[RIA]

Noticed some pinholes in the corners of my top, and decided to do some internal patching to extend its life and maintain water fastness.

You can see the holes starting to form in this pic.

Using paper, I made patch templates. I made sure to keep all edges round to avoid peel points and I overshot the wear in a couple spots, to provide ample coverage. In a few areas, I decided to not cover the minor abrasions to keep size down. I'm going to go back over these with rtv.

After making the templates, I lightly sanded the top and the patch vinyl with 400 grit sand paper. I then wiped everything off with isopropyl alcohol and a microfiber rag. The adhesive I used was HH-66. You brush it onto both surfaces, let them set up for a couple minutes, then press them together. Optionally, you can reheat the glue before this step with a heat gun. I did this because during my shoe repair days I found reheating the glue to help a lot with the bonding.

When pressing them together, i made sure to focus on seating the edges of the material, and then the rest of it. So basically I would lightly adhere a line down the middle, squeegee towards the edges, and then go around squeezing the edges. Then i went over it a few times with a roller.

Now i just need to let it cure for a couple days before dropping the top. Hopefully it holds up.

I'm planning on going back over the edges with a skim coat of rtv to lower the profile of the top to patch transition. There are also some thin spots above the windows that look pretty difficult to patch so those will be getting rtv too.

Shoutout to @FormInFunction for giving me some advice and hooking me up with the vinyl material for patching.

 

[RIA]

Also, hh-66 contains toluene which is very bad for you, and extremely bad for pregnant individuals. There are cobbler shops in parts of europe that do not allow women inside of the workshop due to the high risk. I wore a half face respirator with organic vapor cartiridges, and rolled the windows down/ ran the ac.

 

[Galo]

RIA, what product/material specifically are you using for the patch? You state "patch vinyl".
Thank you.

 

[FormInFunction]

RIA, what product/material specifically are you using for the patch? You state "patch vinyl".
Thank you.

I sent him some extra material that I had. Its marine upholstery vinyl so its waterproof, UV resistant (not that it matters for a patch from the inside) & durable. My patches from the same material have not rubbed through due to friction with the support hoops for 3 yrs now; although I did just have to add new material for new holes within the past week.

 

[Galo]

Thank you! I'll check into it.