Experts sought: windscreen breakage, chip and dash lacquer
Discussion
Evening, All.
PH is a labyrinth of topic subsections so this felt like an ideal place for it.
Apologies for what may look like a lengthy post. Just trying to set it all out in as much detail as possible for the experts. Queries for experts in windscreen and experts in interior dash restorations:
1) dashboard clear lacquer repair due to bubbling,
2) windscreen crack repair and
3) windscreen chip repair - cause is a mystery, can it be repaired (to pass an MOT) and will it show up?
I have a completely (mechanically and physically) stock 1990 JDM Toyota (Mark II / GX81 / 2-litre 1G-GE) that is currently abroad. I have had it for 2.5 years and the plan has always been to ship it to the UK.
The need to get it to the UK was exacerbated last August when I returned to the UAE after being away and leaving the car standing for around six months.
As the car was outside in an allocated parking space and under the intense heat for its third summer in the UAE (windows becoming magnifying glasses), the interior has suffered some damage. I'm trying to take steps to stop any further Sun and heat damage.
The clear lacquer (if that's what it is) on the dashboard 'wood effect' and on the vents has bubbled in places. I notice it mainly because I know it wasn't there or like that before! It's the same with the air flow symbols next to the vents as you can see from the photographs.
Does anyone have any idea as to how to rectify the lacquer peel and how much of a painstaking job it is? I am assuming it may need a very fine grit sandpaper (wet and dry) or wire-wool, and something to potentially spray on. For the symbols, probably irreversible damage and something I shall have to learn to live with!
The second issue is the windscreen, which has unfortunately been carelessly damaged by whoever must have dealt with it after it was exported from Japan, and then more recently at a garage whilst the water pump was being replaced.
The first aspect is that the lower offside of the windscreen has cracked and caved in where the cowl is. It isn't visible unless you 'look down there'.
My assumption is that someone must have placed something on the corner of the windscreen and lifted open the bonnet.
You can see that the corner of the bonnet has some minor rust from paint damage, so that tip must have pressed whatever was there into the windscreen glass and cracked it. It must have required some force and idiocy because it has also caved in at the bottom!
The queries then are: in the absence of being able to source a replacement windscreen, can this be brought into shape and aligned, patched up (e.g. a combination of resins) whilst being adequate for an MOT? The fact it has caved in is going to mean water ingress in future.
It would need the windscreen to be removed to do, but I can't see the structural integrity being affected down there. The other idea is to cover and seal the repair with an additional cowl where it would not be visible. Is that viable or in anyone's experience, is there a way around it?
Lastly, the windscreen chip. Refer to images below (brought UK coins with me!). I cannot fathom how this has happened and what (other than carelessness) caused it, but it has happened and I now need to deal with it. This happened around last September/October at the garage whilst the water pump and brakes were being sorted. It could not have been from driving as it was trailered to the garage and was not there before.
Again, windscreen experts' views are welcome here in the absence of a replacement windscreen or if one isn't really needed: the windscreen is not plain/clear and all the glass on the car has a factory brown hue.
Can this chip be repaired and if so, given the glass is brown, is there such a thing as coloured windscreen chip repair kits? It is, of course, in case the repair shows up due to not blending in. Is this type a chip that normally renders a windscreen condemnable and unable to pass an MOT?
Otherwise, perhaps importantly, what are people's thoughts as to what has struck it to cause this shape of damage, given the size, shape and pattern (it looks like it has an 'epicentre')? A tool or something jagged being thrown or dropped on it?
Thank you in advance, Everyone.
PH is a labyrinth of topic subsections so this felt like an ideal place for it.
Apologies for what may look like a lengthy post. Just trying to set it all out in as much detail as possible for the experts. Queries for experts in windscreen and experts in interior dash restorations:
1) dashboard clear lacquer repair due to bubbling,
2) windscreen crack repair and
3) windscreen chip repair - cause is a mystery, can it be repaired (to pass an MOT) and will it show up?
I have a completely (mechanically and physically) stock 1990 JDM Toyota (Mark II / GX81 / 2-litre 1G-GE) that is currently abroad. I have had it for 2.5 years and the plan has always been to ship it to the UK.
The need to get it to the UK was exacerbated last August when I returned to the UAE after being away and leaving the car standing for around six months.
As the car was outside in an allocated parking space and under the intense heat for its third summer in the UAE (windows becoming magnifying glasses), the interior has suffered some damage. I'm trying to take steps to stop any further Sun and heat damage.
The clear lacquer (if that's what it is) on the dashboard 'wood effect' and on the vents has bubbled in places. I notice it mainly because I know it wasn't there or like that before! It's the same with the air flow symbols next to the vents as you can see from the photographs.
Does anyone have any idea as to how to rectify the lacquer peel and how much of a painstaking job it is? I am assuming it may need a very fine grit sandpaper (wet and dry) or wire-wool, and something to potentially spray on. For the symbols, probably irreversible damage and something I shall have to learn to live with!
The second issue is the windscreen, which has unfortunately been carelessly damaged by whoever must have dealt with it after it was exported from Japan, and then more recently at a garage whilst the water pump was being replaced.
The first aspect is that the lower offside of the windscreen has cracked and caved in where the cowl is. It isn't visible unless you 'look down there'.
My assumption is that someone must have placed something on the corner of the windscreen and lifted open the bonnet.
You can see that the corner of the bonnet has some minor rust from paint damage, so that tip must have pressed whatever was there into the windscreen glass and cracked it. It must have required some force and idiocy because it has also caved in at the bottom!
The queries then are: in the absence of being able to source a replacement windscreen, can this be brought into shape and aligned, patched up (e.g. a combination of resins) whilst being adequate for an MOT? The fact it has caved in is going to mean water ingress in future.
It would need the windscreen to be removed to do, but I can't see the structural integrity being affected down there. The other idea is to cover and seal the repair with an additional cowl where it would not be visible. Is that viable or in anyone's experience, is there a way around it?
Lastly, the windscreen chip. Refer to images below (brought UK coins with me!). I cannot fathom how this has happened and what (other than carelessness) caused it, but it has happened and I now need to deal with it. This happened around last September/October at the garage whilst the water pump and brakes were being sorted. It could not have been from driving as it was trailered to the garage and was not there before.
Again, windscreen experts' views are welcome here in the absence of a replacement windscreen or if one isn't really needed: the windscreen is not plain/clear and all the glass on the car has a factory brown hue.
Can this chip be repaired and if so, given the glass is brown, is there such a thing as coloured windscreen chip repair kits? It is, of course, in case the repair shows up due to not blending in. Is this type a chip that normally renders a windscreen condemnable and unable to pass an MOT?
Otherwise, perhaps importantly, what are people's thoughts as to what has struck it to cause this shape of damage, given the size, shape and pattern (it looks like it has an 'epicentre')? A tool or something jagged being thrown or dropped on it?
Thank you in advance, Everyone.
I am no glass expert but if a replacement were available then that`s the way forward, I can only see that corner getting worse in our UK weather cycles.
I appreciate it may have a coloured tint but that`s something you would need to live with or may not even notice.
As for the dash I`m guessing its all plastic?
I appreciate it may have a coloured tint but that`s something you would need to live with or may not even notice.
As for the dash I`m guessing its all plastic?
The corner damage is not repairable. If there is enough chassis/frame above it it might be possible to cut the damaged corner off, but you would need to fabricate a shroud or modify the cowl. The windscreen would need to be removed from the car in order to do this (if it is at all possible).
Re chip: nothing unusual about it. Looks very much like stone damage.
Known in the repair world as a cloverleaf, the centre is the impact crater; emanating from this are a multitude of cracks in a spiders web formation. Between each crack is the glass delaminated from the interlayer.
In terms of its size - and type - it's repairable.
Re chip: nothing unusual about it. Looks very much like stone damage.
Known in the repair world as a cloverleaf, the centre is the impact crater; emanating from this are a multitude of cracks in a spiders web formation. Between each crack is the glass delaminated from the interlayer.
In terms of its size - and type - it's repairable.
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