Dashpad repairs

[jhngardner367]

My cousin's dashpad,like most of them(including mine),was cracked in a couple of places.A friend of mine,that does upholstery repair,took it for a couple of days,and it came back looking GREAT! My friend told me that it was an experiment,and showed me how he did it.Since I've got another dash pad,from my GMC(also cracked),I,m gonna try it,too. I'll take pics as I do it,but I don't know if I can do the top cover(vinyl).If I have to,I'll let Lenny do it,whileI take pics.Hopefully,it's a way we can save all that $$ that it costs,to replace them. It might take a while,but I'll give it a shot!

[old Rusty C10]

alot of guys smooth out the peeled back stuff and then use bondo and either paint it or recover it

[jhngardner367]

Lenny uses expanding foam,and some thin foam rubber,with fresh,lightweight vinyl to cover it.He has agreed to help,but he's gotta clear his workload a bit,first.

[broey]

my friend used expanding foam to fill in the pockets on the top of his dash in an 88 honda civic, it worked well but it's really hard to smooth out, and it can be dented with something as easy as a push with a finger. to repair and smooth my dash fiberglass was used to repair the cracks and then it was smoothed out with bondo and some sanding.

[1425956]

I had mine recovered and it turned out OK. I removed the dash and used a grinder with a light grit disc to remove the high spots to prep it for fiberglass and filler. Because of this, I ground the high spots down and cut a V in the cracks to help the filler flow better and give it more surface area to adhere to.

The problem is that I never got around to glassing the dash to finish it. I went to Classic Parts in KC while I was in the area to get a cheap blue cap but they were sold out so I left empty handed. I then decided my buddy and I would give vinyl a shot and see what we could do ourselves. I found an upholstery shop that had vinyl and he gave some of it to me. While I was there he offered to redo my dash for $100 so I gave him back the vinyl, pulled my dash on the spot and left it with him. He explained the vinyl would have to be sewn to make it look right. There are 2 seams on it now but it looks great, IMHO.

Al in all, it turned out OK. The problem is the V I cut in to the cracks. He said he put a lot of foam under the vinyl, but said I pretty much ruined it when I ground on it. No matter how much foam he would add, you could still see the indention's from the grooves I cut into the dash. I really should have filled the cracks with foam, caulking or some kind of putty before it was covered and it would have turned out much better.

Also, keep in mind the foam and vinyl will add to the overall size of the dash and a few modifications will have to be made when you try to reinstall it. I had to trim back some vinyl around the bezel area due to the thickness. It wasnt hard to do though. And I am not sure how or if I am going to drill holes for the speakers under the dash. I removed them for now because they were blown anyways. Just drilling holes in the vinyl would look terrible, but I don't want a speaker grill sticking up either.

I am going to remove the dash, take off the vinyl and remove the foam padding here pretty soon. I plan to get some great stuff foam and fill the cracks. I think I can use an old guitar string stretched between 2 dowl roads, heat it up and shave off the excess foam. Then I will replace one small layer of foam and re-install the vinyl cover. I will try to post pictures of all of this. If you have questions that I may be able to answer, please ask. I'll help any way I can.

Good luck!

[jhngardner367]

I'm not too worried about speakers.I've got 2 sets of the corner speakers,that go behind the seat,and a set of 4" that tuck under the bottom edge of the dash.

[tucsonjwt]

I am hoping to get to my planned wood dash top and vinyl foam covered front in the next couple of weeks. I will post some pics when I do so.
The biggest problem I see is the defroster vents. The termination for the under dash defroster ducts is not very tight - the vent grilles just sit on to of the vent terminations sort of loosely. One of my defroster duct terminations is distorted from the desert heat, so that is another challenge. So, you don't get a good stream of defroster air - some of it goes under the dash. I plan to make a transition for the defroster duct to defroster grille connection - probably using thin plastic sheet or plexiglass and metalized duct tape, then cut the solid wood dash so the grille snaps in place into the surrounding wood dash.
I think even a good stock dash is not very well designed and on my truck the dash has never fit snugly to the framework. I am looking for an alternative where I won't have to worry about a cracked dash which always happens in the desert heat, and a two piece dash which will allow me to leave most of the dash in tact while I do the seemingly never ending repairs to something on the dash.

[paximus]

Originally Posted by 1425956

I had mine recovered and it turned out OK. I removed the dash and used a grinder with a light grit disc to remove the high spots to prep it for fiberglass and filler. Because of this, I ground the high spots down and cut a V in the cracks to help the filler flow better and give it more surface area to adhere to.

The problem is that I never got around to glassing the dash to finish it. I went to Classic Parts in KC while I was in the area to get a cheap blue cap but they were sold out so I left empty handed. I then decided my buddy and I would give vinyl a shot and see what we could do ourselves. I found an upholstery shop that had vinyl and he gave some of it to me. While I was there he offered to redo my dash for $100 so I gave him back the vinyl, pulled my dash on the spot and left it with him. He explained the vinyl would have to be sewn to make it look right. There are 2 seams on it now but it looks great, IMHO.

Al in all, it turned out OK. The problem is the V I cut in to the cracks. He said he put a lot of foam under the vinyl, but said I pretty much ruined it when I ground on it. No matter how much foam he would add, you could still see the indention's from the grooves I cut into the dash. I really should have filled the cracks with foam, caulking or some kind of putty before it was covered and it would have turned out much better.

Also, keep in mind the foam and vinyl will add to the overall size of the dash and a few modifications will have to be made when you try to reinstall it. I had to trim back some vinyl around the bezel area due to the thickness. It wasnt hard to do though. And I am not sure how or if I am going to drill holes for the speakers under the dash. I removed them for now because they were blown anyways. Just drilling holes in the vinyl would look terrible, but I don't want a speaker grill sticking up either.

I am going to remove the dash, take off the vinyl and remove the foam padding here pretty soon. I plan to get some great stuff foam and fill the cracks. I think I can use an old guitar string stretched between 2 dowl roads, heat it up and shave off the excess foam. Then I will replace one small layer of foam and re-install the vinyl cover. I will try to post pictures of all of this. If you have questions that I may be able to answer, please ask. I'll help any way I can.

Good luck!

I would love just a simple ALL METAL dash, my question is this, isnt the foam padding on the dash backed by metal, then there is another metal frame that the dsh pad, which is backed my metal is attached to, right? So how easy would it be to remove the dash, take off all of the padding etc clean it up and paint it nice and reinstall it as just a plain piece of metal, I would like that look but would it work, anyone know what that piece of metal under all that padding looks like? A pic of THAT would be VERY helpful!

[tucsonjwt]

I think everybody would like a solid metal dash like the old trucks. If you want, I can flip my dash pad over (it is out of the truck now) and you can see what the underside of the metal support looks like. There are lots of weird recessions and other features - but I have never seen the bare topside. My take on this is if you are going to try to create a metal dash out of the metal skin, why not just modify the metal dash framework itself? There are a lot of holes and bumps on the dash pad frame, but it could be leveled out and filled.
My plan is to cover the top with thick real wood, and do foam/vinyl on the rest, or maybe just wood the whole thing.

[paximus]

Originally Posted by tucsonjwt

I think everybody would like a solid metal dash like the old trucks. If you want, I can flip my dash pad over (it is out of the truck now) and you can see what the underside of the metal support looks like. There are lots of weird recessions and other features - but I have never seen the bare topside. My take on this is if you are going to try to create a metal dash out of the metal skin, why not just modify the metal dash framework itself? There are a lot of holes and bumps on the dash pad frame, but it could be leveled out and filled.
My plan is to cover the top with thick real wood, and do foam/vinyl on the rest, or maybe just wood the whole thing.

Hey what is up JWT, I am in Tucson also, east side represent! Thanks for the heads up. I just picked up this cool little short bed 1980 off craigslist 2 weeks ago, it runs really really good my mechanic gave it two thumbs up, the problem is the bed is COMPLETELY rusted out towards one end (if you know anyone in Tucson who has a short bed with DUAL TANKS for an 80 do let me know hell ill pay a finders fee!) anyway, that and the interior, most specifically the dash and bezel and door panels are trashed, the bench seat is surprsingly perfect though so I guess I should be thankful, I cant have it all and the truck with new tiires (good ones too) only cost me 900 bucks, the cab is perfectly straight etc.


Anyway I had thought about just redoing the dash pad FRAME and dicthing the dash pad altogether, I had asked in another thread if my BEZEL would fit without the pad as when I took the bezel off I noticed the two top screws went in to the pad but the rest were secured in to the actual frame, the bezel fitting on the frame without the pad is an issue for me because I just spent some coin on a nice new bezel and billet overlay from LMC so I need it to work, do you think without the dash pad the bezel would work ok with just the dash frame and then I could just use bondo etc to smooth that frame out and make it like a nice metal dash that the older cars trucks used to have.


What say you my Tucson friend?


You do any welding, I need the old door mirror holes welded up, the truck has the new nice big door mirrors on it and the old holes are showing just on the drivers side and I need to get them welded closed so water doesnt get in there and cause rust, I can weld but I am a little hesitant to do that sort of job its tricky work to fill a hole like that, I am going to get some sheet metal drills holes in it and practice on that with my wire welder this weekend and see how I do, if you or anyone you know needs some pocket money for side jobs doing little things on my truck for me shoot me a PM, I am your man, because of work and sick mom I dont have a lot of time to do some of the little things I need done myself and would gladly help someone out with some pocket money for doing them for me now and then, always good to know someone handy!

[tucsonjwt]

Sounds like you have quite a project on your hands.
I got a fair long bed years ago from Big John's wrecking yard on Ajo but I don't know if they are even there anymore. I would just keep checking CL for a good donor truck with a salvageable bed. But, as you know, the beds on the old trucks get really dented and trashed - if it is just the inside of the bed you can cover it up with a bedliner. If I could not find a good bed cheap then I would consider a used metal flatbed and put some wood sideboards on it.
Regarding the interior, I had my seat, headliner, and carpets done by George's upholstery shop (down by the TUSD bus parking lots) - he was in the phone book. He did a good job on the seat ($250) and headliner ($45), but the carpet was too cheap and not well fitted. I think he may have some health problems now. But, if I did it over again, I would get a late model Silverado or Sierra seat with integral seat belts (about $250 at the junkyards) - I might go that way someday anyway and sell my reupholstered seat. Also i would order molded carpet from one of the internet vendors. Any upholstery shop should do the headliner cheap. I highly recommend Huskyliner floor liners and Walmart treadmill mat for the transmission hump when you are done - keep the carpet clean forever.
I have had it with dashpad covers and recovers, etc. - in the desert heat any vinyl cover won't last. I will experiment with wood and see what happens. I am also concerned about the instrument bezel attachment to the wood dash, but I figure I can add filler pieces of wood trim for attachment if necessary. Right now I am too busy to do anything on the truck - probably for the next two months.
I have no welding skills, and those I know who have those skills are also too busy to help out. If you want top quality work you will have to pay some significant $$$ for it - but you can check CL again for welding services. I have seen some good square body doors on CL for cheap, so that might be better than welding your current ones.
For now I am just driving my old beater and hoping it doesn't break down again - I'll get back to working on it in a few months. Hope you get more time to work on yours.

[paximus]

Good deal, like you I am just driving and enjoying the old truck, the new crap they make these days just dont drive like these old trucks, I find it a joy to drive and I am proud of the old beater and woudnt drive anything else by choice, I will just slowly take my time and fix it up, I dont want a show truck I just want a solid truck I can enjoy, haul things around in on occasion and something I can get under the hood and work on myself, you cant do that easily with newer vehicles anymore, its all electronic and computerized crap.

I think your idea of a wood dash is a great one and would love to hear about it when you get the time to make it happen, sounds like a fun project and it should be, having one of these trucks and fixing it up should not be a chore it should be fun and exciting even if you dont have a lot of money to spend you can still get creative and find ways to make her look pretty again.

As for a new bed, UPULLIT has a few of them but you have to go down and pull it yourself, they only charge 154 bucks for it though, I just need to find the time to go down and get one, I have also spoken to a good welder I found on CL about working together on a nice flatbed and he said we could easily do that for about 800 bucks but that would be for a very nice flatbed nothing just thrown together, I am sure I could go cheaper, while the idea of a flatbed appeals to my senses in a big way, I have always wanted to own a short bed, I have had long beds all my life and always wanted a short bed, so I will probably just get it together and try and get down to the yard and pull me a nice clean bed and put her on one day real soon, then again that flatbed just grabs me and wont let go LOL.


Anyway, good luck on your truck and let me know if I can be of any help to ya.

[bustedknuckles]

My wife and I did mine. Cut off all the high spots, mounted the gauge pod, spray glued some felt on it, then coated it with resin. Sanded forever then finished with glazing putty and rattle can bed linered it. Only pics I have right now.

[jhngardner367]

Wow,that looks GREAT! Looks(except for the gauges),like a factory dash!

[jhngardner367]

Hey,bustedknuckles,I meant to ask you..how thick is the felt you used?

[bustedknuckles]

It's about 1/8" or so. Just black felt from hobby lobby.

[jhngardner367]

Hey,Bustedknuckles, If you don't mind,I'm gonna try YOUR way....it looks better than the one my cousin had done!
Any certain brand of bedliner to use?
How many coats?

[jhngardner367]

Someone asked what the metal,under the pad looked like...here's some pics.I'm modifying the forward half for trays/ducts,since it was the worst part.




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I want a tray,where the center speaker hole is,and I'm going to run defrost ducts to the corners,where the outside speakers were.

[bustedknuckles]

I used about 3 coats of duplicolor bedliner from oreilly.

[jhngardner367]

Thanks! I hope mine comes out as good!

[Lg82redchevy]

Wow that dash looks awesome, I have a question, you said you glued felt on dash and then you put resin? How, and do I get that from hobby lobby also? I would greatly appreciate your help.

[Sodell]

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[tucsonjwt]

If you still need a shortbed dual tank bed, I think I saw a couple at Pull A Part today, and they are cheap (less than $200). The have some dings and dents but no rust. Of course, the tailgate would be a long hunt even out here - the first thing to go in an old truck. A no rust but dinged up tailgate is about $50 - I just sold my old one on CL for $45 with no rust but many small dings and scratches.

You need to check Pull A Part frequently and act fast because vehicles normally don't last out in the yard for more than a month or so - they clear out a whole row at a time, regardless of how long any vehicle in that row has been there.