Rapido-9083df

[treetops1]

Just wondering if anyone with the above van has had the same problem as ourselves .
3 years ago the dash started to go sticky soft adjacent to the windscreen .We were in France at this time and put it down to the hot sun .Over the last couple of years it has slowly progress towards ,for want of a better explanation towards the steering wheel and covered the whole of the Rapido dash ,but the Fiat part of the dash is perfect .I have read of this problem in the past and understand they were given a black plastic to cover it. I contact the MD at Rapido in France and pointed out my dashboard was melting and the MD who had never heard of the problem gave me a code number so when in contact with then my emails would not go into spam. Well after a period of time after sending emails without reply i gave up.I decided as we were both fed up of sticking to the dashboard i would purchase a new one and just solve the problem.I Contacted our local dealer BROWNHILLS (and unusually do not blame the dealer) and the storeman told me there was one left and i assume that was with Rapido in France .In fairness to the storeman who i have an excellent regard for, i thought £1760 +£170 delivery was a bit expensive and managed to get it down to £1500 +delivery. .Fortunately my youngest son called and suggested i contacted a good quality car restoration outfit to check if they could look at it .I contacted dave@trimtechnique.co.uk based on a farm near Leicester . I spoke to Dave on the phone and he said he could help ,so i removed the Rapido part of the dash which took a couple of hours due to removing the internal blinds but came out easy .Dave pointed out it was a heavy paint and needed stripping down to bare plastic and to start again ,the Fiat part was a material finish.The main part of the work was cleaning it down .After a week, picked it up emaculate like new.cost £300 and a guarantee it will not melt .I would just point Shirley has only ever wiped the top down with a damp cloth .A big thanks to Dave and a note he does body repairs and restores and repairs alloy wheels .

 

[chippy63]

Had exactly the same problem with ours, so had it flocked gives a velour finish.

 

[chippy63]

A photo of it flocked

 

[treetops1]

How do they charge nearly 2 grand for about 1.5 mts of plastic .This could well be any Rapido. Just a little tip chippy if your passenger side window frame goes to a mitre at the bottom nearest the door make sure your vent covers outside are glued to the van otherwise driving rain water can get in and can leak into you wall

 

[chippy63]

Have a look at the attached photo is it the same as yours,what vent covers are you referring to?

Karl

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[treetops1]

Hi Karl ,Sadly that’s the one Karl ,if you put a hose pipe on the window and let it run down slow like rain up to heavy ,then see if the water runs inside the slot .get your wife to sit in the van lift the lining up on the instide groove and see if it fills with water if it does the chances are some could be leaking through the mitre (the only window with one.).Hope It does not but get your cover on as soon as and as you can see they have being sealed on judging by the glue stain around the slot.The covers are ,Don’t faint £9 brownhills. Take care H

 

[chippy63]

So the water enters through the three holes & wets the board on the inside around the window.?.

So if I take off the plastic trim around the inside of the window I would be able to see if the board is wet.

Karl

 

[treetops1]

Hi Karl .when you remove the plastic trim inside there is not a lot to see. But you could put a damp meter on panel adjacent corner