The warp I was experiencing had 2 defects:
- The strip of dash vinyl between the vent and the windshield had shrunk and was now straight instead of curved. The vinyl was directly covering the vent holes.
- The vinyl between the vent and the driver was curling up. I would estimate that the curl was about 5 inches high and partially obstructing the drivers view.
This dash is on a 2000 Mystique, I believe it is the same as the Contour. The following picture displays the dash after my repair:
I looked at the Ford INSTRUMENT PANEL WARPAGE REPAIR and decided I could do the fix myself. The Ford fix did not deal with the vinyl that had shrunk in front of the vent.
Similar to the Ford fix I used zip ties to hold the dash vinyl down instead of pop rivets.
The following picture displays all the items I used to fix the dash. I suggest using a medium weight zip tie. The ones I used worked well and are also rated for UV exposure:
There are two phases to the repair. It was sort of a discovery process.
Repair phase one:
1. Drill holes in the vent cover large enough for the zip ties to feed through.
There should be a pair of holes at each end of a vent spacer. There are 7 vent spacers. You'll notice that the end spacers only needs one hole. At the end spacer you can just use the vent opening to feed the zip tie through. You should drill the holes from the bottom side of the vent cover on a 45 degree angle.
2. This is the part that some people may not like. I can live with it. To release the tension on the vinyl strip between the vent and the windshield cut the strip in the middle. This cut will be visible when the repair is finished and you will see about a 1 inch opening.
This image displays the 2 remnant defects in my fix. The cut in the dash board and some minimal curve right at the windshield.
3. Thread zip ties into place loosely. Each zip tie should bind a vent spacer to the steal cross member below in the dashboard. Slowly tighten the zip ties pulling the dash vinyl back into place. Take your time and position the vinyl back into place as you tighten the zip ties. The vent cover will pin the vinyl down.
You'll notice that the vent is to big now and sticks out at the ends. Leave the car alone for a couple days preferably in the sun. The vinyl actually takes to its new shape over time.
Repair phase two:
1. Cut all the zip ties off. The vinyl should be holding in its new position.
2. With a Dremel type tool as shown above, reshape the ends so they fit into the shrunken vent opening. I had to trim about a half inch total and tapper the driver side end.
3. Reattach zip ties as before. You can make them very tight then cut their tails off.
The total fix took me 1.5 hours. Good luck.
- The strip of dash vinyl between the vent and the windshield had shrunk and was now straight instead of curved. The vinyl was directly covering the vent holes.
- The vinyl between the vent and the driver was curling up. I would estimate that the curl was about 5 inches high and partially obstructing the drivers view.
This dash is on a 2000 Mystique, I believe it is the same as the Contour. The following picture displays the dash after my repair:
I looked at the Ford INSTRUMENT PANEL WARPAGE REPAIR and decided I could do the fix myself. The Ford fix did not deal with the vinyl that had shrunk in front of the vent.
Similar to the Ford fix I used zip ties to hold the dash vinyl down instead of pop rivets.
The following picture displays all the items I used to fix the dash. I suggest using a medium weight zip tie. The ones I used worked well and are also rated for UV exposure:
There are two phases to the repair. It was sort of a discovery process.
Repair phase one:
1. Drill holes in the vent cover large enough for the zip ties to feed through.
There should be a pair of holes at each end of a vent spacer. There are 7 vent spacers. You'll notice that the end spacers only needs one hole. At the end spacer you can just use the vent opening to feed the zip tie through. You should drill the holes from the bottom side of the vent cover on a 45 degree angle.
2. This is the part that some people may not like. I can live with it. To release the tension on the vinyl strip between the vent and the windshield cut the strip in the middle. This cut will be visible when the repair is finished and you will see about a 1 inch opening.
This image displays the 2 remnant defects in my fix. The cut in the dash board and some minimal curve right at the windshield.
3. Thread zip ties into place loosely. Each zip tie should bind a vent spacer to the steal cross member below in the dashboard. Slowly tighten the zip ties pulling the dash vinyl back into place. Take your time and position the vinyl back into place as you tighten the zip ties. The vent cover will pin the vinyl down.
You'll notice that the vent is to big now and sticks out at the ends. Leave the car alone for a couple days preferably in the sun. The vinyl actually takes to its new shape over time.
Repair phase two:
1. Cut all the zip ties off. The vinyl should be holding in its new position.
2. With a Dremel type tool as shown above, reshape the ends so they fit into the shrunken vent opening. I had to trim about a half inch total and tapper the driver side end.
3. Reattach zip ties as before. You can make them very tight then cut their tails off.
The total fix took me 1.5 hours. Good luck.
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