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vinyl adhesives

ekamm

Jedi Warrior
Offline
What types of adhesive/glues do you use for interior vinyl( i.e. recovering dash rear closeout)?
 
Hi Eric,

All the interior vinyl projects that I did on my 6 I used a couple of different strength 3M spray adhesives. I think that there is a general purpose one and then a "super" adhesive one....

I have also used a brush on contact cement where spraying was difficult and that worked well also.

Cheers,
M. Pied Lourd
 
I don't have the exact formulation name handy right now, but I do not recommend a general purpose contact cement. I think I used a Weldwood product to glue in some trim on the TR4. I held well initially, but after a month started releasing - it is still a mess as I don't have the energy right now to redo. I have used the 3M spray adhesive and it worked great.
 
I have used 3m spray adhesive some but not really on my car. I'll look closer at the types. I also used a loctite product (sqeeze tube) for vinyl, fabric and plastic on my side curtains for small repairs, so far so good.
 
Do not use Weldwood on anything. If you need stick for something ,use a 3M product.
 
If it has any kind of foam,use the 3M Foam spray for that.
 
It's worth keeping in mind that much of what you do on the TR3 requires very little adhesion -- in many case you just need something to hold the material in place until all is assembled, e.g. the covering for all the cappings & railings are more or less clamped in place once the pieces are mounted.

Headliners (none on a TR3) require more stick, so do dash pads (again, you don't have 'em). If you use a minimal amount when you can someone will some day thank you (might even be you if you insist on doing something crazy like keeping the car for 30 years and driving the stink out of it week in and week out).
 
DNK said:
Do not use Weldwood on anything. If you need stick for something ,use a 3M product.

I used both 3M (in the spray), and Weldwood brushable contact cement on my leather interior.

One of the places I used the Weldwood was in the arch of the dash where the steering column resides. I had to use an appropriate sized socket and clamp to stretch the leather into position. If somethings not gonna stick, this would be the spot. The Weldwood has held fine for over a year now. Maybe it works better on leather then vinyl because it's more porous. I have no complaints at the moment.
 

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I suspect you may be right Art. I used 'DAP Weldwood Original Contact Cement' to attach headliner trim on the surrey backlight for my TR4. When I brushed it on, I noticed that the vinyl material curled a little as the cement soaked it. But it became tacky and installed very well. I had it perfect I thought, then after just sitting there it pulled off the frame. I'm still disgusted by it, but it may not be the fault of the contact cement. My guess is the Weldwood solvent soaked into the vinyl a little too well, then when it flashed off over time the pieces shrunk a little which caused my problem. I haven't gone back to it also because I need to source a little more trim material for that section.
 
This is an interesting discussion as I'm in the middle of making up my own interior panels with my first test set almost complete. Two friends who are professionals (one owns a furniture upholstery business and the other does car interiors for a restoration shop) use Weldwood contact cement for securing foam to backboards and leather/vinyl to the foam.

The 3M product line is quite extensive and I really think it's a matter of using the right product for the job. For example, when I installed my hood liner, I used the 3M #77 product and due to the engine heat, it fell off..........so I found out that was the wrong product and had to use their #80 which is good to 200 degrees. The liner has held firmly in place for 3 years now.

Move on to my interior panel work, and the vinyl I'm using has a cotton-ish backing. For the first door panel I used the #80 to bond it to the pleating foam. Wrong product! It soaked through the backing and puckered the vinyl. For the rest of the project I used #77 with good results. Next up is to secure closed cell foam to the hardboard and I'll use the weldwood. That's a today or tomorrow project and I'll let you know what happens.

I really think it's mostly a matter of using the correct product and applying it correctly......i.e. in a controlled temperature, applying enough but not too much and paying attention to the drying time before putting it together.
 
I have a personal reason for not using Weldwood. I stake my professional reputation on a product and if it fails and they don't back it up then I am out money,and reputation.
If you ask most people who work with contact cement on a regular basis they would probably agree with me.The product is probably good for homeowners stuff.
Your results may be different.
 
I just finished up most of the pieces for the custom panels that I'm making and I decided against using the Weldwood because of the strict temperature criteria for installation ( my cellar is at 55-65 degrees) and the fact that it takes 30 minutes to set up before you can assemble anything.......and once two pieces touch they never come apart again.....at least in theory. When gluing foam to backboards and then fabric to foam you need to be able to reposition things. I used 3M #77 which seems to be just fine. :driving:
 
I looked a little today and didn't see the 3M for foam any ideas where to get it?0n another note I have a few threads on dashes and cappings, but I remember someone talking about recovering the rear closeout. Does anyone know where I can find it.
 
Is the 77 version for foam?
 
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