I rebuilt this dash but still working on the grills. They will be painted and have pressed mesh. What you think?

 

what did you do to rebuild it?

 

looks like it was recovered, it looks great

 

i opened up the dash speaker holes, made the dash vent in middle removable to access four screws, fixed driver corner that was cracked, and wrapped it in black leather.

 

Man, that looks great, nice work!

You could make a killing selling those. I bet people would pay a couple hundred bucks for a leather wrapped dashpad that you could fit some actual speakers in and could maintain alot easier. Something to think about.

If you sell them let me know, cause I WANT ONE!

 

ill second that!

 

dash all done

 

how did you avoid wrinkles/small folds and how does it look underneat at the corners?

 

I like the look of it a lot. I would stretch some black grille-cloth over those speaker grilles, but other than that, it's really nice!

 

the leather was thick and distorts very easy when pulled. The corners were pulled under as far as we could get it, then had to cut a 45 degree seam and CA glued the seam together. those were the only hard parts about wrapping that dash

 

I think it looks great and wouldnt mind having one,but I dont know about a couple hundred bucks.

 

Very nice indeed... Much better than spending over $400 for a replacement.

 

Definately better than a replacement! The brand new one in my 90 RS didnt even last two years! (I live in AZ, it's hot here!) I wanted to have mine leather wrapped with a double stitch around the sides and leading edge. I would like to use black suede, or something like it thats not shiny. (Like porsche and lambroghini do.)

 

How did you make the speaker and defroster inserts?

 

does the leather evaporate funk all over your windshield? I did that cheap walmart black vinyl and it does it all the time.

 

The one this guy did seems to be the only decent one I have found on TGO. The biggest thing I have trouble figuring out is what to do about the speaker grilles and defrost vent. I hope you can provide info on how you made your look so clean....

 

the speaker and defrost pieces are basically two identical rings just each one larger then the next, enough space for leather and paint etc. i don't get any type of gunk from the vent that i am aware of yet since i do live in AZ and usually always hot here.the grills are cut from sheets of pre made grill material and i made presses to form a bubble that makes the grill rest flush with the ring.the main shape of the grills are made to the exact shape of the arc on the dash and straight back to make the parallel. one ring is ca glued in the dash after i cut out the hard plastic shell the dash is made of and sanded and filled flat so it dosent fell like it their. leather wrapped and then the other ring is painted and glued to the grill.

 

i also did my doors, rear panels the same way i have on other posted here

 

do you have any pics of the seam in the corner..... I have mine recovered mostly, but am having a hell of a time figuring out how to make the corners look good...

 

i will take some pics soon. their is a seam on the underside of the dash corners it is very hard to wrap in one piece without it being stitched. but their is a small seem on the underside and can be seen if you look under it.

 

Also, what material did you use for the inserts?.... I am thinking of using some of the gutter guard stuff at home depot....

 

inserts are made form abs plastic and whats gutter guard never heard of that what is it

 

gutter guard is a type of expanded metal that is similar in design to the grille area... it kind of looks like the metal mesh grilles that some cars have.... That is my last step is finding a decent material to use for the grille area itself.

 

where did you get the white guages?

 

it looks great, if I had one concern about putting it on my car is that the color apprears more grey than black. and that really shows up when place on top of the dash. Is there a way to get a darker leather?

 

What kind of glue or contact cement did you use?

 

Looks good man this might be another option I do over the winter to a spare dash I have. Where did you get the grills from

 

I have a dash it was in perfect condition until I took it off to completely clean and condition it and accidentally hit the door on the way into the house. I freaken cracked it, two lines from the driver speaker grille side all the way through and splitted into a Y. I didn't realized how fragile this thing was until now. Did you have to take off the old plastic cover or did you work around it? Wrapping leather on a dash is easier than overhauling the header on an Xterra (what a bitch). Props to your dash it looks nice!

 

You did a beautiful job man,how did you not crease the corners on the speaker cutouts and vents.You did this 16-17 months ago how is it holding up??

 

redcamaro1988 the white gauges came on the car when i got it from my brother it did change lots of colors but i want the digital ones and have not got them yet. FNFAL308 i used landau top adhesive for a upholstery supply store it comes in five gallon barrels. 6SIX6 the grills i made from scratch the angle closest to the window is the same ache as the dash and the sides are parallel to each other. mantaguy the corners are holding well and not having any problems with it unglueing, the leather around the grills and vents you need relief cut so material does not bunch up or rip when prossing in rings with grills. sorry for the late replay on these but thanks.

 

What about the center defrost vent. Where did you get that?

 

any thought of doing the door panels for extra money? id like to have my stock ones "smoothed" out and covered in black vinyl, if you'd be interested give me a email cook2199@yahoo.com with a price quote, thanks.

 

Maxdtran the center vent was made the same way the speaker grills were made and also allow me to access the four Philips screws under the vent area. cookie21 I also made new door panels i have pics here on this forum also the are in alcantara and the same black leather as the dash.

 

I bought a new dash pad that looks just like yours.... to replace mine because it is cracked bad from the sun. I did not open the package for about a month or two and when I did the new pad had the same crack! The eBay guy said tough and to take it up with eBay... (He knew the limitations on returns)... so I got screwed... so I thought about wrapping it... something to think about!
Thanks for sharing.

 

I am so going to try this in the next month or so. What did you use for the grills when you made them?? I wonder if there is any grill I can pillage at a wrecking yard to make work

 

Really a nice job. I just bought some vinyl at Hancock Fabrics and will be doing this mod in the dining room over the winter. (My wife is thrilled by this.)

 

Do you have any pics of the rear panels?

Everything you've shown so far looks incredible. It's a nice upgrade from the stock interior.

 

Do you have a thread and more pics on how you made your speaker pods? I want to do something exactly like that.

 

freakin awesome how much you willing to sell it for?

 

6SIX6 like i said i made these from scratch using existing shapes and archs of the dash. here is the link to the rear panels
https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/conv...ar-panels.html
and here is the link to the door panels
https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/inte...nels-done.html
and if anyone is interested in the double din i did on my car here is some more info
https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/car-...head-unit.html

thanks for all the input ill be posting more as i do more work

 

ill post some more pics of the door panel with the grills i made they are kinda like the dash one just in a different shape

 

Thanks! the Door panels look really good.
I wasn't sure if it was possible to do door pods, because of the power window motor being in the way. I thought the speaker would push too far out, and would hit the dash if you tried to close the door. glad to see that it can be done.

 

i used a electric life power window kit it moves the motor above where the speaker goes so i nave more room

 

hmm interesting, do you happen to have any pics of that installed?
Are you able to use your factory switches? Those darn motors are what are stopping me from building the door pods.

Edit: Just noticed these switches, and they are illuminated.
http://electric-life.com/shopexd.asp?id=1057

Look pretty close to our original switches.

 

here are a couple pics you cant see the motor at all and i welded and screwed in a steal plate so i can mount the door panel and speaker to the door. And i used dynamate as well as dynasorbe for better sound

 

i ordered the cheap switch kit with the power window kit but got the OEM switches to work with it so it looks factory but it aint

 

I just checked out that link to the rear panels. You do incredible work.

 

so you replaced the window motor with a universal. I know this is semi unrelated, but hows the speed of it?

Btw, great job on everything. its gonna be a sick car

 

_Nick_ thanks. fadedirocz28 this car was a manual window system and i converted it using the electric life kit and switch kit but i found the OEM switches so it looks factory but is not. The speed is faster and smoother then the OEM i know cause i had a 86 IROC with the factory power window. This kit replaces the entire window regulator setup with motor and bolts directly in with slight modification to one hole that lined up off a lil bit.

 

You're doing everything I have been wanting to do to my car! That double DIN looks excellent. Did you have that ABS laser cut for the door panels?

Also I'm curious. Where did you buy your leather?