X1/9 Visor Repair - From Flat to Fluffy

[X19Brian]

Last summer, I started noticing yellow dust falling from my passenger visor. Or was it green? In any case, I realized that the foam had pretty much reached it's half-life and had turned to powder. Both visors were pretty flat. So I decided to repair them instead of replace them. The vinyl was in great shape and I didn't feel like hunting down new ones. I'm sure some of you are caught in the same predicament. I figured, if I'm going to do it, I might as well document and share it. So here you go. This is my approach to the X1/9 visor foam replacement. I'm quite pleased with the results given I had one shot at it. See attached PDF.

Another option would be to not cut open the visor and inject it with expanding foam. I've heard of others using that method, but I believe they've had some challenges with that approach (e.g. seeping out of holes, keeping form, messy). I was just too scared to do it. Cutting the dang thing open was even a nail biter for me...

 

[dllubin]

Last summer, I started noticing yellow dust falling from my passenger visor. Or was it green? In any case, I realized that the foam had pretty much reached it's half-life and had turned to powder. Both visors were pretty flat. So I decided to repair them instead of replace them. The vinyl was in great shape and I didn't feel like hunting down new ones. I'm sure some of you are caught in the same predicament. I figured, if I'm going to do it, I might as well document and share it. So here you go. This is my approach to the X1/9 visor foam replacement. I'm quite pleased with the results given I had one shot at it. See attached PDF.

Another option would be to not cut open the visor and inject it with expanding foam. I've heard of others using that method, but I believe they've had some challenges with that approach (e.g. seeping out of holes, keeping form, messy). I was just too scared to do it. Cutting the dang thing open was even a nail biter for me...

Nice instructions!

 

[kmead]

Well done!

The foam you used is a polyethylene foam which is a really good material for this use, its soft, semi rigid, nice stuff. I think you hit on a really good material for this. The foam may outlast the car.

Other materials you might consider for the interior of the part:
Foam core
Gator foam (like foam core but a more rigid surface
PET board, this is like what is used in many modern trunk liners, basically pop bottles shredded. this comes in a variety of densities and thicknesses.
The padded envelope material from Amazon could also work.