Alfa 75 - INSTRUMENT BINNACLE GONE GUMMY

[Henry Goodman]

Hello everyone.

I recently acquired an Alfa 75 Twin Spark and I have to admit, I'm smitten by it - just like my first Alfa 30 years ago. Unfortunately, it comes with a gummy instrument binnacle/surround. For some reason, maybe sun damage or perhaps even chemical cleaner reaction, the skin covering the instrumet binnacle is badly decomposing. Its quite sticky and in when the interior is hot, it turns into quite a black gooey mess.

Does anyone have any experince with this please and better still can anyone recommend a remedial treatment?

i'd thought I'd try the forum before I attack the problem with a blade and alcohol cleaner - though i'm not sure what sort of backing I'll find once I remove the black goo.

Any suggestions would be most appreciated.

Kind regards,

Henry.

[david sammartino]

are you talking about the complete dash, as in the binnacle that encases the instrument cluster, the arc panel and hazard switch, etc etc. if so its alot easier just to replace the thing, its a very easy job, half hour job for a newby, 10 mins for a pro. ive probly got a good cond one laying around too. wouldnt be worth more than 20 bucks imo.

[Typhoon90]

Yeah, it's the vinyl/urethane breaking down. A cheap fix is to grab some vinyl and contact adhesive and reskin it. You won't save what's there now, it's lost some of it's chemical components.

Regards, Andrew.

[Henry Goodman]

Thats right, as described by Andrew. I guess I'll have to check out another 75 with undamaged vinyl skin to make sure I choose the correct type of vinyl for replacement eg. a type that will minimise light reflection on the instruments.

Any other suggestions out there? Maybe just remove the mess and leave it uncovered - has anyone tried this?

Regards,

Henry.