Squarebody Dash Repair -1st attempt

[EricU]

This is my first attempt at a Squarebody dash repair. After doing the usual “research” on different websites and University of Youtube, this is what I came up with.

The materials that I used were:
Canned spray foam
Hardware store mesh
TotalBoat’s FlexEpox (flexible epoxy) after seeing another post
Upol 7061 Flexible High Density Body Filler (Flexible Bumper Filler)
Upol Raptor liner

I pulled this dash out of a Suburban parts rig that I bought a while back. Pretty typical cracked dash, not as bad as some that I have seen.

Since this dash is going into a C30 dually that I am going to sell (I really don’t need two of them) I decided just to do away with the speaker cut outs. I also V-grooved out the various cracks

[EricU]

Bought some mesh material at the local hardware store along with a can of foam. Cut the mesh to size and glued them in place using CA glue.

The CA glue worked very well.

[EricU]

Foamed it up and left for the evening.

The next day I used a combo of blades and my little grinder with a 3” 30 grit disc to knock down the foam.

[EricU]

I had high hopes for the Upol 7061 Flexible High-Density Body Filler (Flexible Bumper Filler) and used it on one of the cracks that I had V’d out.

The Upol does sand easy, the problem was that it was too thick and therefore not flexible enough. The dried vinyl adjacent to the flexible bumper filler just cracked away. So I ground it out and used the TotalBoat’s FlexEpox, which did work quite well.

But don't throw away that tin of bumper filler as there is a use for it...

[EricU]

The flexible epoxy is good stuff but a little more difficult to work with as it has a pretty long setting time. It also stays somewhat viscous and moves around. I tried to level the surface as much as possible, but due to the shape of the dash I had to do it in two application.

The flexible epoxy is more difficult to sand. I used a combination of a sanding block and my DA

[EricU]

After a couple of coats of the epoxy, I went back to the flexible bumper body filler which spread out very nice.

At this point, if I was planning on covering the dash with either vinyl or leather, I would be done.

But this dash is going to get textured using thinned down bed liner, so I will be doing a bit more prep work.

[EricU]

The dash insert trim thingy had some scratches so I hit it with some acetone, scuff pads and some sandpaper.

It will get epoxy primed, then base coat and matte cleared.

[TKCR]

Wow!! looking good
I find it satisfying to dive into something like this, and then see the before & after pics. Keep them pics coming. Awesome job.

[jimboh247]

I have got to see how this turns out!

[wixthedog]

Excellent work! I look forward to seeing how it turns out.

[ChevyMopar1969]

Looks good!

[EricU]

I didn’t like the corners that I had filled with the bumper filler as they were also cracking adjacent to the filler. So I ground them down and added more foam.

Cut the foam out the next day, ground it back some and added a skim coat of the flexible bumper epoxy.

[EricU]

I didn’t like the way the VIN window was turning out, so I made this little piece out of 1/8” acrylic that I had and used CA glue to install it.
It is a much cleaner look now.

[EricU]

A little more DA work with 220 then 320 and a good cleaning and I am FINALLY ready for texture and color.

[EricU]

Decided that I wanted to epoxy primer first.

First I hit the dash with two coats of SEM’s Plastic Adhesion Promoter and let that flash off

[EricU]

I then used Upol’s Raptor bed liner reduced down with a little acetone. I added some Beige colorant to the bed liner. Had to hold the gun further away from the piece than I normally do to get the texture that I wanted. Next time I probably wouldn’t reduce the bed liner so much at first.

I am happy with the result.

[EricU]

After sleeping on it and looking at it the next day, I liked the texture but wasn’t happy with the color.

Luckily I had some SEM Saddle Tan colorant which was a darker brown than I had expected.

[EricU]

A little more Plastic Adhesion Promoter on the vents and colored them also.

[SCOTI]

Looks pretty decent.

[TKCR]

I think it looks great! The Saddle Tan for dash, is a Dark Saddle Tan, that’s why it’s darker than the first one. And that’s the way it should be, originally. The Saddle Tan interiors were the lighter saddle, but the dash was a dark Saddle Tan.
And for future reference, there is a vinyl & leather filler. I used it to fill small cracks on a dash. And I used it to repair cracked leather on seats. It does really well. It goes on white and then drys clear. It’s those 2 small jars in the front. I also have the vinyl filler, but it’s not it the photo.

[Getter-Done]

Nice Job
I have one that looks like yours did.
I like how you did away with the small speaker hole spots.
Thanks for sharing the details.









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[Mathew21]

Nice work, Thanks for sharing.

[Factory Guy]

Really nice job!

[EricU]

Originally Posted by TKCR

I think it looks great!

Thanks TK and everyone else. Like I said, I am very happy with the way it came out.

I like the finish as it looks more modern with the fine texture without looking out of place. I hope to play around some more with the finish on my test panel and may try just knocking off the very top with some 800 grit.

The Saddle Tan for dash, is a Dark Saddle Tan, that’s why it’s darker than the first one. And that’s the way it should be, originally. The Saddle Tan interiors were the lighter saddle, but the dash was a dark Saddle Tan.

Yeah, my dash that this one is replacing is the Darker brown/tan. When I purchased the quart of the SEM color coat, I meant to get the lighter tan color but ordered it just by name and did not check the color card - It was a mistake but a lucky one at that. I have since ordered up a SEM's color card for future orders. BTW, I get my SEM products from 66 Auto Color - Great folks to work with

I still need to finish up the horizontal trim bar, then install the dash.

Then onto the door panels, at least I know that I have the materials and process.

[EricU]

Originally Posted by TKCR

...And for future reference, there is a vinyl & leather filler. I used it to fill small cracks on a dash. And I used it to repair cracked leather on seats. It does really well. It goes on white and then drys clear. It’s those 2 small jars in the front. I also have the vinyl filler, but it’s not it the photo.

TK, how flexible is that Leather filler?

How thick can you apply it with it still be flexible?

Thanks for the tip!

Last year, I redid the dash pad from my '65 Caddy Drop Top. The original pad was so dry that it kept cracking. I tried using regular body filler which was way too rigid, then I tried Polyvance's 2050-9 Padded Dash Filler which also dried too stiff.

I ended up stripping and re-foaming the entire dash pad. Which I did not want to do with this truck