Another cracked dash fix - Contact Cement and Vinyl

[gshiwota]

Many thanks to everyone who posted their cracked dash fixes. I thought I'd post my experience as I hadn't seen anyone fix theirs using contact cement and vinyl. I know that some of you found that Contact Cement was too quick drying to use, however I found that it's ability to dry quickly makes it easy to stretch the fabric so it's nice a tight over the dash. I think my results were pretty good - definately better than a cracked dash. Note, anyone can do this as it's not rocket science. It's just work and took me a few hours to fix a major eye sore.

Here's what I used for my '83 911.
- 1 yard of stretch vinyl. I used the 2-way stretch vinyl and a hot summer day to help it contour with the dashboard.
- Weldwood professional contact cement - this is the good stuff you buy from a upholstery shop, not the waterbased stuff from Home Depot
- Glue brush and glue pot (optional, however a glue pot is a great tool if you're going to spread a lot of glue).
- 60 grit sand paper
- JB Weld quick drying epoxy
- Rubbing alcohol and clean rags




Steps:
1. Remove windshield and dashboard (search other threads for info)

2. Once dashboard is out of the car, start sanding the entire surface to give it a good key so the glue will bite. This will also help remove the years of "Armor All" and other stuff that will prevent the glue from sticking. Be sure to sand down all of the cracks so there's no raised edges. It's ok to make the cracks bigger at this point as you'll be filling them with JB Weld. Do this a few times and wipe clean with alcohol. Use a liberal amount including in the crack itself. Wipe dry and let the dash sit overnight or outside for a few hours to dry. You'll want the alcohol to dry out of the crack.




3. Once you're happy with the sanding and you have cleaned out the cracks. Double check and make sure that your cracks do not have a raised lip. If it's raised it'll show through the vinyl. Once you're satisfied, mix the JB weld and apply in and over the cracked areas. Be liberal and apply it deep into the crack if possible. You're going to sand it again so don't worrry if you make a mess. Note, the quick drying JB Weld works great. You could use regular JB Weld or another sandable epoxy however you'll save time buying the quick dry stuff. I let mine sit a few hours before I sanded it down again.



4. Once the JB weld is fully cured, sand down the cracked areas flat. You'll be sanding off most of the JB weld so you should only see filled cracks when you're done. Note, I didn't to a great job with that large crack on the left side. I should have sanded off more JB Weld as there's a slight ridge of JB Weld left. The smaller crack in the middle of the dash is perfectly sanded as there's no ridge and it's ready to go.


5. Once the JB Weld is sanded, clean the dash again with the rubbing alcohol. Get rid of any dust and oils from the dash surfaces. Before you start glueing the vinyl, you'll want to create a template so you can mark the vinyl and glue the vinyl in sections. My strategy was the glue the flat areas of the dash first, then stretch the vinyl over the curved sections to ensure a tight fit. I simply took some butcher paper and traced the shape of the top of the dash. I then cut the paper so I had a pattern stencil for the vinyl. Once you have your stencil, trace this on the backside of the vinyl. Make sure you have it oriented correctly with the dash.

[gshiwota]

6. I then marked sections of the vinyl so I could glue in sections. I started with the large flat areas first (dashtop). This is the time to brush the contact cement onto the fabric and dash. Since the fabric will absorb more glue than the plastic dash, apply glue to the fabric first. I did this outside in the sun on a hot summer day so the glue setup pretty quickly - it sets up very quickly on the plastic dash so glue the vinyl, wait a few minutes then apply glue to the dash. Wait a few more minutes then carefully apply your first section to the dashboard. The vinyl should stick really solidly so you'll only have one shot to get this right. Since you're doing a small flat section it's pretty easy. Once you have the vinyl down, smooth it out with your hand and leave it alone for 10-15 minutes so the glue can dry.




7. Once your first section is dry, go on and do the same for the next flat section. Wait 15 minutes for the glue to dry then continue to the next section (I did the gauge binnacle next then the dash face). This is where the summer heat helped me as it made the vinyl very stretchy. If you don't have the sun in your favor, you could probably use a heat gun. This is where the super fast and strong hold of the contact cement helps as it'll hold even if you stretch the fabric around corners.




8. Once you have all of the major areas glued, it's time to start trimming and applying glue around the edges. Unfortunately by this time of my project, I was a sweaty mess with gluey fingers so I didn't take any more pictures. However it's pretty easy, just use your Xacto knife or razor blade and trim excess vinyl. Leave enough vinyl to wrap and glue down the edges. Once again use let the Contact Cement partially dry before adhering the vinyl so it'll form a tight bond.

9. Once you're done and satisfied with your work, go ahead and reinstall the dash. Before I reinstalled my dash, I had to epoxy the fasteners that broke off during disassembly. Epoxy is strong enough so don't worry about reusing old fasteners. Here's the final product. Note I used a very pebbly grained vinyl. This isn't OEM but I like the texture as it reduces glare onto the windshield. It's also very forgiving and scratch resistant. Also since it's 2-way stretch vinyl, I suspect if the dash cracks again, the vinyl will be a bit forgiving and stretch instead of crack.

[CiscoSF]

Great tutorial. I'm currently debating doing something like this myself vs. paying someone to do it. Thanks for posting.

[Ferrino]

Excellent work - thanks for sharing! The outcome looks great, especially considering the cost of your materials.

[NY65912]

Great job, looks fantastic!

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Hey Gabe, really nice work! Where did you get the vinyl? What's the grain like?

[tdw28210]

Well done!

[Chuck.H]

Looks great! I did the same thing but used Alcatara for a matte look.



Chuck.H
'89 TurboLookTarga, 399.99999k miles

[betiller]

that looks great!

[gshiwota]

Thanks guys! I thought it was about time I contributed to this forum.

Shaun - I picked up the vinyl from a local upholstery supply shop. I'm not sure what the name of the vinyl is as I simply walked through their shop and bought one of their cheaper stretch vinyls. The grain is similar to a basketball but much less coarse. The color is a matte black and it has a soft feel similar to leather. I don't remember exactly how much I paid but I'm sure it was less than $10/yard - I'm just too cheap to pay more.

BTW... that's your steering wheel in the pic. Thanks again!

HomePage - A-1 Foam & Fabrics

[Green6]

That looks terrific. Massive improvement. Looks like your dash wasn't warped much [mine has some warps near the vents]. Let us know how it holds up through heat cycles [sunny summer, and what you in Cali call cold of winter].

[2jmotorsports]

Looks fantastic. I may try this now that I have a new windshield to replace my current broken one.

[Ferrino]

I'm looking to use this 4-way stretch vinyl with the same contact cement. If you contact them, they will send you a small sample, so you can see the "grain" of the vinyl.

[DRACO A5OG]

Originally Posted by Chuck.H

Looks great! I did the same thing but used Alcatara for a matte look.



Chuck.H
'89 TurboLookTarga, 399.99999k miles

How is the Alcantara holding up in the sun? Actually in the cold since our dashes seem to contract in the shade/cooler temps.

[goobee]

Nice Job Sir. Glad to see American Ingenuity is still alive.

[goobee]

The price of cracked dashes have just went up!

[impactbumper]

i am working on this project this weekend, thx for sharing

[EdT82SC]

Great work. I need to do this too. If you don't mind, what upholstery shop did you use?

[SpenceRx]

Useful thread. Thanks for sharing your process.

[Chuck.H]

>>How is the Alcantara holding up in the sun? Actually in the cold since our dashes seem to contract in the shade/cooler temps.

It's been 3 years, still looks great - I've since covered the ignition key bezel and the tops of the door panels, for a matched look.

Use a lot of contact cement like the OP indicates, especially in the detail areas around the gauge hump, so it doesn't want to lift up when stretching, or over time.

Chuck.H
'89 TurboLookTarga, 399,995 miles