dashboard curl
 

Anybody have any solutions/cures for dashboard shrinkage or curl over the A/C air vents short of a new dash piece for $1000?

Regards to all.

No.

A new dash for my SC was $600. And the windshield rubber was leaking anyway. Get it over with, there is no easy way out. ;)

George

Aigel, where did you get a new dash for only $600? Prices I've seen are around $1000.

Quite right, George. A dumb question. But it was late. And I try never to sell short the ingenuity of this board -- maybe there was some exotic solution I'd missed. I must bite the bullet.

You can take yours out & send it in to Just Dashes (justdashes.com) & they will rebuild it for about $450. Supposed to be better than the original. Guaranteed for as long as you own the car. I'm having one redone there right now. The down side is that it takes about 13 weeks.

I bought mine locally at Parts Heaven in one of my saturday "lets see what I need" buying frenzies. I thought I remember that Pelican sold it for close to that price too, at the time. This was last fall, less than a year ago. I went and checked Pelican and holy moly, the price seems to have gone up $400! That's not just the exchange rate, something else must have happened.

The nice thing about the dash is that it is made in Germany and brand new, down to the small snap-ins. Maybe it is time to consider just dashes. On the other hand though, just bite the bullet. Even in my DE prepped car it made the interior look so much better... I figure I look at it every time I drive the car...

Cheers, George

On my '84, I stapled (glued?) the leather to lay flat and filled the gap around the air conditioning vent with black silicone rubber – wiping a concave surface the way you would caulk a bathtub. This completely hid the gap to everyone but me.

I bought one of those cheesy dash covers to hide the bumps by the defrost vents. Not a perfect solution, but reasonable for the six years I had the car. I've since read (chasing info through Pelican threads) about a leather treatment where you apply some miracle substance to the dash and cover it with cellophane for a day or two and it moisturizes the leather to stretch out some.

I was going to do this too... I experimented with a 3/8 thick piece of black rubber fuel line when cut right fits in the gap, hides the staples and looks almost factory (except to me of course ;))

I'll prob give your idea a try... or maybe I'll grout it ;)

Grout it! Why didn't I think of that -- I just finished doing my bathroom! Seriously, some of these suggestions are excellent. The PO stapled it, which helped, but the curl is too pronounced and bothers me, as do the staples. Thanks to all. I'll experiment.

I had the staplles too. Those were the most offensive thing about it. When I went at it, I had hoped I could peel the rubber off the entire dash pad and expose the vinyl. I could have taken off the glue with adhesive remover. But then I looked at the peeled dash and it was curled so hard on the windshield side that the light colored foam came out. What a mess ... now, why the new dashes cost a grand now, over $600 a year ago is beyond me.

George

Maybe not so dumb, maybe?
I was thinking about this recently too. My dash is in very good shape but does curl up a bit ( 3/16th or so) just in the center of the A/C vent.
I was thinking if a guy could attach a bit of weight to suspend from the dash right at this curl point you might be able to reverse it with a hair dryer or?
I just never figured out how to attach the weight, but I'll bet it could be done as there is a lip on the dash there if I'm not mistaken.

You know, You hang the weight on there and go grab the phone and when you come back your good dash not only still curls up a bit, but now has a big split in it were you hung the weight. :D

Somebody need's to try this :rolleyes:

Try ebay - I see them there all the time. Not sure what year you need but there is one listed now - currently $535.00

If you taket he leather off, you see the true damage. The dash is completely potatoe chipped out of shape. The center vent is just another symptom. I doubt there is much you can do. Then the plasticiser from the foam in the pad also gets out over time, leading to shrinkage. It is a mess. That $2500 leather option really becomes a curse 20 years later, especially in the CA sun and heat.

George