dash cracks

minty73 · Post by **minty73** » Sat May 29, 2004 12:08 am

how stupid am i??? didnt think of that!! oh well i'll have to take them to the junk yard then!

raygreenwood · Post by **raygreenwood** » Sat May 29, 2004 10:04 am

Oh...the dash is quite simple really. Bear in mind....the padding DOES NOT come off. The dash as a unit comes out in one piece.
Here goes.
Disconnect battery.
Remove all instrument knobs. Unscrew all the little bezels to the switches fall back under the dash.
Pull the 2/3 wires loose from the defrost fan at the switch. Notice while you are there, that there is either one or two metal struts with 10mm nuts that hold up the bottom edge of the dash. Remove the nuts/bolts from the dash end.
Reach up behind and unscrew the two hold downs on the main instruments. Pull out the speedo and clock. Mark the wires with a pencil on the side of the instruments, twist the bulbs and pull them out of the instruments. Leave the bulbs hanging.
remove the speedo cable.
Its easiest to remove the sterring wheel. Then remove teh plastic bezel covering the ignition switch area and remove the two 8mm allan bolts that attache the steering column bracket to the dash. This lets teh steering column and turn signal levrs drop down out of the way.
Disconnect the fan switch assembly and its slide levers from the dash, leaving the cables to the flap box hooked up. Two 10mm bolts do this.

Now....see those two little side defroster vents for your windows on the outer corners of your dash? Carefully take a small thin screwdriver and pry those out of the dash. Pul them off of their tubes. Look underneath them. There is a large phillips srew under each one. Unscrew that.....pull on the dash....out it comes. You will notice that the VIN strip is attached to the front of the dash with five screws. So you can put it on another dash if you want. Ray

raygreenwood · Post by **raygreenwood** » Sat May 29, 2004 10:14 am

Uh...hey...don't snub the right hand drive dash too hard. Its actually simple to install RHD in the 411/412. The endentions for the punch-outs in the body are already there. The steering column will swap right over. The steering box and idler arm have the same mounting bracket holes. They swap right over. The pedal cluster is symmetrical...it swaps right over. All you would have to do is make sure all the instrument wiring reaches, and reroute the brake and clutch hydraulic lines. It would be about 2 days work at best. The hard part is getting used to operating a clutch with the wrong foot. Must be a genetic thing....no wonder those Brits walk eo funny

. RHD in this country means you can be a mailman...much easier...hee hee hee hee hee Ray

wildthing · Post by **wildthing** » Thu Jun 03, 2004 1:34 am

I am toying with the idea of using black latex roof coating (not asphalt!!!) to recover my dash. It will stand a lot of sunlight and can be molded to any shape. I am thinking that I can just fill the cracks with caulk and cover the whole top with reinforcing cloth and then paint the latex on. The stuff is very durable, I used some to temperarily cover some gaping rust holes over the rear fenders of my '72 Dodge pickup ten years ago as I was finishing up a roofing project and have never looked back. The latex dries fast on a sunny summers day out here in the arid west, so several coats could be slapped on in a couple of hours, and the dash reinstalled in a day. In humid east coast weather you might be limited to a coat a day. Its very flexible, and if you only partially filled the weave in the reinforcing cloth you would have an acceptable surface texture. A gallon of the stuff cost about 25 bucks and would cover most all the Type 4 dashes still out there. I can't remember the cost of the cloth.

Does anyone know if the speaker grill is the same as some other VW?

raygreenwood · Post by **raygreenwood** » Thu Jun 03, 2004 12:38 pm

Don't do it. Its not actually latex...and it smells like hell when it gets hot...and youwill never get an acceptable surface brushing it on. It has to be sprayed on if you are going to get it smooth. RFay

Wildthing · Post by **Wildthing** » Fri Jun 04, 2004 4:44 am

Ray, The stuff I am talking about is nearly 100% latex, its water based and has no smell at all once dry, about 10 minutes out here in the west. Its essentially latex paint with a very high amount of latex. It brushes on just like a high quality paint. The brand name of the stuff I am most familiar with is Elastoseal, its much more available in the west than in the east, as it dries much slower in the humid east. I've used it for dozens of off label applications, both as a waterproofing and for its elastic gap spanning qualities. No smell and a feel and texture that is very similar to vinyl.

Wildthing · Post by **Wildthing** » Fri Jun 04, 2004 4:45 am

Ray, The stuff I am talking about is nearly 100% latex, its water based and has no smell at all once dry, about 10 minutes out here in the west. Its essentially latex paint with a very high amount of latex. It brushes on just like a high quality paint. The brand name of the stuff I am most familiar with is Elastoseal, its much more available in the west than in the east, as it dries much slower in the humid east. I've used it for dozens of off label applications, both as a waterproofing and for its elastic gap spanning qualities. No smell and a feel and texture that is very similar to vinyl.

raygreenwood · Post by **raygreenwood** » Fri Jun 04, 2004 10:23 am

That would be kind of twisted for a roofing product, but since it is designed to be covered by shingles...I guess it may work. Latex...has almost "0" UV survivability. The air dry ability also means it is essentially an acrylic or acrylate base. Not what you really want to use. Try it....but, latex products are gemerally not for UV exposure. Ray