Okay this has been brought up many a time, but no one has ever admitted to doing it or shown pictures.
I wanna glass over a current cracked up dashpad, but what will I need and how should I go about doing it?
I've never worked with fg before, but we'll see how well I can do. I'm thinking I'll just glass over the existing one instead actually trying to fabricate a whole new one. I don't know where to start heh, for one, how will the fg adhere to the current dashpad?

 

start here.....

http://www.fibreglast.com/contentpag...enter-286.html

 

why not just use these, http://www.coverlaymfg.com/E_Store/D..._GMC/more2.asp
its plastic and wont crack or fade and just fits over the one you have

 

Anyone used those or got any pics? I'm tired of the cold/hot weather cracking my babies hehe. Wouldn't glassing it be cooler and cheaper? Definitely not easier but I'll keep it in mind. Big thanks to both of you.

 

i cant vouch for the dash cover but i have a cover lay console lid cover on my girlfriends 83- it looks great im about to get one for mine because it dimpled- a little clear silicone and about 5 minutes and it looks great

 

If you've never done anything with fiberglass I'd just go with the cover. By the time you learn how to do it well enough you'll probably end up spending more money...not to mention you might ruin the dash pad. Just get the cover or keep an eye out in the yard.

 

Yeah, get a replacement here in the classifieds/ebay/parts yard. I had a similar cover for an old MG of mine and it *looked* like plastic. If you don't mind the look, then it's definitely the way to go.

I'd think that if a fiberglass dash was cheap/easy to produce, it would have been done by now. Just a thought...

 

What ever you decide...if you get a new dashpad...to keep it from cracking use Black Magic's Clear Thick Silicone. This stuff is awesome. Has some additive in it that actually restores teh rubbers natural moisturizers. Called plasticizers, I think! They restore what teh sun and UV strip out! This keeps the dash pad from drying out & cracking! Have used it from Day one on my car and am still running the original dash pad. Granted temps are not as extreme in GA, but we get the 100+ temps and the 0s every now and again.

 

Where can you get this black magicstuff. Cant find it... http://www.blackmagiccarcare.com/interior.htm

Dora

 

Fiberglass seams to me would be too heavy. Why not just recover the dash in vinyl? That's what I did.

Here are some pics of my dash pad, both before and after.

Here is the pad as it came out of the car and after I prepped it and repaired the cracks using Permatex Plastic Weld Epoxy:


Here is the pad ready to go back in the car after I recovered it using auto/marine grade cloth backed vinyl material:


I spent approximately $45 total in materials (2 yards of vinyl material - $20, 2 cans of DAP heavy duty spray adhesive - $20, epoxy - $5) and about 4 days worth of work. Even better, I still have enough material left to cover a second dash pad.

 

damn nice job Bret! Your dash pad looks as good as new. How did you do the corners?

 

Thanks. The front corners were tricky. I took my time and experimented with different folding techniques until I found the one I felt worked best.

Once I had it worked out, I cut off the excess material, folded and glued it in place. The seams wrap around the side edges and with the pad installed get pinched by the dash itself. It ensures they won't come loose.

From the front, while sitting in the car, the seams are not visible. You can't see them until you open the door and look from the side, which is what I wanted. I'll have to snap some close-up pics.

 

I get it at Autozone! That page does not list all of their products

Bret...Dash recover looks good...much better then I would have expected...my hat is off to you!

 

Two words.

Rhino...
Liner...