Ready to refit vinyl on top of dashboard (question)

Hi all,

Although progress on the B is slow after it came back from the painter, I am about to refit the vinyl on top of the dashboard. I have found a piece of vinyl that is quite the same as the original and my wife has been helpful in cutting it in the right form.

The only thing that I keep thinking about is whether to mark en cut out the holes for the vents and the 2 slots for the stick in the middle of the screen first and then glue or glue first and cut out the holes afterwards. I am leaning towards the second option (no worries about exact fitting), but am wondering if people have had bad experiences with this way.

As always, thanks for your help!

I found it much easier to trim the material with a razor blade after it has been glued in place.

X2 Bruce...

trim it after, you'll never be able to match the holes up as nicely as you think that you can

x4.

Glueing it down first and then trimming the holes after it's all cured is the only way to go. You will save yourself a lot of grief.

Don't mean to highjack this thread, but can anyone tell me how the vent fittings are fastened and can they be removed without damaging the fabric mentioned and the wind screen still installed ?

Thanks, clint

Vent covers have a threaded stud at each end...

Also I believe that the vinyl was split down the center of the slot and then glued underneath?

What do you guy do about the number plate. I drilled mine out from the bottom and then glued it back on.

I am just about finished doing this. When I removed mine, '70 GT, The vinyl was glued on the bottom of the leading edge of fiber board and on where the vent holes were. Also on the bottom of the leading edge was a thin strip of foam (maybe 1" wide and 1/8" thick). On the trailing edge the vinyl was glued to the metal of the car, not the fiber board.

When I re-installed I wedged the leading edge between the windshield on the metal of the car, then tightly pulled the vinyl and glued it to the trailing edge of the metal. The actual fiber board was not glued down to anything.

To attach the VIN I plan to use some thing like Tamper Resitant bolt . I can't get the rivet gun in their and I think these will look similar to a pop-rivet.

I tried to re-install it how it appeared to have been installed when I took it off. Hopefuly my description makes sense.

-Lance

Just as an afterthought, I read somewhere about a good trick to prevent the vinyl from getting bubbly (?). Instead of piling old books on it, someone advised to fill some plastic bags with sand and place these on top of the vinyl. Good idea, I reckon!

When you brush contact adhesive on the vinyl you will find that it will start to curl up. So brush glue on the metal first, then the vinyl. Then it is a bit of a panic to get it on without getting glue fingerprints all over the top. Also as you put it on it will stretch.
So cut holes later, cause there is no way they will end up in the right spot if you cut them first.
Also I wore 3 or 4 pairs of very thin rubber gloves. One over the other. That way I could rip one off and have clean fingers if (when) I got glue on my hands.
I'd recommend a practice run.
It came out looking good however, I've just got the car repainted and I got them to remove the (new) vinyl and paint the cowl like the MGA. I was over there yesterday and it looks great. A few others have done this. I'd recommend it.

You rivet into place with the w/s assembly off. If you forget, take the pop rivet apart, stick the female piece into place, stick the stud through the rivet hole and pull it from the bottom. Doesn't look like 100 points, but does pass for a rivet and does not draw negative attention.