Crease in dash covering following kicking by little feet... - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

psinthos · #1 09-12-2011, 04:42 AM

On the way to nursery school this morning, my little daughter was not very pleased with having to wear a sweatshirt. She expressed her discontent by kicking the dashboard in my 140. Little women can be very aggressive and dangerous (to car interiors, at least).

Anyway, one kick was applied to the lower edge of the passenger airbag cover and resulted in a crease in the dashboard covering (there is even a tiny crack, about 2mm in length on the left side of the crease). Anyone have any ideas on how this could be smoothed out a little?

The first idea that comes to mind would be using the tip of a household iron on a low setting (silk/synthetics etc.) through a piece of paper. Has anyone tried something like this? I would not want to inflict any further damage.

http://www.mb.org.pl/forum/ubbthreads.php/ubb/download/Number/644/filename/kicked_dash2.jpg

http://www.mb.org.pl/forum/ubbthreads.php/ubb/download/Number/644/filename/kicked_dash1.jpg

Stretch · #2 09-12-2011, 04:52 AM

That sounds like a tricky repair - in which car (in your signature?) did this happen?

If you have a clear picture that might help.

You mention an iron - I was thinking hot air gun...

I'm not sure how wise it is to apply heat to an airbag though...

psinthos · #3 09-12-2011, 05:01 AM

The victim is the 140... The pictures do not seem to show up in my original post above - I have added addtional links.

Stretch · #4 09-12-2011, 07:08 AM

I'd see how easy it is to remove the "wood" trim and then see if you can push the bit that was kicked back out. I don't think heat is going to get it all back to normal. To my eye you need to apply some pressure there too...

psinthos · #5 09-12-2011, 07:13 AM

The wood is on top of the glovebox lid - opening the glovebox gets it out of the way. But that does not help in any way - the airbag cover is heavily padded (ca. 10mm), and so is soft. There is not much deformation, actually - the problem is a crease in the plastic sheet itself (there is no way to get at it from behind). I am thinking about ironing the crease out with very minimal pressure, but some heat to help soften the plastic sheet.

Stretch · #6 09-12-2011, 07:29 AM

Can you use a pin or a thin rod and push in from behind?

psinthos · #7 09-12-2011, 08:12 AM

There is no need to push from the back - what is needed is slight pressure from the front to remove the crease. The slight ridge, which has formed as a result of the plastic coating folding upon impact, is actually protruding into the cabin. That's why I believe 'flattening' it with an iron may work.

I attach two more pictures from a slightly different angle.

Simply pushing on the crease with fingers has actually helped a little, but no more can be acheived without heat.

I am worried about potential deformation as a result of the heat, though - hence my question, whether anyone has actually tried anything like this before...

Stretch · #8 09-12-2011, 10:38 AM

I'm sorry as you can tell I've not done anything like that - so I'll shut up from now on after I say...

How about putting a clean towel in boiling water and then (with gloves on) applying heat carefully to see if it has any effect before you break out the iron?

psinthos · #9 09-12-2011, 10:47 AM

Thanks for the idea with the towel in boiling water - I may indeed give it a shot!

cypress · #10 09-12-2011, 12:11 PM

Just use a hot air gun or hair dryer, blow left & right quickly.

The leather/vinyl repair guy that custom painted the center console that I bought showed me that trick. It had a crease not as bad, but it magically disappeared when he blew hot air on it with his hot air gun. He told me the vinyl has this memory & hot air will bring it back.

psinthos · #11 09-12-2011, 05:22 PM

I went down to the garage and tackled the crease with a damp cloth and an iron. I was afraid to use a hair dryer (let alone a hot air gun) due to the proximity of the wood veneer under the centre air vents.

Having placed a soft damp cloth over the affected area, I applied very gentle pressure with the tip of the iron set at a low heat (silk/synthetics). The process was very slow due to the low heat. I was tempted to turn up the iron, but was afraid that the vinyl might become so soft so as to result in a dent - that would be very difficult to get rid of (if at all possible).

Around 20 minutes of work yielded fairly satisfactory results. When viewed from certain angles, one can still see an imperfection, but the ugly ridge is gone. I attach some pics (shot with my cellphone) - once I was done ironing, I applied a (too) generous amount of dashoboard cleaners. Excuse the excessive shine...

I may work with the iron a bit more later, but for now, at least, I will not be totally annoyed every time I slip behind the wheel of my 140.