Successfully replaced one side panel on David Parnell's Sprint today. The result looks good.
Would like to say we did a good job however the credit goes to Sandra, David's cleaning lady who tried to give advice and then realising we were a pair of bumblies, took over and showed us how to do it. Sandra used to work for a company that did trimming for Rover and other companies and made it look easy.
The material used was 4 way stretch vinyl BMW grained, it has similar pattern to original but a semi matt finish. Some Turtle Wax Bumper & Tyre Gel brought it up to match the roofs 'years of polish' shine and it looked very close to the original moulded panel on the other side.
Vinyl from
www.as-trim.co.uk 4 way stretch vinyl, stretch tech 1273. Should be ok for the roof as well. Only time will tell how it lasts.
Glue evo stick applied by scraper to metal and stubble brush to vinyl. We used spray on which 'runs and doesn't give control of spread' but worked ok. Important to make sure glue is evenly spread over all the area and given time to dry.
The reason for changing the side panel was bubbling at the lower edge and a split just above the lower trim. Onlooking at the moulded piece removed, this area had not been endowed with glue when fitted in the factory. As we see a number of other cars panels with similar bubbling wonder if this caused by lack of glue and the sun/temperature variations over the years. Easy to imagine the quick wipe with glue brush and slap the moulding on style of a production line.
Marsh