Report on dash mount repair Topic is solved

[Clemens]

Oh yeah, the magic of butyl rope. Btw, a friend adviced to remove or loosen the 4 dash mounting bolts before stuffing anything in there, but then this is probably only good if your mounts aren´t broken. In which case it should barely rattle.

[bmdubya1198]

That's a good idea. I wedged some cardboard in there a couple weeks ago and it was slightly quieter, but that only lasted a couple days before it was torturous again. I really need to do the complete fix on the GLT, but it's my only running car right now so I'd rather not take it apart and make myself angry because I need something in the middle of the job!

[abscate]

I might have a shinola - load of butyl tape left over if you want some

PM me if you want some, Ill check roll.

On edit - yeah, I bought 30 feet. That means I own 4 too few Volvos

[bmdubya1198]

I'll be good, thanks! The squeaking will give me the much need the motivation to yank that dash sooner rather than later!

[amblerman]

Great writeup, amblerman. You're now an MVS Contributor.

This DIY added to the Volvo Repair Database.

Wow. Thanks. This was quite the surprise. Hitting the site and seeing my post on the front page?!?!?! It made my day.

I hope my post helps someone out there and I want to thank every one on this site for their help.

All the good posts and write ups on this site encouraged me to try and write up one of my own repairs.
Hopefully I'll have some more up soon

-A

[bmdubya1198]

I finally took care of this repair this past weekend, and I am very pleased with the results! It's like I'm driving a completely different car!

My mounts were totally destroyed, likely related to this car previously being involved in a front end collision. With some assistance (I barely had the patience to repair the mounts alone) I was able to repair the mounts using a similar method to the one shown in this thread.
I first glued the remains of the plastic mounts in place with some JB Weld Plastic Weld epoxy. I feel the ABS adhesive the OP used would have been better, but I couldn't find any locally.
Once that cured (it cures in 20-30 minutes, perfect if you need to finish this job relatively quickly), I made metal brackets with a pre-drilled metal strip from Home Depot and glued them in place over the plastic mounts.

I had a leftover Bondo fiberglass repair kit from another project car, so that worked out perfectly to further reinforce the dash as shown in this thread. I added some pieces of a craft felt sheet to the mounts on the firewall, using some Scotch Extreme double sided mounting tape. Nothing much, but it offers about the same amount of "noise buffering" as the small felt pads that were there from the factory.

I let it all sit overnight and did some final patch work yesterday morning, then reinstalled everything. R&R isn't hard at all, it's just a little time consuming. I got it all replaced in probably 45 minutes, but I have pulled these dash pads and steering wheels several times before, so that part was quick and easy for me.

One screw (second one in from the driver's side) didn't line up quite right, but the other three hold the dash good enough for me. The screw didn't seem to thread in, but I can't get it out, so I'm not going to worry about it. The wiper linkage is in the way, and the only way to get on the bolt with with a flex head ratcheting wrench, which is one of the few tools I don't have.
The dash is now virtually silent, and roads which previously made me want to stick ice picks in my ears are now tolerable (these roads are still poorly paved!).

So my conclusion here is if you're thinking about doing this job, DO IT! It's not the worst thing in the world to pull the lower dash, and actually repairing the mounts themselves isn't too hard if you are patient and you read through the first post here!
It's a little more intimidating at first than shoving cardboard in the dash, but it's far more effective!

Thanks amblerman for a great writeup!

[abscate]

B-Dub, you must have put a new evap in this car while you had the dash out, right??

[bmdubya1198]

B-Dub, you must have put a new evap in this car while you had the dash out, right??

I live on the edge... I did not. I don't plan on keeping this car too much longer anyway, so *knock on wood* I shouldn't have any issues.
If I do have to eventually change the evaporator, it'll just give me an opportunity to realign that one fastener... because I'm not going to touch it otherwise.

[Fosgate]

Can I check with the OP how much ABS cement did you end up using? I'm looking to get some and I need to know how much I need for the same type of repair. Thanks

[amblerman]

Fosgate,

Make sure you're getting pure ABS cement and not the ABS/PVC combination cement. I know the pure ABS cement will work. I have not tried the ABS/PVC cement. It may work. I just don't know.

I was able to do my dash with a 16 oz bottle of ABS cement. And when I did the job I felt like I was fairly liberal with the cement and I know I had some left over in the end. That was true even with doing multiple layers of the fiberglass cloth. I just checked on Amazon and the common sizes seem to be 4, 16 and 32 oz here in the US. I am sure I got the 16 oz can.
Here are a couple of notes about using it.

1) If you don't clean the threads before you close up the can, it will be really tough to get open the next time. I had to use some slip joint pliers to open it a few times. Not a bit deal but just be prepared for that.

2) Close the can up tight after use. The acetone will evaporate if you put it on loosely and you'll be left with a a gooey film on top or wose.. it will harden. That's what I had to throw mine out eventually. I couldn't even open the can any more (year later) because the applicator brush had locked to bottom after the remaining cement hardened .

3) wear gloves! if you don't, you'll be peeling the cement off your hands for days. I wore medium weight nitrile gloves and they worked great. No mess and I didn't feel like any of the acetone made it through to my hands.

Good luck