Removing the console

Hi all. Been checking out this forum for a while now but this is my first post. Awesome site by the way.

I'm looking at building a system into my van and have checked out the Alpine site and how they build those cool interiors. Before I rip into my van I thought i'd clarify a few things first. I notice when creating the consoles etc to fit the donor car they tend to lay down masking tape, then glue aluminium foil to the tape. With the mdf cut they then glue this to the foil and layer up with cloth, glass, resin and bog ontop of the foil. When removing the part from the car for finishing, where does it part from the vehicle? The tape is stuck to the car, the foil glued to the tape and the mdf glued to the foil along with the fibreglass etc. I assume it parts at the foil/mdf interface but can anyone clarify this for me before I rip into my project and find I can't get the part out. And how difficult is it to get the piece to part from the vehicle?

Many thanks and hope to post some pics as I progress.

Sure. In the Alpine pics and articles they show a number of layups on dash boards, doors etc that have masking tape put down first direct on the vehicle, then aluminium foil glued to the tape. They then in some cases super glue MDF to the foil or glue the speaker cloth to the foil then glass over this. My question is with the tape stuck to the dash, the foil glued to the tape and the MDF/cloth/glass either glued or bonded to the foil as well, how difficult is it to get whole part to seperate from the dash to get it out for finishing? I assume that the bond between either the tape/foil or the glued MDF/cloth/glass etc to the foil is weak enough to split away at the foil and you would end up with some foil stuck to both the part and the tape to be removed when cleaning up the part and vehicle. However I would have thought that there is no reason to glue the foil to the tape as it should hold in place as you form it over the countours of the vehicle, then the part would just seperate at the foil/tape interface.

The way they seem to do it is they have each layer stuck to the one below, so where does it seperate and how difficult is it to get the part out of the car?

Thanks for your help.

Garry

Hi Nik,

Thanks for the advice. You confirmed the way I was thinking and thats reasuring. Next step is to rip into it so will keep you posted on progress.

Many thanks,

Garry.

Hi Realitycheck,

Sure will. It may take a while as I have a few things to sort out first and some more hardware to buy (17" LCD TV etc) but should be on to it within the next month or 2.

Garry.