Dash and Dash Pads

The dash is made up of three components, the center section (shown) and two dash pads often called eyebrows.  Our pieces are brittle, cracked, damaged and in need of TLC.  The center section is a fiberglass frame covered with vinyl.  It will be recovered with new molded vinyl.  

   Most of the dash was brittle but some places were still soft. 

The center section has two metal pieces.  These were removed, painted and re-installed.

The worse part of the entire process was trying to remove the old covering.  I tried a pick, screwdriver, Exacto knife, needle gun and other utensils.  The pick worked well but was very slow.

The best tool ultimately was the Fien Multi-Master fitted with a flat blade.

There were several areas that needed minor fiberglass repair. 

 My dual action sander was the last step.  The total process took about 4 hours. 

I chose this contact cement to bond the new cover to the fiberglass frame.

The cover was glued down one section at a time.  Clamps were used on all the edges.

 The results look like new and I couldn't be happier.

The dash pads were replaced, not recovered.  After 50 years in the sun the foam cores have turned brittle making the pads pretty much worthless.  The new pads, however, on a per pound basis, are the most expensive item purchased to date.  These were $1250 for the pair.

The dash and dash pads look awesome!

Installation has already begun.  More on that will follow.

As always, thanks for watching.