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Dash crack repair

6K views 27 replies 10 participants last post by  borini63 
#1 ·
Who has successfully repaired a dash crack? And I don't mean by putting on a dash cap :)
 
#2 ·
palladin said:
Who has successfully repaired a dash crack? And I don't mean by putting on a dash cap :)
I saw a post on another forum (as I recall), where I guy used Great Stuff foam, filled cracks, sanded down, worked hard, used the SEM products, and had a great result. Looked like a lot of work, but great result. I'll see if I can find the post and link. (Is it ok to link to another site?)

JGW
 
#4 ·
The black car in ATL has a crack in the dash. Needless to say, lowers his asking price. Has Auto air that he has had worked on. Eng and auto tranny rebuilt...why? And the PO apparently recovered the seats...but not back to original. Should go down and see it Sat, wx permitting, i.e. sunny and no chance of rain :)
 
#6 ·
I've done it not on a Z car but it isn't too hard. They got vynol repair which its like bondo and vynol paint which expands and contracts like the vynol but adds a little more resistance.

Basiclly,

Vynol repiar filler: fill in the cracks like bondo does

Vynol paint: Specifically desined for vynol applications make sure to get your colors right.

Light grit allmost emmerycloth sand paper

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_drP8SLwvgo

Also word of advice the wallmart version with precolor vynol looks shoddy.
 
#8 ·
Skittle and Greg. I've seen that one. There is a guy in Chattanooga who has done it but I've lost touch, I'd like to see how it turned out.

Steve: the car is somewhere around Hartsfield. You in ATL?

Jaket: How about a link to the products...apparently stay away from walmart. What about some pics of yours. I tried to inject silicon into my blue one a few years back. I was going to top it with that vinyl repair stuff for seats you mix up and heat. Either the crack got bigger or the silicon shrunk. I put a cap on it, but couple years later when I removed the cap, it pulled away a lot of the top coat.

I guess one question that needs answered is why they crack to begin with. Heat plays a big part. I assume they dry out. I used armorall on my first one and in 6 years never had an issue. Used it on the blue one too but about 18-20 years later the crack arrived.
 
#10 · (Edited)
Blue, how difficult? It looks good from here. Any details.

Here is the dash I may have to contend with. It is FUBAR.
 
#13 ·
Its about working with materials. Some well rounded bodymen would be able to repair the dash. PPG has a flexible interior paint we used at work, pretty nice too. A coworker is making a mold for a custom dash for his chevelle. He's going with fiberglass.
 
#14 ·
You are correct, the dash must be removed. There is a whole list of repairs to be made when the dash is out. In this case dealing with auto AC. In tour opinion, would those 5 cracks pose a problem...and maybe more importantly, can we expect other cracks in other places? You finished up with SEM trim black...do they have other colors? Where might we procur said products?

BTW, Your pictures are too small to see and would not pull up.
 
#15 ·
palladin said:
Steve: the car is somewhere around Hartsfield. You in ATL?
I live north of Atlanta, about an hour and a half away from the airport.
palladin said:
I guess one question that needs answered is why they crack to begin with. Heat plays a big part. I assume they dry out. I used armorall on my first one and in 6 years never had an issue. Used it on the blue one too but about 18-20 years later the crack arrived.
I would guess oxidation would cause the plastic to lose the elasticity it needs to withstand the expansion and contraction associated with the thermal cycles the cars experience. It's not so much drying out but chemically changing.
 
#16 ·
I'm only an hour and a half from Hartsfield and I live in Chattanooga.
 
#17 ·
I'm in atlanta too, and I found a guy in north atlanta that sold me a perfect dash out of a 79, said it was a nissan replacement made later and with a better material and shouldnt crack. He had a targa band in perfect condition and seemed to know a lot. I just believed him, kinda just wanted to get the dash and run
 
#19 ·
palladin said:
I'm only an hour and a half from Hartsfield and I live in Chattanooga.
I'm counting commute traffic, too. That's usually when I have to go there. LOL
 
#20 ·
Jaket, I've removed the dash too many times. It is really no big deal. You do need to people to put it back in.

Steve, it is looking like Sunday if at all. You and Heroe are welcome to come down. There was a little restaurant out of a closed garage not far from the airport we went last time. Of course it also had outdoor sitting,,,which might be a bit chllly.
 
#22 ·
I'll have to take a pass. I'm slammed at work, and I need to use the weekend to catch up.
 
#23 ·
Thinking of putting it off anyway.
 
#24 ·
I am not a very patient person so I found a quicker way of doing it. My dash was cracked bad and that ugly chocolate brown like yours and the interior was going to be black. I removed the dash, sanded it, used body putty to fill in the cracks, sanded it again, cleaned the dash of all dust, sprayed it with Krylon Wrinkle Finish black. Looks awesome and covers the cracks. Took me a day.
 
#25 ·
pictures, dang nab it, Deputy Dog!
 
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