dash cracks

steve_1125 · Post by **steve_1125** » Wed May 26, 2004 10:32 pm

has anyone ever had their dash replaced or refurbished? Man I wish I had kept my 412 in a garage!

DeathBus · Post by **DeathBus** » Thu May 27, 2004 9:08 am

There are several different methods of restoring your dash, I have even heard of someone using truck bed liner.

ubercrap · Post by **ubercrap** » Thu May 27, 2004 12:55 pm

There used to be a place called "Just Dashes" in Van Nuys, CA that would do refinishing. I have no idea how much it cost though.

Edit, here's a link-

http://www.justdashes.com/index_home.htm

raygreenwood · Post by **raygreenwood** » Thu May 27, 2004 3:56 pm

It was my idea for the truck bed liner. I am playing with this right now. It should be pretty cool. The way in the link...is the best way. I have access to lots of thermo-vacuumforming shops. I have done a fair bit myself. Its the way the original was made. The tricks are...they have to fill the cracks in your original, mount the metal part in the frame and have to epoxy or polyester cast an outer mold for it. Then, they spray it with a filler to make it smaller by the amount of the thickness of the vinyl covering they are going to use. Then they position the original metal frame onto a jig base, overlay the reduced sized mold, inject foam into it after applying a release agent to the mold (usually poly vinyl acetate or polyurethane micro-powder). Then...strip out the coating used to make the mold smaller, over lay a sheet of vinyl or ABS. It goes into 4 side clamps. The platen with the mold and the foam on it slides under the sheet inside of the machine. Meanwhile....electric strip heaters are heating the vinyl sheet until it is floppy.
Here is the tricky part. They can finish this one of two ways. (1) either by drawing a blanket down over the whole mess....and sucking out the air. The blanket would actually have the texture pattern....or (2) the vinyl is patterned and the frame/foam....is thrust upward pinning the hot shee into the mold...wherin the air is usually vacuumed out through vents in the base under the dash frame.

I would be surprised if you get away with less than $900-1500. But...it would not just "look" new....it would "be" new. Ray

DeathBus · Post by **DeathBus** » Thu May 27, 2004 6:02 pm

I think I will try the BED LINER. How far did you ever get with that RAy?

nick sparrow · Post by **nick sparrow** » Thu May 27, 2004 6:51 pm

Hi there I rebuilt my dash a few years ago, vacuum forming is the best way to go, which is what Ray is talking about. I was quotes about $1100 New Zealand dollars about $500 US roughly. I would have liked to have done this but not within my budget, so I did most of the work myself with the help of a friend who is an upholsterer and has fixed my drivers seat a few times now.

Basically removed the dash from the car and stripped it down to the basic frame. Then sanded down the original surface and where there were cracks; cut back in a v shape until I found good material. I have also removed the speaker grill and ashtray and welded in metal plates where these were. Next I used a product here that is domestic house type foaming filler in a spray type can. This expands as you spray and then hardens to hard foam, similar to some of the foams used inside the car?s panel work to deaden sound.

I next shaved this down to a basic shape and refilled any low spots. Once I was happy with the basic shape I used normal body filler to further correct the shape once I was happy I then employed my friend to cover (this was glued down) the dash in a black vinyl material, some of the corners were hard to do but you can use a heat gun to help shrink it around and get a good finish. I am quite happy with the end results much better than looking at a load of cracks, and also it was very cheap about $65 US.

nick

ubercrap · Post by **ubercrap** » Thu May 27, 2004 7:54 pm

Good ideas guys, I don't know if I would ever be willing to drop $500+ for just a dash on a non-concours type car restoration...

raygreenwood · Post by **raygreenwood** » Thu May 27, 2004 8:01 pm

Things must be cheap in New zealand. Though it may be equal to $500 US, most vacuum forming in this country will be very expensive. Bear in mind...you wil have about $200 worth of polyester or Urethane involved in the basic molding. Then the vinyl...maybe $12-25. Then...about 4-7 hours labor on the mold building. A couple more on fitting. Tool charge....profit. It will cost you about $1100 us too.

Unless...they build no mold, simply clean-up what you have, sand itd own to make it thin and smooth and simply stretch/mold the new sheet over it. that would be fine too i bet.

I did sample on an old piece of dash. i found at least one product at Pep boys that looks about 85-90% of factory. I have a few more to play with. I see new brands every day. Its on the back burner for the moment. Ray

DeathBus · Post by **DeathBus** » Thu May 27, 2004 8:02 pm

ubercrap wrote:Good ideas guys, I don't know if I would ever be willing to drop $500+ for just a dash on a non-concours type car restoration...

Oh come on, there is nothing better than an old rusted out hulk sitting at a show with a dash that worth 10 times more than the car! (Not saying your car is a rusted hulk

)

ubercrap · Post by **ubercrap** » Fri May 28, 2004 6:21 am

I was insulted, as I have TWO rusty hulks....

minty73 · Post by **minty73** » Fri May 28, 2004 1:32 pm

its a shame i'm in the uk, i have 3 perfect dash's sat in my garage!!!

DeathBus · Post by **DeathBus** » Fri May 28, 2004 2:56 pm

minty73 wrote:its a shame i'm in the uk, i have 3 perfect dash's sat in my garage!!!

How much is shipping to the States via UPS, How much you want for them?????

minty73 · Post by **minty73** » Fri May 28, 2004 2:58 pm

is it just the padded bit you want?

i have no idea about shipping, where can i find the info?
as for a price, make me an offer.

DeathBus · Post by **DeathBus** » Fri May 28, 2004 3:29 pm

minty73 wrote:is it just the padded bit you want?

i have no idea about shipping, where can i find the info?
as for a price, make me an offer.

Shipping info UPS.com

I have no idea what a dash for a type 4 would be worth.

EDIT: my wife who is infinitly smarter than I just made an observation. BRITS streering wheels are mirror's of our dashes since they drive on the right side of the car and we drive on the left. Hence the dash would be opposite and thus useless.

steve_1125 · Post by **steve_1125** » Fri May 28, 2004 9:39 pm

Yep, the shipping would have been doable but converting a dash made for Britain for a US Type4 would have been quite the feat! Ray, I would love to hear how your dash project is going once it's back on the front burner. I checked the justdashes.com website here in my home state of CA and was quite impressed. Another question, how the heck do you begin to take the dash off? Again shipping to justdashes would be "doable" but how do you take off a piece of vinyl that already has cracks? I wonder if it will just break or crumble apart.