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"With a little help from my friends" I have managed to get an uncracked
dash surround for my 164. The original, after 23 years in Panama, looks
sort of like the subject of an axe murder. The wood-grain panels have sagging
plastic wood grain, and another friend has given me a replacement set of panels,
and while the wood grain is somewhat better, I unilaterally decided to try
formica wood-grain laminate instead for greater durability. Considering that
we have a fairly wide range of temps here, especially inside a car in the
summer, I am beginning to have second thoughts about how to bond the laminate
to the aluminum and am also beginning to consider "expansion joints" in it.
It occasionally goes below zero °F here and temps inside a car in the summer
can easily exceed 150°F in the sun, although a white roof may lower that by
as much as 25-30°. (I don't have a white roof on my car.)
I'm wondering if any of you have any suggestions about what kind of adhesive
to use bonding the formica laminate to the aluminum panels, and whether I
should include any gaps in it for "expansion joints". On the 1972 and earlier
140/164 these panels are made of sheet aluminum, about 1/8" thick and the
longer one is about 4" wide and 32½" long. A good point for the expansion
joint(s) might be adjacent to the 3 vertical rollers which comprise the
heater control.
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George Downs Bartlesville, Heart of the USA!
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