Repros of original Avanti sun visors

[Stan Gundry]

Earlier this week I received the new repros from SI of the original Avanti sun visors. They look great and more durable than the originals.

[mfg]

Sounds good!.....Do you add the original L&R brackets to these repros?

[Stan Gundry]

They do not come with the brackets that are inserted on each side. If I remember correctly, I think SI does sell the brackets. I will likely keep these repros in reserve and continue to use the later Avanti II visors because they  actually do the job of keeping the sun out of one’s eyes.

[mfg]

21 hours ago, Stan Gundry said:

They do not come with the brackets that are inserted on each side. If I remember correctly, I think SI does sell the brackets. I will likely keep these repros in reserve and continue to use the later Avanti II visors because they  actually do the job of keeping the sun out of one’s eyes.

I have a pair of visors taken from a '73 Avanti ll that I was thinking of installing in my '63.....I agree that the early Avanti sun visors really didn't help much!

[lschuc]

I've seen these repro sun visors and they do look good, but the visors are not as soft as the originals.  The material is somewhat more dense or harder.   Also, as received, the fawn dye was flaking off.  We had to remove the dye and scuff the  visor before spraying fawn dye to cover it.   Whoever dyed the new visors did not scuff the visors or prep them well for the dye to stick.

[Jolly-John]

Lew, is it fair to assume that you let the folks at SI know about the fawn dye adhesion problem you experienced?  I wonder if they're dying these visors at their location, or if a vendor to SI is handling that. John

[DaveD]

After months of waiting SI sent me a bad set  and a replacement set - both with bad fawn finish. Not willing to risk a third go around, I asked for a refund. I guess I’m a little strange. When I pay $185.00 for a trim part,  I expect it to be flawless and not have to be re-finished by me. As an original Avanti owner and charter member of AOAI I have done business with Ed  and the folks at SI and have found them to be upstanding folks. They were willing to refund me but made no comment nor resolution regarding the poor quality of these visors.  These transactions were not up to the standards of SI. I hope it’s just in the area of the visors. I wonder if it is just the fawn finish (the most common color) or all colors that can’t seem to adhere to the base. My original visors have been in bad shape for a long time and I had high hopes of upgrading them. Looks like I’ll keep looking.

[Gunslinger]

I've not seen nor examined the repop sun visors but Nostalgic sells NOS sun visors for something like $250.  Being as old as they might be they might not be as pliable as when new, but Dan Booth has always been upfront about what he sells and stands behind it...even if not the most inexpensive vendor out there.  

[studegary]

1 hour ago, DaveD said:

After months of waiting SI sent me a bad set  and a replacement set - both with bad fawn finish. Not willing to risk a third go around, I asked for a refund. I guess I’m a little strange. When I pay $185.00 for a trim part,  I expect it to be flawless and not have to be re-finished by me. As an original Avanti owner and charter member of AOAI I have done business with Ed  and the folks at SI and have found them to be upstanding folks. They were willing to refund me but made no comment nor resolution regarding the poor quality of these visors.  These transactions were not up to the standards of SI. I hope it’s just in the area of the visors. I wonder if it is just the fawn finish (the most common color) or all colors that can’t seem to adhere to the base. My original visors have been in bad shape for a long time and I had high hopes of upgrading them. Looks like I’ll keep looking.

I hope that you realize that Ed hasn't owned  SI for some time now.

[Stan Gundry]

I started this thread, and although it was not obvious when I first examined the visors, it has become evident now that the fawn die is flaking off. I suggest that we share with one another any successful methods of getting the dye to stick. Here are some questions regarding possible solutions:

1) Will roughing up the surface really do the trick?

2) I wonder if the vendor forgot to clean off the powder that may have been used to help release the visor from the mold.

3) Would fawn paint adhere better than dye?

4) Would it work to spray or brush on 3 or 4 coats of a water-based acrylic polymer medium coating available at a good art supply store. Then paint or dye over the acrylic coating? I did this in repairing the original visors years ago, and it created a tough but flexible coating that covered the entire visor. I lightly sanded with 400-500 grit wet/dry sandpaper between coats. This worked quite well with the old visors. I wonder if it would work with these repros?

 

[Avanti83]

I've dyed several sets of vinyl seats and other interior parts with SEM and Duplicolor vinyl spray dyes. Adhesion has not been a problem but mine were older vinyl. It's possible the newer vinyl may have some mold release or plasticizers on the surface so I would suggest that after they are scuffed, wipe them down with Prep-sol or another pre-paint solvent. 

Of course, test a small area before you attack the entire visor.

My 74 seats were dirty enough, I used lacquer thinner to clean them prior to spraying. Worked very well.

Edited February 25, 2019 by Avanti83

[Jolly-John]

I still go back to my posting above, in which I asked if Lew (or anyone else) has contacted SI to investigate and solve this obvious problem. After all, this a product THEY commissioned for reproduction and are selling exclusively. I know most all of us original Avanti owners are thrilled these sun visors are being reproduced. It's a much-needed item. However, this excitement and any "gratitude" shouldn't preclude purchasers from asking SI to rectify the problem. I realize SI gave a refund to one of the guys posting above, but that's not the same as them taking care of the production issue....which would benefit all future purchasers.

If SI doesn't want to get to the bottom of this, perhaps they would consider selling these visors un-dyed, and include an instruction sheet covering proper surface preparation. I know they already offer the various interior dye colors in spray cans. So, that would be an add-on sale.  John