Dash Repair

[roosterrusek]

I think that this has been covered...a bit here. But has anyone here actually tried this???

Great Dash repair for under $30.00!!! - Page 3 - Alfa Romeo Bulletin Board & Forums

Dash Repair - Restoration Techniques by Daron Walker

I just have a BIG problem with spending $600, takes 8-10 frigging weeks, then comes back and is kind of tough to get in.

HELP!!!

[hrcollinsjr]

Originally Posted by roosterrusek I think that this has been covered...a bit here. But has anyone here actually tried this??? Dash Repair - Restoration Techniques by Daron Walker

JP Blanco talked about this in one of his threads.

I just have a BIG problem with spending $600, takes 8-10 frigging weeks, then comes back and is kind of tough to get in.

And where did you come up with this price and what year? The last price I heard was over $1000.

Harold

[roosterrusek]

Originally Posted by hrcollinsjr JP Blanco talked about this in one of his threads. I don't recall if he included any pictures. And where did you come up with this price and what year? The last price I heard was over $1000. Harold

$1000??? Screw that. I have a pal who works on model planes and is absurdly meticulous...I'll get his a$$ to help me.

The whole car didn't even cost me that much!

[neuropel]

I did this on a Manta dash and I'd definitely do it again. I took a pneumatic die grinder with a small sanding disk and GENTLY smoothed the cracks. When the dash vinyl cracks, it curls up and that's the part you want to grind away. Just feather in the foam and vinyl so that there are no raised areas. The next step is to fill and build with 3M flexible bumper repair epoxy, which is a two-part epoxy you can get online or in many auto-body supply stores. It's basically like flexible bondo. Be sure to clean the areas to which you're applying filler with paint thinner or isopropyl alcohol on a rag and let it dry well. Once you get the cracks filled, sanded and smoothed out, set the dash aside and let it "gas out" for a few days. I coated mine with Duplicolor bed liner which puts a nice texture on the dash. After a couple of coats of bedliner, I then sprayed a coat of Duplicolor's vinyl upholstery paint to give it a sheen, and then the last coat was just a "dusting" with one last LIGHT coat of the Duplicolor Bedliner. The resulting finish has held up well, and can be cleaned and protected with the same wipes I use for the rest of the interior. I was in a hurry when I did this the first time and one of the cracks I repaired (the deepest one) developed a tiny bubble along the line of the crack which eventually cracked again in our single-digit PA winter temps (still looks a LOT better than what I started with). The crack is still level with the dash surface and hasn't curled up. It was pretty hot and very high humidity when I repaired my dash, so I'd recommend you make the repair in a temperature/humidity controlled room or pick a day with moderate temps/humidity. You can see pics here.

Todd

[T-6 driver]

I just refinished my dash last week. I took a slightly diffrent approach, but it only cost 5 bucks for the vinyl, and a few hours cutting patterns. Basically I made patterns for all the one dimensional parts of the dash (there are about 6). Then I cut the vinyl to match the patterns, and had my wife sew them up. Of course, it did not look perfect at first, but as I attached it and pulled the seems w/ hot glue, it really came out NICE! I will take some pictures, but hot glue was really the key in stretching the vinyl! The seems run where angles in two planes exceed 90 degrees. Anyway, for what its worth.

[blancojp]

Originally Posted by hrcollinsjr JP Blanco talked about this in one of his threads. And where did you come up with this price and what year? The last price I heard was over $1000. Harold

We have been experimenting with a recovering process which is looking like a winner. We have gone as far as sand blasting the dash with play sand and the finish survived quite well. If you guys need to repair a dash pad, I will have that service very shortly at a reasonable price.

We will have a few additional upholstery services as well but our licenses have not come in yet.

[markandson]

Originally Posted by hrcollinsjr JP Blanco talked about this in one of his threads. And where did you come up with this price and what year? The last price I heard was over $1000. Harold

I don't know how high they have gone but my dash cost $450 when i had it done by Dashboard Restorations. I can't imagine they have more then doubled since I had mine done.

[ungermm]

Here's a thread with alternatives to dash repair.

http://www.opelgt.com/forums/2b-seat...ler#post129374

In this thread, I posted my own repairs by using a small foam roller with a diluted tube of acrylic latex caulk.
The main cost is your time and grief in getting the dash in and out. But, it gives you opportunity to repair the clock, the rotten vents, the cracked heater control, the double greenies, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

Jerry

[MonkeyNutZ]

My dash is totally destroyed, the vinyl is mostly falling off and comes off in huge pieces. I was really leaning towards justdashes.com because I disliked the look/texture of the alternatives. What is the most recent price estimate for something like that? Last I heard was $650 plus shipping

[ungermm]

I guess there are dashes out there that aren't worth saving. However, I reworked one that most people would have thought was a lost cause. I wouldn't worry about large chunks of vinyl flaking off. Most of the do-it-yourself methods require that you start with a good foundation. Big chunks of loose vinyl should be removed and all cracks need to be filled. I've filled cracks as big as 1/2 inch with foam that have not reappeared. I would say that it just depends on the skill of the person doing the restoration. If someone says that they would do it again, then that's a pretty good indication of how good they felt it came out. The bonus is that you did it yourself, you and others appreciate the quality, and you saved big bucks. If I were a rich man, I would "Ya ha deedle deedle, bubba bubba deedle deedle dum.
All day long I'd biddy biddy bum", and then, just send it to JustDashes.
Jerry

[newman27]

Originally Posted by MonkeyNutZ My dash is totally destroyed, the vinyl is mostly falling off and comes off in huge pieces. I was really leaning towards justdashes.com because I disliked the look/texture of the alternatives. What is the most recent price estimate for something like that? Last I heard was $650 plus shipping

I think the $1K+ price Harold quoted is a Just Dashes price with shipping there and back. I thought about having mine done there for a time but there were better places to spend $1K on the car than the dash. This one will be on my wish list for a long time I suspect...

[hrcollinsjr]

Originally Posted by markandson I don't know how high they have gone but my dash cost $450 when i had it done by Dashboard Restorations. I can't imagine they have more then doubled since I had mine done.

A friend of mine sent his to Dashboard Restorations, IIRC 3 years ago and it was approx. $650. Just Dashs wanted about $100 more then for a black one and charged additional for the red that he needed. They also took longer. One of the places wanted around $200 for the ashtray console.

As Matt mentioned the Just Dashes price is the one I quoted as being over $1000 now.

Harold

[blancojp]

The dash on Stealth was somewhat dissolved, parts would fall off by just pressing your finger on it. Some of the areas aroud the glove box and the steering support were totally gone which we had to reconstruct. The upholstery shop I use for other projects rejected the dash as un-usable so I had to find another viable avenue.

We used bumper repair paste to restore dashes in the past but mine was too far gone for this. The paste would just come off, taking yet another part of the dash with it. Then a friend of mine that works on High dollar boats showed me a way to restore the integrity of the dash. This is a three stage spray product which fills and strengthens, but it remains flexible enough to expand and contract without cracking. After the products heal, the dash can be sanded and covered with leather/vinyl or just painted. Since I modified my dash slightly to fit the A/C vents, all I am going to do for now is to top it off with vinyl paint. I am also going to use this product on the Ascona dash Gene offered me so my Ascona will have a nice interior when I am done.


We should be able to offer this service to club members in the $200-300 area. This would include the refinish of the dash pad in any condition and paint. I will post a few pics of the process however I was asked not to release any information on the products used.

[First opel 1981]

Originally Posted by roosterrusek I think that this has been covered...a bit here. But has anyone here actually tried this??? Dash Repair - Restoration Techniques by Daron Walker

I just pulled my dash and am thinking I will use this method. I am hoping my body and paint son will help me get the best products for the job.

I will post results when I'm done. Hopefully by next weekend.

[SteveGT]

I just finished my dash and I think it turned out close to perfect...I will post some pics and you can see what I did...not really complicated but does take some time and the correct products...try to posts tommorrow

SteveG

[First opel 1981]

Here is phase 1 of the dash repair I am doing. I have removed all of the delaminated vinyl and used a wire brush to remove the dryrotted exposed foam.
I also used the wire brush to rough up all of the remaining vinyl (as well as to puncture my finger)

Dash1.jpg

Tomorrow I will attempt to beef up the missing foam with Great Stuff and hopefully I will be able to mix and spread the bumper bondo. I am using a commercial product that my son uses at his shop. I hope it gives the intended results.

[BQS4]

Just a note of interest here about the start of your repair. The little VIN plate on the dash? Save yourself a little hassle and make your repaired dash look better, take and pop rivet that VIN tag to the "A" pillar of your GT or on the door jam, not the jam on the door, the jam of the car, that way it stays with the main chassis of the car.

[First opel 1981]

Originally Posted by BQS4 Just a note of interest here about the start of your repair. The little VIN plate on the dash? Save yourself a little hassle and make your repaired dash look better, take and pop rivet that VIN tag to the "A" pillar of your GT or on the door jam, not the jam on the door, the jam of the car, that way it stays with the main chassis of the car.

Great idea. Thanks for the suggestion.

[blancojp]

Originally Posted by BQS4 Just a note of interest here about the start of your repair. The little VIN plate on the dash? Save yourself a little hassle and make your repaired dash look better, take and pop rivet that VIN tag to the "A" pillar of your GT or on the door jam, not the jam on the door, the jam of the car, that way it stays with the main chassis of the car.

This is a great idea but it might be Illegal in some states. DMV regulations for the State you be contacted prior to doing the work, they might have restrictions or requirements to follow.

I went through this already with a '66 Mustang so thought I mention it.

[First opel 1981]

Phase 2.

Here is the dash with the dryrot removed and refilled with Great Stuff insulation foam. I used the pliable stuff and am quite pleased with its rigidity vs pliability. It seems to match the density of the original foam quite nicely.

Dash2.jpg

After expelling a small amount of foam into each valley, I waited about 5 minutes and used a spreader to knock it down a little and spread it out.
After 6 hours I used a razor blade scraper to trim it. The pliable foam can't be sanded efficiently so trimming was necessary. The foam sticks like crazy to the dash foam so it won't separate over time. That stuff pretty much bonds with anything.
The can claims to need 8 hours of cure time so I am playing it safe and waiting til tomorrow to bondo the dash.

[First opel 1981]

Phase 3 (should actually be STEP 3)

I started playing with the bondo and found that its MUCH more fluid than body bondo and sets up pretty quick when its 80 outside.
I had to mix the bondo 6 times so far as to not mix up more than I can spread in 5 minutes.
I will also add that when it comes to working with bondo or any spreadable substance, I SUCK!. So if this turns out looking OK then just about anyone with an opposable thumb, and two brain cells that fraternize, can do it. No offense to those who lack opposable thumbs.

Here is what it looks like with a LOT of bondo on it

Dash3.jpg

I will sand it soon (I would say tomorrow but I am coming down with something and not feeling well). After I sand it, I will apply a second coat of bondo to fill in any spots I missed. I'm sure there will be a LOT of them. I am also toying with the idea of skim coating the whole dash but more on that later, if I do it.

[neuropel]

It'd be good to know which bondo material you're using, for future reference. When I did a similar repair to a Manta dash, I used a two-part 3M bumper repair adhesive. I would highly recommend you let the filler materials properly "gas out" before you coat with bedliner - it's a key step to ensure the repair will last.

Todd K.

[Bill Hoffmann]

Originally Posted by BQS4 Just a note of interest here about the start of your repair. The little VIN plate on the dash? Save yourself a little hassle and make your repaired dash look better, take and pop rivet that VIN tag to the "A" pillar of your GT or on the door jam, not the jam on the door, the jam of the car, that way it stays with the main chassis of the car.

I believe that tag must be visible from outside the car, so the A-pillar is a better choice, as on a Manta/Ascona.

[hotrodder1969]

i just redid my dash myself yesterday i still need to sand it and paint it with vinly paint but it looks like new it only cost me about 7 bucks to fix it two tubes of vinly repair and one can of bed liner spray in and im good to go

[First opel 1981]

Originally Posted by neuropel It'd be good to know which bondo material you're using, for future reference. When I did a similar repair to a Manta dash, I used a two-part 3M bumper repair adhesive. I would highly recommend you let the filler materials properly "gas out" before you coat with bedliner - it's a key step to ensure the repair will last. Todd K.

I will give a breakdown as soon as I'm done. All part of the plan.
I has also intended to let the products gas out. I figure my garage is small enough that when I don't smell it anymore, it will be gas free. Right now it smells like bondo in there.

Originally Posted by hotrodder1969 i just redid my dash myself yesterday i still need to sand it and paint it with vinly paint but it looks like new it only cost me about 7 bucks to fix it two tubes of vinly repair and one can of bed liner spray in and im good to go

7 bucks? The bondo, alone, cost me $45. I would love to go to where you are getting your stuff. I can't even touch a can of spray on bedliner for less than $10.

When I'm all done it will have brand names and costs. It's still going to be under $100 which is fine cuz its a lot less than $1000.