Early +2 Centre Consol

[rong]

I have an early +2 with the ABS (os similar) plastic transmission tunnel cover. Unfortunately time and my 3 year olds feet have taken their toll. Has anyone succesfully repaired cracked and broken covers or are there replacements available? I have managed to use a hot glue gun to hold it all together but I have yet to find any product that works with the type of plastic used.

[alaric]

Hi. I bought a replacement from Christopher Neil some years back. Mine's the latest type from '72 but I recall that they could supply either. They used to have an online catalogue.

Sean.

[rong]

Thanks, I'll check out if they're still available

Ron

[terryp]

Hello
Theres one on Ebay at the moment that looks OK
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Centre-console-fo ... 1|294%3A50

Terry

[andyhodg]

Hi

I have succesfully repaired my early centre console using grp in the underside of the console. I then repaired some of the holes using body filler and painted the repair with satin black cellulose paint. I have been looking for a good one to replace maine with but I think they must get brittle with age as I have yet to find a good one without cracks etc. I did consider using a carefully repaired item as a mold to enable the manufacture of a "new" grp console. I did the grp repairs about 8 years ago and the resin has become unstuck in one or two places but the vats majoirity if the repairs are sound.

Regards

Andy

[stugilmour]

Did a similar repair as Andy using epoxy glue, as did not have fibreglass to hand. A few items...

Found it useful to use Krazy Glue to tack the cracks first to get the thing stable prior to applying epoxy. Use sparingly, as can soften plastic. Not a big deal as paint/filler will cover.

Easier I think to wait until repair in one area is set before moving to the next. The piece is so big and floppy tends to open the cracks if not completely set and re-enforced.

Painted with rattle can satin black paint for vinyl & plastic trim, which looked good, like cleaned up original.

I was planning to try and stabilize the piece by filling all the valleys on the back side with urethane foam as it tends to re-crack at the stress points in the corners as it is handled or weight put on it when installed.

When the tunnel lid is lifted, puts lots of spot stress on the hinge area. This area for sure would benefit from some glass and mat.

Plan to improve my repair this summer, but it definitely worth a try if you have all the pieces.