Extended leather dash bubbling...

[Maniac]

The problems over the years with this car are starting to bore me now, as much as I love the car.

Today I've noticed the extended leather dash cover has started to lift near the central speaker cover which means I'm either going to have to spend a bomb at the dealers or try and take apart the dash to attempt to glue it back down. Once this stars in one area though it's likely to start all over and I'd be forever chasing my tail.

Having googled it, it's happened to others after time...

[metal licker]

The problems over the years with this car are starting to bore me now, as much as I love the car.

Today I've noticed the extended leather dash cover has started to lift near the central speaker cover which means I'm either going to have to spend a bomb at the dealers or try and take apart the dash to attempt to glue it back down. Once this stars in one area though it's likely to start all over and I'd be forever chasing my tail.

Bloody hell you've had some issues with your Zed ! Is there any cars out there that would tempt you to move on ?

[Maniac]

Tbh I'd miss the Z and will likely persist with it. It's my guess this will happen with other Z's as they age.

I'd thought about selling it and paying off the Merc but as much as I like the Merc it's not my baby like the Z is...

Just annoying is all... I stopped the warranty cover last year.. Mistake.

[nightyard]

take the dash to an upholster ?

should be peanuts for them to properly glue it down again, surely?

[Maniac]

take the dash to an upholster ?

should be peanuts for them to properly glue it down again, surely?

I suspect it will be removing the dash that will be the interesting part. It's not a huge area right now but will likely spread.

[Zed Five]

Yes, I heard about this too. Specifically didn't go for extended leather as I read about the issue.

You could try using a fine needle and syringe to inject the bubble with a little warm glue and then distribute from the outside. there should be no visible hole and a darn sight less trouble than removing the dash.

It may of course reoccur, but worth a try. An interior expert might try to heat the area with a hot air gun to reactivate the glue beneath. worth a shot too.

The trouble is, in hot weather you'll be looking for it to reappear

[Maniac]

Oddly I've been out to look at it in more detail and the bubble has gone. Seems in the heat the dash expands enough to flatten out the cover. Only when cold does the dash shrink a little to make the cover bubble slightly. Looks perfect at the moment. Presumably it's this material expansion and contraction that's at the root of the issue.

Having looked at the dash further it seems that top panel is fixed to the dash carrier and not removable. Which means entire dash carrier out, massive job or windscreen out.

The needle injection is a good option and I'd thought about this earlier.

[PerryGunn]

The needle injection is a good option and I'd thought about this earlier.

Not wishing to rain on the parade, I've tried to inject glue behind coverings in the past and have to warn you that you may not have any luck with this approach - decent glue tends to be quite thick and, to avoid large holes, you'll probably want to use the finest bore needles you can get away with.

That said, I guess you have a black dash and it's probably easier to hide the holes in black leather than in other colours

[ba3bas]

Yes, I heard about this too. Specifically didn't go for extended leather as I read about the issue.

You could try using a fine needle and syringe to inject the bubble with a little warm glue and then distribute from the outside. there should be no visible hole and a darn sight less trouble than removing the dash.

It may of course reoccur, but worth a try. An interior expert might try to heat the area with a hot air gun to reactivate the glue beneath. worth a shot too.

The trouble is, in hot weather you'll be looking for it to reappear

Syringe and glue is exactly what an upholsterer would do. Use a flexible needle through any stiching or seams.
It's bound to happen on any leather if there isn't enough adhesive or if it breaks contact.

Don't let cosmetic stuff put you off pal.

Drive the hell out of her

[Z4Rick]

Many years back, I tried the needle/injection method on an older XK120 dashboard that belonged to a friend. I assembled a contraption using a small hand pump and blunt needle used for inflating soccer and basketball balls. Because the needle was threaded and unscrewed from the pump, I used a small section of copper tubing with appropriate threaded fittings at each end and positioned it between the pump nozzle and the needle. This allowed filling the copper tube with silicone from a caulking gun, then reassembling the pump/tube/nozzle device for use. The blunt needle was sharpened a bit and it did make a slightly larger hole, but allowed ample flow of the silicone to fill the bubbles, and once done we placed flat heavy objects over the area, being careful to wipe up any silicone oozing from the hole. The leather was black - as was the silicone - which helped immensely. It worked pretty good. When my buddy finally had the money to restore the Jag, the spots we fixed were harder to remove than the original leather. After looking at my own dash, I would certainly try this rather than tackle removing the dash!

[Z4Rick]

Many years back, I tried the needle/injection method on an older XK120 dashboard that belonged to a friend. I assembled a contraption using a small hand pump and blunt needle used for inflating soccer and basketball balls. Because the needle was threaded and unscrewed from the pump, I used a small section of copper tubing with appropriate threaded fittings at each end and positioned it between the pump nozzle and the needle. This allowed filling the copper tube with silicone from a caulking gun, then reassembling the pump/tube/nozzle device for use. The blunt needle was sharpened a bit and it did make a slightly larger hole, but allowed ample flow of the silicone to fill the bubbles, and once done we placed flat heavy objects over the area, being careful to wipe up any silicone oozing from the hole. The leather was black - as was the silicone - which helped immensely. It worked pretty good. When my buddy finally had the money to restore the Jag, the spots we fixed were harder to remove than the original leather. After looking at my own dash, I would certainly try this rather than tackle removing the dash!

I happened to talk with this friend tonight on another matter and he reminded me that we used 3M 5200 sealant/adhesive, NOT silicone. 5200 is a polyurethane which cures flexible and is famous in the boat building business for its adhesion and tenacity. It is often used to join a fiberglass deck and hull on a sailboat, but has similar viscosity to silicone caulks out of the tube - very nasty stuff - it has to 'wear' off of skin once it starts to cure - wear nitrile gloves!