Temporary patch repairs to soft tops

[BikeTuna]

It looks like my car at some point had a couple of badges on the sides of the roof that had ripped though, and the previous owner of the car thought he would be able to bridge the holes with silicone sealant - It was an absolute mess! I bought a wetsuit repair kit as per recommendation on here and I've taken a few pics of it all for your enjoyment pleasure.


First step was to clean off the silicone sealant and clean up the area for the patch using brake cleaner.




Then following the instructions of the product, apply glue to the back of the patch and to the panel, wait 3 minutes until touch dry. My pic shows 2 patches, the smaller one I put on the inside - the tear was uneven so I was hoping this will stop it spreading.





Then apply another layer of glue to the patch and panel, stick panel and apply pressure for 3 minutes.




It was very easy to do, the glue is very tacky so don't put it on the seat while you are doing something else. The finish is very clearly a temporary repair, but it's better than leaking water. It's only a shame that there isn't someone making these with printed logos so that it looks like a stick on badge rather than a patch.

[BikeTuna]

Here's the kit I used, contained 2 medium patches that I used on the outside, 2 small patches that I used on the inside, and one very large patch should I ever need it. A bargain at £7.99, available on Amazon.

[ghostrider]

Apr 23, 2016 8:42:05 GMT BikeTuna said:

Here's the kit I used, contained 2 medium patches that I used on the outside, 2 small patches that I used on the inside, and one very large patch should I ever need it. A bargain at £7.99, available on Amazon.

Pretty sure we used to use this stuff on our wetsuits at our scuba school. If it was good for 30m depths then it should keep a bit of rain out...

[atlex]

good job. the neoprene glue lasts 1-2 years in exposed to sun/UV.