How much can plastic take?

[alan s]

If anyone hasn't heard, the Cits particularly <BX had an abominable reputation for falling apart on the dash, so much so that I once bought a BX off a Cit mechanic who fitted a new strip behind the windscreen on his wifes car.
She went shopping for a couple of hours and on her return, drove it straight into the workshop. When asked why she'd parked it there, her response was "so you can fit that new strip you keep talking about fitting." When he told her he had fitted it that morning, she accused him of day dreaming and when he went to the car, sure enough, it was cracked; that's how long it lasted!
They have predicted temps in "the mid 40s" this week in Southern Australia and we are only just into spring, so as a comparison, how do your cars stand up overall in your climate? I know the temps are less, but it seems our UV might be the main cause.
Does anyone over there use screen covers and dash protectors?

Alan S

[andmcit]

Never heard of any actual dash protectors over here Alan - In this South
Wales we long for dry days - never mind dry HOT days!!

There's a clear film that can be applied to the external nose of the car to
protect the paint from chipping This is aftermarket not the gravitex
rubberised paint that is applied by the manufacturer.

Guess you use one of those windshield shade jobbies that looks like a big
sheet of bacofoil to reflect the light!?

Andrew

[alan s]

Yep, they're a must as is a steering wheel cover otherwise the steering wheel turns to jelly.
I have a 16Trs that we bought as a hackaround that was a commuter to & from work for the previous owner, hence it spent 24/7 out in the elements. When the dash mat was removed, there was practically no dash left underneath; it had all turned to dust or cracked into a million pieces, that's how serious a problem it is.
I must admit though, that since the Xantia they have improved, but the part about a BX that is mystifying is that they can make a bonnet and hatch of plastics, yet something exposed under glass where there's a concentration of heat but still a certain amount of protection from direct sun doesn't last 5 minutes.
WE use a lot of UV protectants with limited success such as Armourall.


Alan S

[BernieLugg]

Something in mind of the yellow / orange tinted screens you used to get on corner shops back in the 60's and 70's to stop the window displays fading in sunlight?
Havent seen those for years, but imagine a roller blind could be rigged up going from the dash to screen top - might not keep too much heat out, but would stop UV degredation Alan.

Bernie.

[jeremy]

I think in UK tinted windows save the upholstery from suffering too much - certainly cars with clear glass seem to have tattier back seat tops.

[Stewart(oily)]

I used to have some stuff sold by STP called son of a gun, it was apparently developed to protect plastics in jet cockpits, it worked in Wales, only washing off after a few days
Stewart

[bxbodger]

I have this concertina'ing tinfoil type thing, that sits across the inside of the screen, which together with leaving the sunroof up and the windows open a bit, keeps the temp down when it's left all day in the summer sun.

You don't see the ones in France with cracked dashes, even though in Le Sud it's regularly in the mid forties in summer, but they tend to lob a big towel over the screen or park in the shade. The hottest place I've been is Malta, which is closer to North Africa than it is to mainland Europe, and again they tend to park up and chuck a bedsheet over the car.

[philhoward]

In equally hot climes (I recall Tunisia and Iran..) a lot of cars have a "wooly" dashboard cover on the top - looks like cheap seat covers or kids toys depending on your outlook on life. Temps in both those countries happily reach 40 degrees on a regular basis - the sort of heat where it hurts to breathe... In Tunisia, it was Pug 405's and Cit ZX's; only 405's in Iran (they even do/did a home-brew version which was rear wheel drive called the 1600RD....)

[goldfinche]

Hello alan I dont know what the answer is, no experiance of heat such as you get. Some time ago I came accross the question of the plastisizers used in plastic that are used to make plastic plastic if you see what I mean,** they gradually 'evaporate' over a period of time the result being that the plastic becomes hard, brittle and cracks up. The sticky film that appears on the inside of the windscreen is the result of these plastisizers migrating.
If it were possible to use a polish that would/could replace some of the loss then that may slow the process down. You have contacts in the "oil" industry perhaps they have come accross something. A very loose connection --- plastic made from oil??Perhaps.
If nothing else it's given you something to think about.
All the best, hope you are keeping well.
Cheers.
Geoff.


** Record player with clear plastic lid, mains cable coiled on top, cable and lid fused together , that was the start of the story, interest in plastisizors.

[alan s]

It really is a big problem out here and about the best we've come up with so far is to keep the cars under cover.
Before we got the type of heat we're getting now, back in the days when I was associated with selling and servicing Toyotas, I once sold a Corolla to a guy who worked at the RAAF base at Amberley.
A few days after he collected his new car, he walks in complaining that his car had a faulty rear seat as the car which was white with a red interior, had a piece of black vinyl across the top of the back seat...you guessed it; he had left the car parked outside and within a couple of days, the sun turned the top of the rear seat from red to black; it was in fact almost charcoaled.
Silly part is that with the old CXs, the dashboard stays as new regardless of the amount of sun it gets, yet the door cards just split and warp so badly it's almost impossible to find a CX with even half decent door cards. You'd have to wnder why a car could be so outstanginly good on the dash could be so poorly made on the door cards; it just never made any sense to us.


Alan S

[jeremy]

Alan I expect the answer to the CX conundrum is that no-one gave it a thought when they made it and the materials were chosen on a number of factors - but that durability in extreme heat and sun wasn't one of them - so this quality is really down to good luck.

[dnsey]

If you can determine the precise plastic used, RAPRA
(http://www.rapra.net/)
might well be able to suggest a solution.

[mezuk04]

My ZX Temptation has got a bubbled dash where the plastic meets between the instrument surround and the front windscreen heater vent and a slight deformation in the center of the windscreen to.

I also remember a ZX in a certain possession (whether it was Wilkobobs or a family member) had the same sort of problem also.

[philhoward]

My ZX Temptation has got a bubbled dash where the plastic meets between the instrument surround and the front windscreen heater vent and a slight deformation in the center of the windscreen to.

I also remember a ZX in a certain possession (whether it was Wilkobobs or a family member) had the same sort of problem also.

My previous ZX had the dashboard "delaminating" in corners (side of the binnacle, mainly), but the new one doesn't..both R reg (97), but first was a hatch; second an estate.

[alan s]

If I can get a camera and clean it up enough to see it, I'll try to get a shot of a CX wreck in my yard where the windscreen has actually started to delaminate due to heat. It looks like large water drops but it's between the inner and outer glass sheets.


Alan S