How To Refurbish Your Dashpad

[74 Shortbed]

Since flexing is an issue I thought about trying this stuff, use it to rig boats and it is flexible and don't shrink, might be worth a try..

http://www.marinetex.com/marinetexflexset.html

 

[TRAZOII]

Ok i have a question. Where do you get that front trim if it breaks on you? Stock or aftermarket. It doesnt matter.

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[bucata206]

Do you mean these trim pieces?

http://www.lmctruck.com/features/cc/CCBDP.htm

 

[R8rPhan]

as a bodyman, thinking of flexability, no. theres not to much that fits that bill. thats why i had asked.

I was thinking maybe 'gorilla glue' instead of the epoxy?

You'd have to sand it down again though... It expands, but not near as much as the foam gap filler..

 

[Cdubya27]

Thanks for posting this. I need to resto my own dash and have been looking at a lot of different ways and this looks great. I was thinking of covering with an automotive vinyl, but I may try this method first! Thanks for taking the time!

 

[Shawn Cribbs]

Awesome
Mine is a lot worse but I think I can work with this idea

 

[trukman1]

At my local ACE Hardware they have small plastic caps that snap onto various size screw heads. You might try some of those if you want to hide the srews. I've only seen them in black but you should be able to paint them with vinyl paint to color match if you want to hide those silver screw heads. Just a thought.

 

[Lostranger]

Thanks for the thread. Helpful thinking. We operate a small leather shop, and I intend to cover mine with upholstery leather.

 

[78C10BigTen]

This isn't show quality, but I think it turned out great for a daily driver.

You'll probably be starting off with a dash that looks a lot like this.

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First, take a sharp knife and cut off all the curled up edges along the cracks. Cut back far enough to get into the vinyl that's still somewhat soft and not dried out. Also be sure to remove the vinyl around hairline cracks as that area is already toast and will become a bigger crack later and ruin your beautiful dash.

Then cut all the perforated areas out of the 2 outer speaker locations. We'll fix those areas later.

When you're finished with all that, take it outside and wash and scrub the crap out of it with some good cleaner/degreaser. I think I used Simple Green and a bristled brush.

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Then I flipped it over and glued a piece of fiberglass to the underside of where the center speaker use to be using a can of spray adhesive. If you want to keep your center speaker, well uh...too bad.

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Then go to your local hardware store and get a can of Gap & Crack Filler expanding foam. DO NOT buy the Big Gap Filler. It expands WAY too much.

Spread a bunch of newspapers out on your work surface. When you think you have enough, put on a couple more layers. This stuff sticks to everything. Now put on a couple pairs of latex gloves.

Take that nifty can of spray foam and very slowly and carefully fill in all the cracks and holes in your dashpad. Use just enough to barely fill in the cracks as it will expand a bit. If you get too carried away it will expand a lot and the voids will be bigger and more work to fill in.

Hopefully you'll end up with something like this. You can see where I got a little too much in several places.

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Let the foam cure over night so you won't run the risk of it being gooey when you cut into it.

Take a fillet knife and carefully cut the foam down level with the dash surface. You should end up with something like this.

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For this next part, I forgot to take pictures but it should be easy enough to explain without them. You need to cover that foam with something to make it solid like the rest of the dash.

Go back to the hardware store and get some Plastic Weld 2-part epoxy. Read the label and make sure it will bond to vinyl. This is the stuff I got.

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Mix some up and let it sit for 30 seconds or so. If you use it right away, it will be too hot and will melt the expanding foam. I suggest practicing this on some scraps of cardboard and the extra blobs of expanding foam that fell on your newspaper first so you can get the hang of how long it takes to "heat up" and then how long you have to work with it before it gets tough. I'll wait here...

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Got it? Alright, now that you've got the hang of it, mix up just enough to do a couple square inches at a time. Try and do it all at once and you'll get angry in a hurry. Spread it on as thin and as smooth as you can while still filling in all the holes and completely covering the foam. You don't want any exposed foam when you're done. Let that cure overnight.

Next I used a palm sander and some 300 grit(I think) sandpaper to smooth the epoxyed areas back down level with the vinyl. If you have any low spots you can go mix up some more epoxy and fill them in.

Now that everything is all smooth, take another piece of sandpaper or a scotchbrite pad and scuff up the rest of the dash pad.

Next, go to the auto parts store and get a couple cans of spray-on bedliner. I used Dupli-Color Bed Armor.

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First, wipe down the whole dash with alcohol. Then follow the directions on the can and spray the whole dashpad. Don't go too heavy with a single coat or you will get runs in it. I got carried away and got a couple small ones. Let that dry overnight.

I originally intended to stop here, but I didn't like the finish on it. So, I went back to the hardware store(again) and bought a couple cans of Krylon Fusion satin black. This stuff is great because it will bond to darn near anything. They have a large selection of colors so you might be able to find one that matches your interior. Follow the directions on the can and paint right over the bedliner. If all goes well, you'll end up with this.

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But wait! What about the outer speaker holes? I must have looked at a thousand different pictures on google trying to find something to use as speaker grilles. In the end, I was going through a box of computer parts and noticed the grille on a spare fan. Aha!

There are a bunch of different styles of fan grilles out there, but I went with the basic black mesh thinking it might look factory to the unknowing observer. 120mm seemed to be the best size. I got mine from these guys:

http://www.coolerguys.com/840556087601.html

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Now you just have to line them up, drill a few holes, and bolt them down with some machine screws.

Here's the finished product. You can see where I didn't take enough time to smooth out the epoxy so you can tell where a few of the cracks were. And you can also see one of the runs I got in the bedliner on the flat area above the gauges. I never thought it would turn out this good so I didn't take my time like I should have.

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And finally, installed in the truck

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And that's it. Feel free to experiment and let me know if you find anything that works better than the stuff I used. Thanks for reading guys!

Let me wake the dead here... i just scored an oem dash pad thats in killer shape for its age,1 little crack. How do i got about painting it to match my factory color so i can swap them? Heres a picture of the new pad.

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[Remo76C15]

Excellent write up!

 

[Raybo135]

Let me wake the dead here... i just scored an oem dash pad thats in killer shape for its age,1 little crack. How do i got about painting it to match my factory color so i can swap them? Heres a picture of the new pad.

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I saw this a few weeks ago and thought it was informative:
https://www.gmsquarebody.com/threads/proper-process-for-painting-most-of-your-interior-parts.15160/

 

[thecantaloupeman]

This isn't show quality, but I think it turned out great for a daily driver.
I am doing a repair on my dash except it is in way worse shape. Definitely seems beyond repairing it the way you did. I am going the route of covering it with vinyl. I cut some of the curled edges off so whats left of the old dash underneath doesn't show through the new vinyl, and I am using a combo of caulk and tape to fill and smooth over the big cracks. Then I am going to glue a nice piece of black marine vinyl on top and hopefully it turns out alright. Maybe that expanding foam would've been good, but the caulk was super cheap and I plan to get a new dash at some point anyway. Hopefully this stuff lasts at least a while. Only issue is I don't know what adhesive to use to glue the vinyl to the dash. Maybe contact cement? Any ideas out there? What are ya'lls opinions on using caulk?

 

[80BrownK10]

Let me wake the dead here... i just scored an oem dash pad thats in killer shape for its age,1 little crack. How do i got about painting it to match my factory color so i can swap them? Heres a picture of the new pad.

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How do you know it's original? Are they marked from the factory? They been making repops for decades?

Unless it stays in a garage most of the time , it will just crack in no time probably.

 

[Bigjake]

Good job. Ive got to tackle mine sometime soon. It looks a little worse than that to start. I bought some bondo and planned on using some pieces of steel to fill in speaker holes

 

[John-Ryan]

Thanks for the ideas - gonna be doing this soon as well