Re-doing vinyl on dash face on a 1969 911

[jzajfen]

Anyone have experience re-doing the vinyl on the dash face of early 911's. I have a 69 with the original basketweave vinyl (it's pretty faded), and I was thinking about having it redone (primarily so I can install an OEM Blaupunkt behind the vinyl and also in part because I'd like to replace the faded vinyl). I spoke to an autotrim guy with experience doing this and he said it won't look totally original, because they have to sew the vinyl on the dash, whereas Porsche originally heat-glued it in the factory (which this guy said can't be done now).

Anyone have this done? Is there any truth to this guy's assertion?

Recommendations for an autortim shop in LA?

[Jared at Pelican Parts]

As far as I know, it's simply glued on. I've done it on a 914, and it's something you shouldnt pay to have done. Just remove the old stuff, clean the dash real well, then adhesive, heat and stick. trim off excess.

[Rich76_911s]

I have done this.

Pelican carries this material for $23.

The material he sends is cut roughly to length for each of the 4 sections (key area, radio and heat control area, glovebox, and the small corner to the right of the glove box). It is just a rough cut though and they are too long and too wide for a simple quick fitment. You have to trim the width and trim the edges to finish the job.

I made some mistakes when I did the job.

I first cut the width of the pieces down to fit inside the chrome trim, which went surprisingly well. I used a clamp and sandwiched the material down between a straight edge and a piece of wood, then used the straight edge as a guide for the razor blade.

After cutting them down to the correct width, I glued them in place. Shortly after gluing I cut the ends down. I should have waited to cut the ends because as the glue dried the trim kinda shrank in leaving the edges of some sections exposed. I can show you pictures if you need them. I will have to go and buy the material again, and reinstall to do the job correctly.

I did this on a 78 SC (that I am backdating the interior on), and I had to remove the heater control levers, cables, etc completely to get the metal trim on and off. I am not 100% sure if you would have to do that on an early car or not. Your heater controls are smaller than they are on SC's. That was the biggest pain in the neck part of the job.

Not a terribly difficult job, just let the glue dry and the pieces set in place before making your final cuts.

I have no clue as to why the auto trim guy told you it couldn't be glued again. Just peel the old stuff off, clean, and glue the new vinyl on.

Rich

[jzajfen]

very helpful. thanks!

[Scott at Pelican Parts]

Pelican sells the basketweave dash face material.

You can find it in the catalog here.

[w21055]

Originally Posted by Rich76_911s

I have done this.

Dave at TRE carries the material. I don't think Pelican does otherwise I would guide you to their catalog.

The material he sends is cut roughly to length for each of the 4 sections (key area, radio and heat control area, glovebox, and the small corner to the right of the glove box). It is just a rough cut though and they are too long and too wide for a simple quick fitment. You have to trim the width and trim the edges to finish the job.

I made some mistakes when I did the job.

I first cut the width of the pieces down to fit inside the chrome trim, which went surprisingly well. I used a clamp and sandwiched the material down between a straight edge and a piece of wood, then used the straight edge as a guide for the razor blade.

After cutting them down to the correct width, I glued them in place. Shortly after gluing I cut the ends down. I should have waited to cut the ends because as the glue dried the trim kinda shrank in leaving the edges of some sections exposed. I can show you pictures if you need them. I will have to go and buy the material again, $20 plus shipping from TRE, and reinstall to do the job correctly.

I did this on a 78 SC (that I am backdating the interior on), and I had to remove the heater control levers, cables, etc completely to get the metal trim on and off. I am not 100% sure if you would have to do that on an early car or not. Your heater controls are smaller than they are on SC's. That was the biggest pain in the neck part of the job.

Not a terribly difficult job, just let the glue dry and the pieces set in place before making your final cuts.

I have no clue as to why the auto trim guy told you it couldn't be glued again. Just peel the old stuff off, clean, and glue the new vinyl on.

Rich

Not to hijack. to add I just got the basket weave from Pelican.
Rich,
Did you have to cut the foam style trim on your SC? I am about to start that, any pics or a thread on doing it?

Thanks
Phil

[Rich76_911s]

Hey Phil and Scott,

Terribly sorry about the mistake about pelican not having the material, my bad. I had searched and not found it before.

Yes I removed all the foam trim. I used a long thin knife and slid it behind the foam. Took some work to get it off without breaking it though.

A couple things to know about converting an SC or mid-year to the older style.

1. Your ventilation control lever plastic piece is larger than what was stock on the earlier cars. So either you have to cut the plastic piece you have down to size, cut the hole in the dash facia to fit the wider controls, or buy and install and earlier vent control system. (don't tell the 914 guys but I think they have essentially the same control unit, and they don't ask as much as 911 guys do.)

2. Is sort of a continuation of 1. If you're like me you are going to want the chrome ring around the heater controls as well. In which case you are going to have to cut yours down to size or find and buy an earlier vent control. The easiest and best way to do this would probably be to get an early ventilation lever system. But I never do things the easy way. I cut my plastic piece down to size and glued the trim ring around the plastic. The problem with that is that the red and black knobs on your later vent controls now don't fit inside the chrome ring, so you will have to find the early style knobs as they are narrower. Again it is probably easier to find a good vent control system from an earlier car.

3. The plastic piece that goes around ignition switch (key hole) is too wide to fit inside the chome trim.

4. I really didn't care, but the small vents at the edge of your dash will be covered up with the old style. I just disconnected the tubing the runs up to them.

5. Oh this is a big one. You need an early style glove box door. Or you have to modify your old door somehow. I can't weld so I had to go with option (A) get an old door. The old door I got had a center twist knob (vs the left top corner twist for SC's). All I did was get out my handy dandy dremel, cut a small knotch and twisted some sheet metal down to make a catch for the center knob. Worked like a charm.

6. You will have to clean and paint the new exposed area above the vent controls and where your knobs are for the rear defroster etc.

7. Those knobs for defrost controls, cigarette lighter, and fog lights (not sure about this one) need to have a new method for holding them in place. I picked up a nut to hold one, the cigarette lighter still fits a little looser though, and I haven't quite figured out how I am going to get the last one to stay in place.

I'll snap some photos this afternoon and post them on here to help explain this. My writing style is not the easiest to read English was never my strong suit in school.

Rich

[Rich76_911s]

Here are the pictures:

First one you can see the vent that will be covered. Also note in the second picture that there is some overlap of the knee pad and the dash chrome trim.







Here you can see the difference in size of the knobs, old style is on the lever new style is on my thumb.





Here you can see where the edge pulled in as it dried.



Here is the glove box door. The probem with the new style glove box door is that once you remove the foam trim the area around the twist knob is recessed, where as the old style is flush with the rest of the dash.



Here is the cut I made inside the glove box to use the centerally located knob for the door:




Here is the plastic key piece that doesn't fit correctly. I think to do it correctly you might have to cut a new hole in the chrome trim (under the vinyl) for the hazards, ingnition key, and the headlight switch. I remember them being a little different between the two sets.





And finally here are the knobs that need to be fitted. The defrost switch has a thread on it that you can screw a bolt onto, but the foglight switch doesn't. So I haven't figured out how I am going to keep that tight.




Here is the old thread where I posted some pictures, and got some responses for the resolution to any problems.

Dash Facia Backdate? ?

Have fun,
Rich

[w21055]

Rich do you have a close up shot of the area with the defroster switch and lighter? I am at a roadblock on mine and would prefer to remove the padding.

Phil