Need help: Dash loose

[Par4Ed]

I bought a 1991 NSX recently and the corner area of the leather piece just above the “ frunk” latch on the drivers side is loose. Any ideas how to fix this besides going to the dealership to buy one? It looks like it’s missing a clip but not sure. Thanks

 

[Honcho]

I bought a 1991 NSX recently and the corner area of the leather piece just above the “ frunk” latch on the drivers side is loose. Any ideas how to fix this besides going to the dealership to buy one? It looks like it’s missing a clip but not sure. Thanks

Congrats on your purchase! If you are talking about the driver's side knee bolster (the leather piece under the steering wheel), then you have discovered one of the most annoying parts of the NSX. The clips on this piece grab way too hard and break off when people try to remove the piece. UNfortunately, if the clip has broken off, the only real fix is to buy a new piece. They aren't cheap, but they are available.

***EDIT***
Here is the part: https://www.acurapartswarehouse.com/oem/acura~panel~assy~instrument~driver~lower~nh188l~real~black~77210-sl0-a01za.html

 

[Honcho]

***MODERATOR NOTE***
Moved the thread to this forum with the proper subject matter.

 

[goldNSX]

I'll second that they are a PITA to remove. I guess brute force was used while removing it in the past.

A broken plastic is not the end of the world. You can use special glue to glue on a substitute.

 

[Par4Ed]

Thank you both for your .02. Wow, a few hundos for a plastic clip, no way Jose! goldNSX you mentioned I could glue on a substitute and use a special glue. This would be a more affordable way to go. What would you suggest?

 

[Par4Ed]

I meant close to $400 for those clips. Out of my price range!

 

[Honcho]

Thank you both for your .02. Wow, a few hundos for a plastic clip, no way Jose! goldNSX you mentioned I could glue on a substitute and use a special glue. This would be a more affordable way to go. What would you suggest?

You can try ABS cement (you can get it at Home Depot), but the problem is that the pulling force to remove might just crack it again. Pretty much all NSX owners go through this misery.

 

[NSX_n00b]

I meant close to $400 for those clips. Out of my price range!

It's $400 for a brand new knee bolster not just the clips. I would pull the whole bolster off and check to see how many clips are broken. You'll want to check where the clips "click" into the dash to see if the plastic/metal piece is jammed in there as well.

IIRC the plastic is ABS so some ABS cement should do the trick for gluing the plastic piece back on (assuming you still have them).

 

[MotorMouth93]

I like to mash down the little tabs on the metal clips with pliers so they don't grab as hard.

 

[Honcho]

I like to mash down the little tabs on the metal clips with pliers so they don't grab as hard.

Don't you also wrap them in some kind of rubber too?

 

[Old Guy]

ABS cement will work, so will acetone. ABS is not cross linked so if you apply acetone to some ground up or ABS filings it will dissolve and you can make a paste which can be used to fill in missing pieces in repair areas. For ABS pieces that need to be joined make repeat applications of acetone until both ABS pieces have softened and then clamp together. This makes an excellent repair. I prefer acetone to the plumbing ABS cements because acetone does not have a carrier which leaves and ugly yellow or grey residue. The down side to acetone is that it evaporates quickly so you need to make repeat applications to get the ABS soft. It is also runny as hell and if it runs over exposed surfaces it will mar it. If you are lucky its just the clips that have sprung and the actual bolster is OK.

The bolster is a pain to get off because it is hard to get a grip on it. The hot ticket is to pull the steering wheel all the way back and then raise it. This will make the gap between the left side of the steering column cover and the left portion of the bolster pad visible. If you don't have ham hands you should be able to reach your fingers into that gap which will allow you to get a better grip on the bolster pad. Pull the pad straight back. Once you have released it from the clips on the left side if you lever the pad back a bit it will open a similar gap on the right side of the steering column and you can fit your fingers in there to repeat the process on the right side.

 

[Miner]

ABS cement will work, so will acetone. ABS is not cross linked so if you apply acetone to the some ground up or ABS fillings it will dissolve you can make a paste which can be used to fill in missing pieces in repair areas. For ABS pieces that need to be joined make repeat applications of acetone until both ABS pieces have softened and then clamp together. This makes an excellent repair. I prefer acetone to the plumbing ABS cements because acetone does not have a carrier which leaves and ugly yellow or grey residue. The down side to acetone is that it evaporates quickly so you need to make repeat applications to get the ABS soft. It is also runny as hell and if it runs over exposed surfaces it will mar it. If you are lucky its just the clips that have sprung and the actual bolster is OK.

The bolster is a pain to get off because it is hard to get a grip on it. The hot ticket is to pull the steering wheel all the way back and then raise it. This will make the gap between the left side of the steering column cover and the left portion of the bolster pad visible. If you don't have ham hands you should be able to reach your fingers into that gap which will allow you to get a better grip on the bolster pad. Pull the pad straight back. Once you have released it from the clips on the left side if you lever the pad back a bit it will open a similar gap on the right side of the steering column and you can fit your fingers in there to repeat the process on the right side.

Get some black legos and drop them in a bit of MEK (just like acetone, but even more nasty). Then after a day you will have liquid abs and can brush it on the broken plastic. It may take several coats to make a solid repair, but it can be done.

Another tool to add to the collection is a 3D pen, with a spool of abs filament. Think 3D printer, but handheld.

Or a combo of the above. I haven’t done much of it myself, but I do own a vintage ABS plastic hard sided popup camper and some of the repairs that are done to broken and cracked abs is impressive. Of course the time and effort when the part is still available, that is a different question!

 

[MotorMouth93]

I'm going to disagree here. I've repaired a lot of ABS plastic parts on old cars using various methods, and purpose made ABS solvent cement is far and away the best and strongest solution. The ABS cements are a cocktail of solvents (usually including both acetone and MEK among other things) and dissolved plastic that does an excellent job adhering to parts and allowing the solvents to bond everything together without evaporating too quickly or deforming the parts or damaging surface finishes like you would trying to use only acetone. If you find the residue ugly then just file or sand it off, but it never bothered me being on the back side of interior panels.

I got rid of the metal clips and only use butyl rubber to hold the triangle pieces onto the door cards but left the clips on the knee bolster. It works well for the door pieces as it's very easy to remove when I need to but stays on perfectly otherwise and doesn't harden with age. For removing the knee bolster I seem to recall reaching up under the dash and pushing on the clips from behind with something to help release them without breaking tabs but maybe I'm mistaken.

 

[Miner]

I'm going to disagree here. I've repaired a lot of ABS plastic parts on old cars using various methods, and purpose made ABS solvent cement is far and away the best and strongest solution. The ABS cements are a cocktail of solvents (usually including both acetone and MEK among other things) and dissolved plastic that does an excellent job adhering to parts and allowing the solvents to bond everything together without evaporating too quickly or deforming the parts or damaging surface finishes like you would trying to use only acetone. If you find the residue ugly then just file or sand it off, but it never bothered me being on the back side of interior panels.

I got rid of the metal clips and only use butyl rubber to hold the triangle pieces onto the door cards but left the clips on the knee bolster. It works well for the door pieces as it's very easy to remove when I need to but stays on perfectly otherwise and doesn't harden with age. For removing the knee bolster I seem to recall reaching up under the dash and pushing on the clips from behind with something to help release them without breaking tabs but maybe I'm mistaken.

Good info. As mentioned, having a vintage ABS plastic Apache Popup, being able to repair cracks and breaks is a challenge. From several other owners, Liquid ABS (or LABS) made from MEK and ABS pellets along with some ABS grid can repair most any broken and missing sections and pieces of ABS. I personally use ABS cement because getting MEK in CA is hard; getting it pre-mixed in cement is easy.

 

[Jerry@Mobile]

The dealer destroyed mine while the car was in for service. I asked them to replace the rubber bumper on the brake light. Some kid must have used a crow bar to remove it and broke it in about 50 pieces. I found it in the trunk. After much screaming on my part, they replaced it for free. I will never use the dealer again. Jerry