Firewall pad issue

[LakisAkylas]

Hi,

Last year, I ordered a replacement firewall pad (reproduction of the original) from this site and had it installed by the mechanic who works on my 280 SL. While the texture of the material is very close to the original and looked really nice when first fitted, the top layer of the pad is now completely wrinkled (has detached from the substrate pad on which it was glued). I suspect that my mechanic did not follow the installation instructions correctly, but before doing anything about it I wonder if anybody else who used these pads had a similar experience. Many thanks for your feedback/advice.

Lakis Akylas

1971 280 SL, 4 speed manual, DB172 anthracite grey/grey tex   

[waqas]

Some photos might be helpful to see what's going on.

[66andBlue]

Were any cleaning solvents used during the installation, especially when the felt layer was glued to the top layer?

[w113dude]

I agree, Incorrect cleaning solvent will do that to any vinyl base material.

[KevinC]

Lakis,

Please do post photos when you can as it will help others to see if they have shared the same experience that you are encountering. When you say "ordered...from this site" do you mean one of the commercial advertisers or simply in the Items for Sale area? Lastly, where are you in MA?

Kevin

[LakisAkylas]

Many thanks for your comments/suggestions. The firewall pad I used is the one offered (about a year ago) by a group of members of this site, not a commercial vendor. Unfortunately, it is not easy to post pictures, but I can try to describe the problem in detail.

The pad consists of two layers, a top thin layer (with the correct diamond texture) and a thicker felt layer. These layers were delivered pre-cut to the (correct) exact same shape, but completely separated. One surface of the felt layer had already been coated with glue and covered with paper. According to the installation instructions, this paper cover must be peeled off and then the two layers brought together to form one piece that, in turn, is to be glued on the firewall.

The problem (which developed gradually over the past year) is that, while the felt pad is still glued on the firewall, the top layer, for some reason, has badly wrinkled and separated from the felt pad in several places. This suggests that the two layers were not properly bonded together before the pad was glued on the firewall, but am not sure if this is really the cause of the problem. At any rate, my replacement pad looks terrible, certainly much worse than the original pad, which was in passable condition.

I know that several members of this site bought this same pad (whose appearance, by the way, is very close to that of the no-longer-available original), and I wonder if anybody else has had a similar experience. Many thanks.

Lakis

PS. Kevin, I live in Newton and work in Cambridge.



 

[450sl]

had these issues too :  I removed the selfadhesive layer on the felt.  then glued the felt to the firewall , after that i glued the pad to the felt.

[BABAK]

I have have been hearnig a lot about this issue too.
Its not the installer fault its the Material

[66andBlue]

Hi 450SL,
if you really removed the adhesive layer on the felt first and then glued the felt with the newly exposed sticky side onto the painted firewall you should get a BIG trophy.
Nobody as far as I know has ever managed to glue the felt on upside down - the pattern just doesn't fit. 

Perhaps you have used Babak's material which has the adhesive liner facing the firewall.

We have distributed about 300 of the firewall pads and had only these two negative feedbacks. 

had these issues too :  I removed the selfadhesive layer on the felt.  then glued the felt to the firewall , after that i glued the pad to the felt.

[BABAK]

66andblue your firewall pad material has felt. This is a fact. Correct me if I'm wrong.

A major concern when restoring your classic  should be finding a firewall pad that won’t cause long term damage to the body of the vehicle. When using felt or a jute backed products, unwanted moisture can easily cause early deterioration. Felt backing is sticky and becomes dry and brittle and begins to disintegrate after a couple years. If the material is not glued to each other directly it will eventually peel back and wrinkle from the underlying felt backing.

Im just stating the facts. I know several restorers that have had to remove this group's firewall pad because of the problems indicated above and replaced with my diamond firewall pad. This site is not intended for commercial purposes, but I guess when a profit is made off the 300 firewall pads at $135 each = $40,500 the group rules are bent. I'm not here to disparage the goodwill of vendors and/or products sold. But I have continuously found myself clarifying things written about my business and products by Alfred aka 66andblue
Latest Column multifunction switch - OEM or reproduction? By 66andblue

[Garry]

450SL,

Can you post some pictures close up of your pad.

 I have had a look at a pad I have here and unless you added adhesive to the backing first then attached it to the firewall and then peeled off the backing paper and then fixed the firewall pad to it, it is not possible to use the adhesive that came with the backing to fix it to the firewall as the pattern is reversed and would not fit.

Lakis,  

Again photos would be a great help to seeing exactly what the problem is.
My only suggestion is that you have not correctly firmly adhered the pad to the backing and as a result it is now lifting.  If you are able to remove the pad from the backing and start again with new adhesive, I suggest that the gentle use of a heat gun/hair dryer will also help in getting the contours correct on the firewall.

Garry

[450sl]

I removed the adhesive layer from the felt by using a (temperature controlled )hot air gun (just to get it out of the way), then glued the felt to the firewall by using the recommended glue .
after curing i glued the pad to the felt by using the formentioned recommended glue .

Im am satisfied with the result so far ,i am only looking for a somewhat more black finish.
Been thinking about using a waterbased black paint or shoepolish :not sure yet what to use.


For 66andblue :
Quote (if you really removed the adhesive layer on the felt first and then glued the felt with the newly exposed sticky side onto the painted firewall you should get a BIG trophy..................... )
I dont know what this is all about.  Looks like you feel  affended in a way as a result of my reply to this issue , or you might think a am a technical moron ; in that case well i am not.

[Garry]

I actually had to fit a pad to my 230SL a day ago and this discussion must have put a spell on me as I had real difficulty with it after all that. It is the second pad I have fitted to a Pagoda, the first went fine. The solution as 450Sl said was to fit the backing to the firewall first then affix the pad to the backing separately.  It made it much easier, as the difficulty with a right hand car is that the pad is all one piece and not the two piece of the LHD cars so is very difficult to handle all at once.

Lakis,  A separate email has been sent to you.

Garry