What a Mess! -Dash and pod

[Mrmerlin]

I have a blue leather dash and console the leather is good it needs some cleaning but its plug and play

[honerboys]

ditto on what danglerb said ^^^ - used cracked dashes should be pretty cheap especially if you find one local - from my experience any flaws in the dash being covered will transmit to the finished cover - even though I sanded the bondo very flat I can still see a shadow of the crack down the middle in mine - granted probably only I notice it and it does have t be a certain light but mine was in much better condition than the one you're working with - hate to go through all this work and have the finished product not be as good as it could be

[Danglerb]

Originally Posted by Mal81

The goal of this job is limited to making a 'buck' that I can glue the leather to. It needn't be perfect, just smooth, strong, and reasonably close to the original shape. Still, I have the urge to paint it. - Must be the fumes from the bondo. Lol

The point I would push is all of the cover and foam is bad, some of it just isn't visibly bad "yet". The base you create from this won't be stable, and the work to fix it starting from that base will be more than from starting with a dash in much better condition.

Any good crafter can make the dashes look nice again, the trick is how long the looking good lasts.

[Mal81]

That's all we'll and good, boys. I haven't got the money. What I've got are two good hands, a week off work, and my tools. No choice: make or die. I will make it work.

[Danglerb]

Lack of money is curious, in limiting action it creates new paths. Nobody has a really good solution for dashes, so its all therapy anyway.

Two big issues; the front section is concave and WILL pull up, the heat/defrost vents destroy the vinyl in/around them.

[Mal81]

I didnt take pictures today, but it is coming along. I'm certain it will look a lot better than it did, but I dont know for how long. Hopeful for at least a year or two, while I sort out a few other issues with the car

[Mal81]

Tedious and time-consuming. About 1/2 way there, I reckon

[AirtekHVAC]

Following closely. Both my dashes are shot. #30 is original, but badly cracked. The white 82 dash looks like it was coated with some kind of paste and then painted, poorly. I bought some sort of dash filler paste from amazon. Have not tried it yet. I'll post a pic of it this weekend.

[Mal81]

I'll post more more pics today.

Keep in mind that this is temporary fix at best. I'm hoping for a couple of years as a cosmetic fix while I spend what money I have on more important things like mechanical issues and body and paint.

Bondo doesnt age well, particularly in areas subject to a lot of vibration. I've tried things in the past, like using fiberglass resin over it, but ultimately it will fail. I thought maybe I could use another material like caulking for a more long lasting repair, but my dash is too far gone and the caulk takes an age to cure.

Another option might be to use the finished dash (or borrow one in good condition) to use to make a mold to shoot expanding foam into. I may give that a try as an experiment later this year.

P.S. A lot of those dash filler paste kits look suspiciously like the same Bondo body putty that I'm using - currently at $10.49 a can at O'Reilly auto parts.

[Mal81]

Here is where I'm starting out today. A lot of my focus the last few evenings was shaping the left side of the dash that wraps around the A-pillar.

[Mal81]

4:30. To be continued...

[Mal81]

Glueing on the stabilizer.
The product is called Peltex. It's about 1/16" thick, Machine wash, Tumble Dry, ok to Iron. It's made of Polyester.

[stepson]

Originally Posted by Danglerb

Lack of money is curious, in limiting action it creates new paths. Nobody has a really good solution for dashes, so its all therapy anyway.

+928

LOL!! Some higher brain function stuff in these statements.

[Pete R]

I've got an old pod if anyone needs it I would sell it. It's got a couple cracks but isn't total junk

[Mal81]

Stabilizer nearly done.

[honerboys]

great work on what I thought was a dead dash - what is the final covering going to be? - will anything glued to the polyester be able to hold in those concave areas? - I had a hard time getting just the vinyl to hold and I was gluing it directly to the dash - use lots of heat to stretch the vinyl if that's the way your going - and that landau top adhesive is super strong but pricey and sort of hard to find

[Mal81]

Marking out the center seam and the areas to be glued. It's hard to see, but you will mark the leather in the same way.
Dark Blue leather for the dash. Black leather for the pod with blue stitching.

[Mal81]

[Mal81]

6 pm. I don't want to stop, but work week ahead and it's begun to rain - wife will let me bring it in to cure, but not to work on.
Countours: I think leather is a little easier to work with. It has lots of fiber to soak up the glue and it can be stretched easily.

[honerboys]

looking good