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Hey guys wondering what the best approach would be to prevent the worsening of these cracks on my dash pad and my shell... really pissed off about it.. junk
That's an odd place for the dash to crack; I'd have to assume something hit it, unless the car has been exposed to extreme UV rays for an extended period. I'm guessing that's not the case though judging by the relatively nice condition of your dash pad (assuming it's original).
Not much you can do to prevent the dash pad from further cracking other than applying a plastic/vinyl conditioner on it, which is probably not going to slow it down much as it's already 30 years old. If that's the only crack you have in the dash, you may consider having it repaired by an upholstery shop. I had the left front corner repaired on mine over a year ago, and it's held up just fine. No other cracks since then.
The general rule to stop a crack in plastic is to drill it at the point it terminates as the round hole will not have the stress risers that would allow it to continue to crack, but that will not help the looks. I would junkyard shop or hit up one of the used parts vendors and replace it.
The dashpad cracks because UV light breaks it down and makes it shrink and get brittle not much you can do to stop it at this point. They do sell reproductions now but they are expensive. You can buy some time on the dash pad by stop drilling the crack and having a leather repair person fill it and match the texture.
The one cheap cosmetic fix the previous owner of my car did that I'm not replacing is the dash pad. It's 100% covered in plasti-dip, and it actually looks good.
If you do it, you need to go 100% though, anything less would almost certainly look like crap and probably flake off.
That crack by the ERS badge is common. They can also crack around the middle vents below the dash pad. I repaired mine by completely removing the pad and dash face, then using Plastic epoxy and fiberglass screen material to pinch and glue the cracks back together. It was a BIG job, but holding up well 10 years later.
The general rule to stop a crack in plastic is to drill it at the point it terminates as the round hole will not have the stress risers that would allow it to continue to crack, but that will not help the looks. I would junkyard shop or hit up one of the used parts vendors and replace it.
The dashpad cracks because UV light breaks it down and makes it shrink and get brittle not much you can do to stop it at this point. They do sell reproductions now but they are expensive. You can buy some time on the dash pad by stop drilling the crack and having a leather repair person fill it and match the texture.
Do a lot of people like to put the little top covers on to protect their dashes from the sun?
Mine is in perfect condition, and I'd like to keep it that way. However, I also love looking at and showing off my awesome interior (though it is a lil dirty)
^^Maybe this is part of why SFCs are so critical in our verts... I can't help but wonder what all that body twist does to different parts of the car that we can't realy see.
