You could really just use any old adhesive. If you really want a good turnout, just use contact cement on the backside of the dash. It will do more than enough. Contact Cement comes in a red "paint can", and can be found at any Home Depot in the adhesives department. You have to spread it with a brush, so I wouldn't use it to adhere the front, because you get waves from the brush strokes. Good luck! I'm looking forward to finally seeing some updates!
The problem with most of the adhesives I have used is that they soak into the backing of the vinyl. I have read where you can put a couple of coats on it to help that, but I have yet to try it. I use a spray adhesive from A-1 fabrics that is pretty cheap and it will stick the foam to the fiberglass and the vinyl to the foam, and when I called them the other day, they assured me it will stick the vinyl to the fiberglass if I coat both surfaces but I have yet to try it. Mike
[This message has been edited by TXGOOD (edited 05-23-2010).]
I did a custom interior (94 Camaro dash, modified Bonnevile door panels, custom console) and had a lot of trouble to keep the vinyl stuck to the various components. I used 3M 8088 (med strength) and 3M 8090 (high strength) spray contact adhesive and they all released from the vinyl (Allsport stretchable vinyl) after a few months. My latest attempt, which seems to have worked the best, is to use superglue. I bought some squeeze bottles of it and applied it to one side. You have to hold or clamp for a few minutes. It is slow going, but seems to have held up best. Caution when using this stuff as it glues fingers very well to everything. I wear nitrile gloves when glueing with it. Jim
I tried hot glue and it seemed to really work well, until it sat in the sun for a couple of days and all of it released. They make high temp hot glue, but getting the lower temp stuff on my fingers was no picnic and I would hate to get the high temp glue on my fingers. The pros seem to use a cheap spray gun and have good results with that, but I`m not sure what the difference is between the spray adhesive in cans and the stuff that comes in gallons or quarts.
[This message has been edited by TXGOOD (edited 05-24-2010).]
The adhesive has to be something that will stick instantly, because when you are gluing corners, you have to stretch the vinyl so that it won`t bunch up. So, that eliminates any thought of clamping. Contact cement is the perfect choice but I have yet found one that sticks well enough.
Did a little searching on the ole' web (Thanks Mr. Gore!) and found the following for a tweeter pod, however seems like the same issue:
i think there has been a breakdown in communication here. You use ca glue to bond the fleece or whatever other material you are going to wrap around the tweeter pod to the fiberglass shell. Once soaked in resin and strengthened with glass, you will have a solid structure which you will wrap the vinyl over. For bonding the vinyl to the structure, you would use contact cement, not ca glue. I think what you are wanting to do is just wrap vinyl around the pod without first giving the pod any kind of baffle. The problem with that is that it wont be solid, you could push in on the vinyl and my guess is that when it gets warm, that vinyl will start to deform. You defnitiely need to wrap a polyester based material around the tweeter pod and the glass shell you made first, then apply resin, let it cure, then strengthen it up with fiberglass or duraglas, sand it down to 80 and then apply your cement and wrap the vinyl.
What I did in the end was use contact cement to stretch the vinyl (the 3M 8088 or 8090) and then when I was happy with the final position, I lifted up the edge and used CA (superglue). By the way, I spoke to the tech people at 3M and also the ones who make Allsport and they did not give me any better suggestions. The wierd part about the 3M glue is the Medium strength (8088) seemed to hold the vinyl better than the high strength (8090). I have done several projects with the contact cement and Allsport. The glue seems to hold great for about 2 months before it comes apart. All of the cars have been garaged in Seattle, where it does not get that hot. When the glue came apart, it seemd that it released from the vinyl, not the things that I was gluing it to (aluminum, fiberglass, and the plastic on the dash and door panels).
What`s strange about the spray adhesive I have been using is that it will hold the foam to the fiberglass and the vinyl to the foam, but it doesn`t stick the vinyl straight to the fiberglass too well. I`m using closed cell foam and I rough it up with sandpaper to take the sheen off of the surface, and I only spray one surface when sticking it to the fiberglass or the vinyl to it. And I mean it holds great because it will rip the foam when trying to separate either one. I would be tempted to put foam where the vinyl wraps around, but I`m afraid it would stretch the foam when I stretch the vinyl around it. Oh well, I will try again.
Yep, I did. Thanks. My dash is on hold for a bit until I get the cup holder/armrest pad I am working on sewn up. I bought an industrial sewing machine on ebay today and I should get it next week. Then, I can go to town on the dash again. With sewing capabilites now in my grasp the sky is the limit as to what I can stitch. I`m no longer limited by right angles. Mike
It`s funny you mentioned this company. I was just looking online yesterday and saw them. I think they are in Washington though which is a long way from Texas. I like the canister spray rig with a gun.
"Confused - are you saying that contact cement and superglue on the ends / corners worked, or that it pulled up in 2 months? Can you please clarify?"
I initially glued down the vinyl with spray contact cement (8088 and 8090 both were tried). The contact cement released after about 2 months. So in my latest redo of the dash, I used contact cement to stretch the vinyl and glue it down, then picked up the edges and used superglue. That was in about January or so....the combo is still holding. Sorry I missed the post earlier. Jim
Sorry, no updates. My dash project has sort of taken a backseat to my cupholder project. Hopefully, I am going to have time to get on it again in the near future. Now that I have sewing capabilities I am going to be changing a couple of things on the dash. Mike
I also have to order some more of the Charcoal material to work with.
[This message has been edited by TXGOOD (edited 06-29-2010).]
I am ready to upholster my dash too and my concern is how to glue the Leather to the fiberglass dash. Reading your posts it’s difficult to trust any combination. Here in Greece it’s getting very hot at Summer time so I think I found a solution that will hold forever.
First you glue the vinyl or leather to your dash then you go to the back side and cut small openings, example every 4 inches a 2 inches opening and ¼ wide. You clear the glue and make the fiberglass surface rough. You chop some mat and you pure fiberglass resin into the slot and cover with mat about ½ inches all around. The only way to release is to break the fiberglass.
What I find that`s strange is I have a glue that will glue the foam to the fiberglass and the material to the foam, but the material doesn`t seem to want to stick directly to the fiberglass. When I get back to my dash I`m going to try this stuff that I ordered. It`s made by Westech and is called HSEA. Mike
My observation on glue has been that I have not had a problem with gluing the foam padding (headliner material) to anything. It always seems to stick. My problem has been with the vinyl. I use Allsport, a very stretchable vinyl. I even called the company that manufactures the Allsport (I do not remember their name). They told me that most of their applications are for seats, where the material is tacked down. They told me what the backing material was on their vinyl (I do not recall, but it was a pretty garden variety material). They could not offer any help on glue selection. I have had problems with gluing the vinyl to aluminum, cloth (top side of headliner material, fiberglass and plastic). So there seems to be something to their formulation of the backing that allows the glue to release after 2-3 months. So far, the superglue is still holding and it has been hot here (upper 90s, VERY HOT for Seattle).
I have also used staples in some cases to hold the material down. Since I do not have a staple gun with 1/8" long staples (I think this is for upholstery and was used at the factory on another door panel I had), I used a regular staple gun, and cut down the staples with big nippers. I could only do 3-4 at a time, and then fed them into the magazene. It worked and probablty would be better using an air or electric stapler. Jim
I haven`t touched that dash for a while because I am going to be using my 85 chassis for a replica which comes with a dash. I thought about maybe finishing it a little more and see what someone would give me for it if anything. I might still do that if I ever get the time. Mike
That's a shame. The first dash was awesome and I was definitely looking forward to seeing your second one. Nothing was over-the-top and ridiculously ostentatious; there was a great balance of modern, unique and simple in both dashes. I think the second dash would've sold well to several members.
Not sure if you ever figured out a way to glue this, but if not here is my suggestion. You can actually put the contact cement into a cup sprayer (like used in auto painting) and spray it onto both the fiberglass and the vinyl. This way it will not saturate the backing on the vinyl, and it will adhere to the fiberglass very well. I am not sure if it requires a different sprayer / nozzle since the contact cement is thicker than paint, but i know it can be done...... i have worked in cabinet shops that use them for this type of work. And since it is sprayed instead of brushed, it is a very even application without brush strokes or lumps. Hope this helps, keep up the great work
