Opel Dash Repair

[tunepipe911]

dear gt-fans
what to do whit a cracked dash,I have been surching for 1year
now for a good dash,but no luck so far ,maybe someone can help me??(I prefer a black dash,no dents or cracks)also a set of
original(hella)backmarkerlights
ps :I live in Belgium
thanks

[Gary]

Just Dashes did the dash in my '69 GT around 9 years ago. Still looks new. Cost at the time was $550.00 USD.
A "crack free" dash can go for up to $300.00, but it is a 30 + years old and *will* crack. If you are going for a total restoration, Just Dashes is the way to go. Other options are to fill the cracks and recover with vinyl or get a fiberglass dash cap.

[JGard18]

I was thinking of molding my own Carbon Fiber dash. It will be the whole thing, though, not just a cap.

If it comes out well (by the way, I'm not going to even attempt to start this until the warmer months), I would be more than happy to sell one to you, or anyone, just at the cost of parts, and a low labor fee.

I haven't taken the dash off, so I don't know how much reinforcement would be necessary, but I think it's possible, and it would defenitely not crack under the sun like the current dash does.

[RITTER]

Good Idea with making one from Carbon Fibre. One thing I noticed with The Perfect one I pulled from a junk yard. There is so much flex in them that it cracked a couple of Months after I stored it up in the rafters of my garage. I tried just filling it and sanding it down to recover myself . After a proper cure time for the filler to cure, I picked the dash up to move it to another workbench and the damn thing not only cracked along the newly patched places but also cracked in a few new places so I figure I am going to have to build a stand for it that will keep it immobile while I finish it. Just hope when I get through that it will still fit in the GT when the time comes. Oh maybe 20 years from now! Any way you might want to keep that thought in mind when making your mold for the dash make sure it is in the correct position to fit afer completion. Also let us know how it turns out this summer if you get around to it. Sounds like a neat addition to a modernized interior.

RITTER

[tunepipe911]

no need for a new dash anymore,I have a dash in 95%good condition(its a small world)
I was talking to a person about gt's and the fact that I was looking for a good dash
he knew someone who had a telefonenumber where a good
dash
was located,the number was given to him a year ago!!!
I phoned him anyway,and yes the dash was still there,he saved it originally for himself but lost interest ,and kept it anyway
hardly thinking about it,until I phoned him,
he was prepared to sell and asked 250euro for it,good price??
this time"good luck " was on my side
thanks for the persons who answered on my thread I hope every gt-fan is as lucky when looking for parts

[calvin]

Is there a way to "fix" a dash? I have two manta's both with badly cracked dashes. Is there something that can be used to fill them in?

[opelgt722002]

Here is an idea on fixing your dash:

http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/...ion/Dashboard/

http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/...s/message/6067

Wonder how that repair has held up.

[JML]

I used a two part adhesive called Duramix for filling all of the cracks. Its commonly used by body shops for plastic repair and bonding plastic body parts semi-permanently onto cars. I then put some 1/4" foam on the top surface and recovered the whole dash with the sewn vinyl kit from Opel GT Source. It was my first attempt at interior "trimming" and it came out allright, though the two negative sufaces kicked my butt. I'm sure I could do better now that I've had a lot of practice, but it yielded an acceptable result.

As far as the cabon goes, don't make it too thick! You don't want the dash to be too rigid from an impact or a fit standpoint. A composite dash can meet federal interior impact standards (we did them on the 92-99 Panoz Roadsters) but we had to keep the material thin. Its Ok for the dash to break but really bad for you to just bounce your head or limbs off of!

[okieopel]

I admitt it, I took my dash down to the local Rhino Linings place and had my dash sprayed about two years ago. It wasn't my idea! Chris my body shop guy sent me over there after spraying the most beutiful light silver you have ever seen. I guess you could say I'm an Opelholic.

Enough about me: The Spayed-on Polyurethane Lining dude (as they prefer to be called) removed all exposed foam from the cracks. And filled the cracks with bondo. Then applied the Sprayed-on Lining about 1/4 inch thick. After it cooled I installed it into my GT. The dash was more rigid and therefore more difficult to put in. It did require some triming but it did eventuly fit.

The 2 major down falls to this process are, an overly rigid dash can BUST your head open or remove it entirely. Secondly you get the worst reflection on sunny days. I mean blinding reflection. Jokes aside it could be dangerous.

Hello, my name is okieopel and I am an Opelholic. Please Gil send my stuff...

[PROPEL]

Featured "new" product! How great would it be if more repro companies began recognizing the growing Opel market?

http://justdashes.com/press_releases/np_0802_opel.html