Dash crack repair.

porsche4life · porsche4life's Garage

I didnt want to hi-jack the other thread.
Do you guys know if one of those repair problems would fix this?

there are others but im worried that it will look real bad if i patch the whole thing.

zedsn · 03-09-2008, 04:39 PM

Hi, maybe look into a black plastic dash cap? I see them on ebay.

hpservertech · 03-09-2008, 04:50 PM

I would go for the dash cap instead of trying to fill that.

The other thing you can do is send the dash to www.928leathershop.com and have him do a complete recover. His work is 2nd to none. Not cheap though.

Dark Skies · 03-09-2008, 05:29 PM

There's a fourth option - you can buy the kit from www.928leathershop.com and do it yourself - which is what I did. It's a lot of work but it's well worth it.

hpservertech · 03-09-2008, 05:36 PM

Yup, that's another option.

Dark - Do you have pictures of how it looks after you did it?

porsche4life · porsche4life's Garage

yes pictures please.... Im really thinkin about tryin to find a good used dash. or a parts car with a useable dash.

Dark Skies · 03-09-2008, 05:39 PM

Not to hand but I could take a few snaps tomorrow - it's 1.30 in the morning over here otherwise I'd put a few up today.

hpservertech · 03-09-2008, 05:42 PM

Oh yea, just noticed your accross the pond from all us yanks.

Dark Skies · 06:06 PM

Actually I recall there is a fifth option - one a friend of mine took with a badly cracked dash on his 924.

He had the windscreen removed by a glass shop, drove it home with the sunroof open to let the wind out (I kid you not). At home he wiped over the dash with a prepping solvent wipe. Then he got this heavy duty adhesive / sealant called Sikaflex 221 (available in all colours - including black and brown) and he filled in all the cracks with a plasterers knife. Before it had set he then got a textured roller and proceded to roll over the entire dash with it so it had a covering of about 1 mm. When it dried it looked really good - like the dash had been covered in stingray skin. Next day he drove back to the glass shop and had the window refitted. He had the car for about five years before he sold it. Dash looked great during that time. He used to wipe it over with armourall every now and then but other than that he had no further dash issues.

In fact it looked so good I pinched the idea and did the same thing on my kit car dash.

porsche4life · porsche4life's Garage

Just talked with my father about this and he suggested taking it out and having the whole thing line-x covered.

hpservertech · 03-09-2008, 07:39 PM

I dont know about that. Dont think it would come out looking that good. I would worry about the thickness. They usually scuff the surface when rhino lining.

Might be worth checking though to see if it's possible and if the local rhino shop has ever done it before.

porsche4life · porsche4life's Garage

The only thing that bothers me is that Line-x is sprayed on hot and it has a very speckled texture. It looks great on speakerboxes tho.

I have put the wires in loom and cleaned up the carpet since then.

Keithr726 · 03-09-2008, 08:30 PM

cheapest and best would probably be to remove, sand, fiberglass, and paint. Or get a carbon fiber cover!

jcommin · jcommin's Garage

I have an 83 and I had my dash recovered at the 928leathershop. Rob's work is excellent! Your options on dash repair:

Do nothing - dash cracks are a way of life on these cars
Cap it - you can buy them on ebay or other places - probably the least expensive of the choices.
Replace it with a used one - IF you can find one w/o cracks. Only thing here is that this too will crack. Taking a dash in/out is not for the faint of heart.
Get it recovered - the most expensive fix. you still have the taking in/out issue
Fill in the cracks - I don't have much experience here but others on this board have. It's an ok fix and I guess it depends on how many cracks you have.

Bascically it comes down to cost. How long do you want to own your car? What level of repair will you be comfortable with? Answer those questions and you will have your choice.

Good luck

fbgh2o · 03-10-2008, 07:54 AM

Looking at the size if the crack, the Permatex product that I used would fill and bond the crack, but you will never get the finish to match. The product is designed for small cracks and rips in vinyl and not long ones like yours. Patching the crackes is likley the least expensive (in terms of absolute dollars - may be $30 total), but will not produce the "like new" finish of the refinished or replaced dash.

Taking the dash out may seem scary, but requires only patience, care and organization. I am of limited (dubious according to my wife - I can take it apart, but it nevers goes back together right) and built some confidence with my project.

porsche4life · porsche4life's Garage

Im not too worried about getting it out. I have some experience and if all else fails my dad had a body shop for many years and is always willing to help. Really thinkin about pullin it out and covering it with one of those things from the 928leather shop.

88BlueTSiQuest · 03-10-2008, 02:09 PM

I am thinking about recovering the dash in my 951 this summer. I plan to do so in leather.

The looks of the dash itself leads me to believe that the top portion can be done without stitching. I think that the 928leathershop does the stitching on that particular dash strictly for looks, because it really DOES look good that way. The only real issue I see is around the defroster vents. If done in vinyl, those areas can be heated and stretched to resemble the factory finish. But when doing it in leather, I think you are best off making a vent cover like the 928 leather shop makes.

I've just about finished tackling the dash on my early car, those can't be done in one piece due to all of the contours of the dash. We stitched up some vinyl, and took a shot at it. It looks okay, but no where near as good as the 928 covers. I think, if I had to do it again, I'd go one of 2 routes on it:

1. The SEM route. SEM has a textured spray, that is supposed to simulate leather/vinyl. What you'd do is sand and clean the dash nicely, maybe even strip the 'vinyl' off of it, it merely peels off. Fix the cracks (Bondo), as they go all the way through the padding down to the dash's structure. Fiberglass the whole dash to reinforce the structure to prevent future cracks. Then spray on the SEM texture, then spray some color match coating on it.

2. Just bite the bullet, and pay the money to send the dash to the 928 shop and have him do it. Even if I had just the kit from him, it's a ton of work, and there's plenty of opportunity to screw it up. Leave it to the expert

Dark Skies · 04:28 PM

Taking the dash out without breaking any of that 25 year old plastic was the hardest job. The kit itself was pretty straight forward. You just glue it on and stretch it over. I used a quality staple gun to hold everything in place (underneath the dash, obviously) whilst it was drying. I opened up the holes for the vents by 1 mm all the way round - to allow for the thickness of the cover.
I opted to make my own vents cover to be sure the fabric didn't lift - there really isn't much to hold it in place once you've diamond cut them to fit in the slots and I reckoned it'd eventually let go. On reflection i could have used Nissan 3000 dash vent trim. Any road up. Pretty pleased with the way it turned out - shipping the kit to the UK wasn't cheap and I'd have felt a proper Charlie if I'd ballsed it up.

hpservertech · 03-10-2008, 04:35 PM

That looks great. Nice steering wheel too.

Dark Skies · 03-10-2008, 04:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hpservertech

That looks great. Nice steering wheel too.

Cheers. The steering wheel is a Richbrook R1. The picture (took it in the dark with a flash) makes it look a bit fatter than it actually is. I bought the Porsche horn button from a German Ebayer.

A better pic:

http://www.ultimatemods.co.uk/richbrook-r1-custom-steering-wheel.html