I bought my car a few months ago, sight unseen. I had read of the evil delam plague in these forums and I was bummed to notice a bit on mine when it arrived. It wasn't horrible but in the past 3 months it's already spread and I knew I wanted to try and get ahead of it, especially considering these are the winter months and summer in FL will be much worse (even though I try to use a sunshade too). My car lives outside a lot unfortunately.
I apologize for not having a good before picture. I do have video of it but have to pull that off my camera still, and reshoot a few things that got corrupted/lost (my SD card is acting up). I'll get that posted in the FB group soon (and a Youtube channel someday). My video talks through the details a bit too. I'll link it here when complete. For now there's a supply pic, and the final result at the bottom of this post.
I had seen a youtube video of a Corvette owner using the glue/needle method on his dash and it came out well so I figured I'd try the same. I went with a smaller needle than he used though. For less than $30 and an hour or two I'm happy with the results, and glad I didn't need to spend $6k for a new dash. Here's all that you'll need to buy.
Bish's Tear Mender
27 Ga Needle/Syringe
A Lego box is recommended but optional
I did a few tests on some scrap leather that was as close to the dash material as I could find. I was happy to see how well the leather recovered from the needle hole. The glue dries pretty quickly, dries clear, and has an elastic quality to it. Filling the small syringe was a bit tricky at first. You have to go slow and drip it in from an angle. A few times I had a bubble form or went to quickly and it made a mess. I tried sucking it in through the needle too and couldn't get that to work. So just remove the plunger, fill it up about halfway or so and carefully reinsert. Then I turned the needle upwards and waited for the glue to settle, and pushed out any air. Have shop towels handy to catch/clean the glue as you prep a syringe. The only other prep I'd suggest is to put towels down in the car since this stuff drips easily. And I also had a damp microfiber cloth so I could quickly wipe up any leaks/spills, and help spread the glue and put pressure on the leather.
From there it's just as you'd expect. Pick where you want/need to poke. Be mindful of gravity and how much glue you insert. I did a few tenths of a ml at a time (shown on syringe). Go slow and try not to poke too deep or you hit the dash and some padding and the needle can clog or not spread well. I tried to insert at an angle then lift up a tiny bit to increase the gap inside, push out some glue, back the plunger out a tiny bit to keep the tip from dripping, remove the needle and then wipe with the cloth and spread/pressure the area. Go slow and give a minute or two of pressure depending on the area, to help it adhere/flatten well.
I thought I'd only need one needle and was annoyed I had to buy 25 but very glad I did. I had a decent number of clogs and ended up just constantly switching to new needles once I emptied them. I probably used half the bag. I def wouldn't go with a smaller or bigger needle this size felt great even if it clogged up a bit. Using new needles didn't really slow anything down either. If anything it helped reduce the mess. Obviously be sure to re-cap them and I wouldn't recommend stabbing yourself either, lol. I doubt our bodies like adhesive injections.
Overall I'm VERY happy with the fix. No clue on how it will hold up over time but I'll be sure to update if anything happens. Before, my delam was along the left side of the airbag, went pretty low, and then up around it to the right too. The worst was on the top upward curved part above the airbag. The separation bubble/shape was pretty noticeable there. I'll likely go back in and touch up a few places but for now I think it came out great. Some of my holes are a tiny bit noticeable but I poked this dash at least 20 times and for the most part I can't tell!
Hopefully this encourages other to try the same or something similar. I'm glad I worked up the courage to try it. I feel much better about my dash now.
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I apologize for not having a good before picture. I do have video of it but have to pull that off my camera still, and reshoot a few things that got corrupted/lost (my SD card is acting up). I'll get that posted in the FB group soon (and a Youtube channel someday). My video talks through the details a bit too. I'll link it here when complete. For now there's a supply pic, and the final result at the bottom of this post.
I had seen a youtube video of a Corvette owner using the glue/needle method on his dash and it came out well so I figured I'd try the same. I went with a smaller needle than he used though. For less than $30 and an hour or two I'm happy with the results, and glad I didn't need to spend $6k for a new dash. Here's all that you'll need to buy.
Bish's Tear Mender
27 Ga Needle/Syringe
A Lego box is recommended but optional
I did a few tests on some scrap leather that was as close to the dash material as I could find. I was happy to see how well the leather recovered from the needle hole. The glue dries pretty quickly, dries clear, and has an elastic quality to it. Filling the small syringe was a bit tricky at first. You have to go slow and drip it in from an angle. A few times I had a bubble form or went to quickly and it made a mess. I tried sucking it in through the needle too and couldn't get that to work. So just remove the plunger, fill it up about halfway or so and carefully reinsert. Then I turned the needle upwards and waited for the glue to settle, and pushed out any air. Have shop towels handy to catch/clean the glue as you prep a syringe. The only other prep I'd suggest is to put towels down in the car since this stuff drips easily. And I also had a damp microfiber cloth so I could quickly wipe up any leaks/spills, and help spread the glue and put pressure on the leather.
From there it's just as you'd expect. Pick where you want/need to poke. Be mindful of gravity and how much glue you insert. I did a few tenths of a ml at a time (shown on syringe). Go slow and try not to poke too deep or you hit the dash and some padding and the needle can clog or not spread well. I tried to insert at an angle then lift up a tiny bit to increase the gap inside, push out some glue, back the plunger out a tiny bit to keep the tip from dripping, remove the needle and then wipe with the cloth and spread/pressure the area. Go slow and give a minute or two of pressure depending on the area, to help it adhere/flatten well.
I thought I'd only need one needle and was annoyed I had to buy 25 but very glad I did. I had a decent number of clogs and ended up just constantly switching to new needles once I emptied them. I probably used half the bag. I def wouldn't go with a smaller or bigger needle this size felt great even if it clogged up a bit. Using new needles didn't really slow anything down either. If anything it helped reduce the mess. Obviously be sure to re-cap them and I wouldn't recommend stabbing yourself either, lol. I doubt our bodies like adhesive injections.
Overall I'm VERY happy with the fix. No clue on how it will hold up over time but I'll be sure to update if anything happens. Before, my delam was along the left side of the airbag, went pretty low, and then up around it to the right too. The worst was on the top upward curved part above the airbag. The separation bubble/shape was pretty noticeable there. I'll likely go back in and touch up a few places but for now I think it came out great. Some of my holes are a tiny bit noticeable but I poked this dash at least 20 times and for the most part I can't tell!
Hopefully this encourages other to try the same or something similar. I'm glad I worked up the courage to try it. I feel much better about my dash now.
