Scraptor Posted June 17, 2020 Author Share Posted June 17, 2020 Thanks for the warm welcomes! :) At some point in the next day or so I'll write up a post about a diy dash restoration I've been working on the past few days. Also, it definitely is not a garage queen but I do intend to put some care into it lol, good to see I'm not alone in my goals though. Welcome to the forum. Would like to see what you do on the dash (pad?) as I had one I started twice and did not turn out so good. I will give it 1 more try with fleece blanket & fiber glass rosin. I just have to be in the right mood to mess with the rosin ...... messy! Dave ---- So I started by taking a dremel with a drum sander and carving out the vinyl layer along the cracks, you want a nice shallow riverbed shape if possible. Then sand it down and clean it, for filler I used bondo fiberglass resin jelly. It worked pretty well I'd say, only trouble is it doesn't always seem to like leaving a smooth surface. I then sanded and refilled as needed, performed a final sand and paint prep. I put on two light coats of primer, then three light coats of duplicolor vinyl/fabric paint. This is the first filler application, pre sanding. This is after the second layer of primer. And this is after the third light coat of paint. I wish I had a picture of it before filler and after sanding but before primer, but I wasn't really thinking I'd be posting this anyway at the time so I didn't think to take them. There are a few minor blemishes here and there, and on the front vent there is a slightly larger imperfection. Most of these are in places that I won't really see it though. It's not really a show truck, but I am glad to not have tons of cracks on my dash anymore. The mesh in the center had loads of holes in it so I just took it out with a cut off tool, I'm thinking that I may get one of those circular mesh speaker covers and glue it over the hole. Hope it goes well with your dash! Also glad to hear you are enjoying Oklahoma Gary, I was born and raised in Illinois and at some point will probably look for another place to call home. It's okay here, but definitely isn't my first choice lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted June 17, 2020 Share Posted June 17, 2020 So I started by taking a dremel with a drum sander and carving out the vinyl layer along the cracks, you want a nice shallow riverbed shape if possible. Then sand it down and clean it, for filler I used bondo fiberglass resin jelly. It worked pretty well I'd say, only trouble is it doesn't always seem to like leaving a smooth surface. I then sanded and refilled as needed, performed a final sand and paint prep. I put on two light coats of primer, then three light coats of duplicolor vinyl/fabric paint. This is the first filler application, pre sanding. This is after the second layer of primer. And this is after the third light coat of paint. I wish I had a picture of it before filler and after sanding but before primer, but I wasn't really thinking I'd be posting this anyway at the time so I didn't think to take them. There are a few minor blemishes here and there, and on the front vent there is a slightly larger imperfection. Most of these are in places that I won't really see it though. It's not really a show truck, but I am glad to not have tons of cracks on my dash anymore. The mesh in the center had loads of holes in it so I just took it out with a cut off tool, I'm thinking that I may get one of those circular mesh speaker covers and glue it over the hole. Hope it goes well with your dash! Also glad to hear you are enjoying Oklahoma Gary, I was born and raised in Illinois and at some point will probably look for another place to call home. It's okay here, but definitely isn't my first choice lol. Ron - One of the guys on here, Ron/reamer, makes a dash patch. You can see one of them here. As for Okiehoma, we like it. But then we grew up essentially here, and most people like where they were raised. So it is surprising that you don't. Anyway, your dash repair looks good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dee1986 Posted June 18, 2020 Share Posted June 18, 2020 Ron - One of the guys on here, Ron/reamer, makes a dash patch. You can see one of them here. As for Okiehoma, we like it. But then we grew up essentially here, and most people like where they were raised. So it is surprising that you don't. Anyway, your dash repair looks good. Welcome Ron, I'm not far from you in New Lenox/Joliet area. Good work on the dash, I'm looking to perform some surgery on my cracked dash, hope I get similar results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scraptor Posted June 20, 2020 Author Share Posted June 20, 2020 Welcome Ron, I'm not far from you in New Lenox/Joliet area. Good work on the dash, I'm looking to perform some surgery on my cracked dash, hope I get similar results. That's pretty cool, I have yet to look at the member map but was not aware so many people were familiar with the area! Nice to meet you. Also thanks guys, it was my first time doing something like this so I'm glad it went well. The gray duplicolor vinyl paint is lighter than the oem gray on my dash so I have a bit of a two tone sort of thing going on for the time being. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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