooth.  He then suggested I use a spray bed liner (*used on trucks)
> purchased at any auto supply store.  This will produce a textured finish
> then paint it gray (my cars color) and your done.  I did what he
said and it
> can out great.   Knowing how rare binnacles are this is a great fix.  It
> took me two days to complete the job and was well worth the effort.
> 
>  
> 
> Ed
> 
> 6944
> 
>  
> 
> 
> 
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>





[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]


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