DDK - Die Deutschen Klassiker

Hi everyone

I was wondering what black filler people were using on OEM dash/lower-dash parts?

I know you can recover etc, but for various reasons I would prefer to make good of the parts I have. I know any black filler won’t have the grain and might be a slightly different shade, but just interested in what people have been using?

Thanks for taking the time to read. I have attached a photo of one part I am trying to restore.

Its not clear from your picture whether you have a big area of vinyl missing, or it is all there and just curled up.

If curled up, heat it with hair dryer, glue it down with contact adhesive, and wrap electrical tape around it and leave until the glue is hard. Cracks or narrow gaps in the vinyl can be filled with e.g. black silicone gasket seal - I have used this one. Wipe excess off immediately. Tends to be a bit glossy. https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00 ... UTF8&psc=1

If you have areas of missing vinyl, I was tempted at first to say that it will be near impossible to get a good semi-invisible repair, but then got to thinking about how I might go about it, best-effort wise. Not sure what types of repair can be done with a vinyl repair kit - might be worth looking into. Or... heat up the repair area to soften the vinyl. Glue glue down lifted vinyl edges and tape over it and leave until glue dries hard. Build up and seal the areas of missing vinyl with layers of superglue if needed, to get the shape back, but leave enough room for a layer of black liquid coating. A few thoughts about options for black coating - brush on black nail varnish or black lacquer paint (easy to build up, and finally dull with 3000 grit if too glossy then polish back with rubbing compound enough to match original shade), liquid rubber (more difficult to layer, probably less controllable).

Hopefully someone else can suggest something a bit more sensible

Good luck!

If you dont want it to look a mess, pull off remaining vinyl fill any cavities with body filler.(Note this must be done to same standard as body repairs) then use 3 way stretch vinyl to recover.With the aid of a heat gun,and contact glue,you should get a decent finish.Any other attempt will look crap.

Thanks both.

So I actually have a couple of different scenarios. The attached photo is missing vinyl, as if it got peeled with a carrot peeler or craft knife. The other has simply cracked, causing gaps.

I really want to avoid recovering; recovered dash parts I can spot a mile off, and prefer the look and feel
of he original finish. The location of the split in the photo I uploaded is right under the steering wheel, so I only need to get it filled and smoothed in a close (but not perfect) colour match. There must be a nice rubberised black filler I can scrap in and smooth over.

If anyone has ever used one, do let me know, otherwise I might buy a couple of different random ones,
Test them and post the results on here

Hi,

heat the complete part up so that the vinyl is little flexible. Wax or oil the outside. place leather/vinyl glue beetween foam and vinyl.
use 4-5 adhesive tapes 90 degree to the gap and pull the two parts together to close the gap. the tapes shoud stick to the surface, so clean at least the area at the end of the tape from wax.
wrap tight in foil.

avoid to use too much glue and use enought wax that the glue and the foil will not stick to the surface.