heater control repair

[BDD]

After having had two GT's in the past (my first one was a 1970 that I bought in 1976 or 77 and which I drove during high school and college) I made the decision to get another one this spring. It wasn't an easy desision to make because both of my earlier cars were killed by rust (courtesy of the local use of road salt, etc).
My new (1972) car seems to be in really good shape. Needs some miscellaneous work, some rewiring and new paint and it seems to have only a very minor amount of surface rust.
Anyway, I was wondering if anyone out there has a good heater control panel for the dash or a good leather shift boot that they would like to sell.
I had a heater control panel in mint shape in my 1973 parts car but it got broken when I tried to remove the dash!

Thanks,
BDD

[kwilford]

There are very few good used heater controls out there. The plastic self-destructs, and it was a weak design thirty five years ago. I have been able to fix mine by applying a few pieces of aluminum sheet pop-riveted to the remaining plastic. But even it's days are numbered.

So the next time I need to fix it, I am just going straight to OGTS, who sell a complete unit made out of aluminum. A fellow Calgary Opel GT owner bought one, and it is a work of art. Well worth the $120 (ouch!). Look for #11030 on www.opelgtsource.com

[BDD]

Keith:
Do you know what type of glue works with the plastic of those old control panels? There are some new CA glues that work with some plastics (but they also can "fog" the plastic and ruin it's appearance). Also, epoxies might work. Your method of reinforcing the back is an excellent one. I was thinking of the same thing earlier but by bonding the aluminum to the original plastic.
Does anyone know what type of plastic was used for these?
I might buy one of the aluminum ones later when I can afford it(ouch is right! but it is good that OGTS and just a few others still provide parts for these cars) but for now I want to try for a cheaper solution for this part.
There are other things that I'll probably get from these other parts suppliers.

BDD

[kwilford]

I suspect that it is some kind of styrene. I repaired mine, oh, twenty five years ago! I remember thinking even then that the plastic was a pretty low quality. At the time, I was a bit into epoxies, as I worked in a ski repair shop while I went to university, and we used a very good two-component aviation epoxy. But I don't think I used epoxy for the repair. From what I recall, my control just broke where the cable sheath clamped to the plastic. So I cut a piece of sheet aluminum to replace the broke part and pop riveted it to the existing plastic. I may have "sandwiched" the existing plastic layer. It's been a very long time and my heater control is safely behind my dash right now. But if I continue to restore my GT in the manner in which it has been heading (as in more removing than installing), I will probably be pulling the dash again. If I do, I will post some photos of my repair. It must have not been too bad to have lasted all these years.