FloridaMan Posted December 11, 2019 Report Share Posted December 11, 2019 What’s the best way to get to the connector on the front antenna in a 1981 m20k with removing the fewest panels possible? Mine are old and brittle and I’d like to avoid adding any additional cracks to them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laytonl Posted December 11, 2019 Report Share Posted December 11, 2019 On my ‘92 J the headliner is pretty easy to remove. The panels are flimsy but once off you can stiffen them with fiberglass cloth and pvc glue. A couple coats of paint and they’ll look great! Lee 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N201MKTurbo Posted December 11, 2019 Report Share Posted December 11, 2019 I just did this. Remove the front overhead panel (the hardest one). There is a removable cover under the antenna. It is probably sealed with tape and mystery sealant. I cleaned off all the mystery sealant and resealed it with tank sealant (proseal). It is much nicer now. While you are in there, you might as well remove the antenna, clean all the mounting hardware and the skin and the steel tubes and rebond the antenna and reseal it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PT20J Posted December 11, 2019 Report Share Posted December 11, 2019 26 minutes ago, laytonl said: On my ‘92 J the headliner is pretty easy to remove. The panels are flimsy but once off you can stiffen them with fiberglass cloth and pvc glue. A couple coats of paint and they’ll look great! Lee Lee's got a good point. If they are getting brittle, it might be best to bite the bullet and beef them up before they get worse. The panels are made from thin ABS plastic and it gets even thinner at the radius' when vacuum formed. A little light weight fiberglass cloth and hardware store ABS cement (or Plane Plastics sells ABS chips in a can that you can dissolve in MEK to make cement) can make the panels better than new. SEM Color Coat comes in a number of whites and works great and is easy to apply. You'll want to do the whole interior to get a consistent color, but as the original ABS tends to yellow over the years, it's amazing how a fresh coat of SEM improves the look. I did this on my '78 J and am planning to do it on my '94 J soon. Skip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FloridaMan Posted December 11, 2019 Author Report Share Posted December 11, 2019 49 minutes ago, N201MKTurbo said: I just did this. Remove the front overhead panel (the hardest one). There is a removable cover under the antenna. It is probably sealed with tape and mystery sealant. I cleaned off all the mystery sealant and resealed it with tank sealant (proseal). It is much nicer now. While you are in there, you might as well remove the antenna, clean all the mounting hardware and the skin and the steel tubes and rebond the antenna and reseal it. So how do you go about removing it? Mine seems like there are hidden screws holding it to the middle overhead panel behind the speakers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N201MKTurbo Posted December 11, 2019 Report Share Posted December 11, 2019 8 hours ago, FloridaMan said: So how do you go about removing it? Mine seems like there are hidden screws holding it to the middle overhead panel behind the speakers. Mine is a 77 J it didn’t have any hidden screws. These things have been reworked so many times by now that they could be anything. Maybe some pictures would help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldguy Posted December 11, 2019 Report Share Posted December 11, 2019 13 hours ago, FloridaMan said: So how do you go about removing it? Mine seems like there are hidden screws holding it to the middle overhead panel behind the speakers. My '84 J has 2 screws from the front overhead panel connecting it to the one behind it. I needed to start by dropping the front of the first panel and supporting it as I worked on removing the additional screws moving towards the rear. I was able to get a long #1 Phillips in from the front to take out the final two screws connecting it to the rear panel. I won't go into the pain it was putting them back in, but you get the idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArtVandelay Posted December 11, 2019 Report Share Posted December 11, 2019 My '84 J has 2 screws from the front overhead panel connecting it to the one behind it. I needed to start by dropping the front of the first panel and supporting it as I worked on removing the additional screws moving towards the rear. I was able to get a long #1 Phillips in from the front to take out the final two screws connecting it to the rear panel. I won't go into the pain it was putting them back in, but you get the idea. You couldn’t just remove both as one piece?Tom 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldguy Posted December 11, 2019 Report Share Posted December 11, 2019 55 minutes ago, ArtVandelay said: You couldn’t just remove both as one piece? Tom Possibly could have, but mine were fairly brittle and just keeping one of them suspended without (more) pieces breaking off was tricky enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laytonl Posted December 12, 2019 Report Share Posted December 12, 2019 Mine has four screws connecting the front panel to the rear panel. I had to take the overhead speakers out to get to the screws. Lee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Posted December 14, 2019 Report Share Posted December 14, 2019 @FloridaMan. Were you ever able to get your panel down? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanM20C Posted December 15, 2019 Report Share Posted December 15, 2019 On 12/10/2019 at 8:42 PM, PT20J said: Plane Plastics sells ABS chips in a can that you can dissolve in MEK to make cement I’ve had great success with legos dissolved with acetone. It’s practically free. cheers, Dan 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerry 5TJ Posted December 15, 2019 Report Share Posted December 15, 2019 1 hour ago, DanM20C said: I’ve had great success with legos dissolved with acetone. It’s practically free Which color LEGO makes the best sealant? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonMuncy Posted December 15, 2019 Report Share Posted December 15, 2019 1 hour ago, DanM20C said: I’ve had great success with legos dissolved with acetone. It’s practically free. cheers, Dan Just how did you discover that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanM20C Posted December 15, 2019 Report Share Posted December 15, 2019 1 hour ago, Jerry 5TJ said: Which color LEGO makes the best sealant? I’ve always used the white ones. Makes it easy for the paint to cover. 1 hour ago, DonMuncy said: Just how did you discover that? About 30 years ago I caught my dad stealing some of my LEGOs. Turned out he was doing some ABS repair work and needed a clean source of ABS (LEGO). It probably wasn’t a good idea teaching a 10yo boy that he could melt legos with acetone. i keep a small jar of dissolved legos as well as some lightweight glass cloth and various little brushes and squeegees for interior panel repair. I just add acetone to the jar and re dissolve. If it is too thin I can add legos or just wait for the acetone to flash off, only takes a few min. I’ve done some nice repairs with this method. When the repair is visible on the interior side panel it’s very noticeable after paint do to it being smoother than the original finish. So I lightly sandblast the area and can closely match the texture. Some repairs were almost impossible to see. Acetone is nasty stuff so be sure to use in a well ventilated area. Cheers, Dan 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Starke Posted December 15, 2019 Report Share Posted December 15, 2019 17 hours ago, Stephen said: @FloridaMan. Were you ever able to get your panel down? I saw this headline, I hope our @FloridaMan is ok. Florida man died from meth overdose before he was eaten by alligator. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FloridaMan Posted December 18, 2019 Author Report Share Posted December 18, 2019 I’m here. I ended up not pulling it for the time being. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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