A prior lister mentioned recovering their dash pad, I also recovered my
dash pad. I filled the
existing cracks with body filler and sanded the filler/hard plastic dash
cover relatively smooth. Over that I bonded 1/8 inch thick dense foam
padding using contact adhesive. Then I wrapped the dash pad in a
relatively
thin, somewhat stretchy black vinyl using contact adhesive. I was able
to
find a vinyl that had an almost identical grain pattern to the lower
dash
trim (you have to hold the trim right next to the dash pad to notice a
subtle difference in the grain. The end result is an OEM appearance but
soft to the touch dash pad. The advantage of adding the foam padding is
that it hides minor surface imperfections in the old dash substrate.
It has been about 9 or 10 years since I wrapped the dash pad and it
still
looks like new (but then I use my tonneau cover daily so the dash top
does
not see direct sunlight for most of the day. The only downside to the
padding is that the zipper that runs down the center of the tonneau has
left
a semi-permanent depression in the very forward portion of the dash pad.
From: Roger Elliott <elliottr@rmi.net>
Subject: Re: dashtops
Paul,
When I recently put a dash cover on my Spitfire.... I
ended up gluing heavy vinyl on top of the dash cover and wrapping it
around the edge a little. It came out pretty good. There are a couple
places I don't like, but I don't think anyone else will notice. While
covering a new dash cover may seem stupid it seemed easier than trying
to rip it off the dash top and trying to make a smooth surface of the
foam that was on it.
Roger Elliott
ptegler@cablespeed wrote:
>Well I now have an original dash top (from a fellow lister)
>to fill in under the hard plastic dashtop cover I already had.
>
>BUT....
>
>Does anyone know who is selling the hard plastic dashtop cover
>overlays that... actually 'fit' right? I've had
>three hard overlays...none of which fit! None seem to reach
>all the way to the front (cover all the way up to the windshield)
>or at least line up with the defroster vents.
>
>
>
>My only other option (already started this evening) is filling in the
>cracks on the one I got from Sam G.. sanding it, covering it with a
>layer of car headliner foam, and then recovering it with heavy vinyl.
>I don't want to go through all that if possible. I have enough other
>work to do to finish Big Red.
>
>tia
>
>Paul Tegler
>ptegler@cablespeed.com
>www.teglerizer.com
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