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Posted by: ThinAir914 Apr 22 2006, 01:41 AM

When I bought my 73 three years ago one of the selling points was that there were no cracks in the dashboard. I've taken good care of it - it's cool here in Flagstaff - and I regularly use windshield sun-screens, but despite this I noticed this week that I've gotten a crack in the dashboard.

Is there anything I can squeeze into it to make it cosmetically better and maybe even keep it from getting larger or longer? I thought of using some black RTV, but I don't know of anything else that would be a candidate and I don't know whether it would really work at all.

Any ideas?

Posted by: Andyrew Apr 22 2006, 04:41 AM

33 year old dashes dont last forever.

Mine has one crack rearing its head... but its such a nice dash!!

Nothing you can do about it AFAIK

Posted by: watsonrx13 Apr 22 2006, 06:42 AM

Here in the Tampa Bay area there's a company called Vinyl Doctor that supposedly can fix minor vinyl cracks. I haven't had one done, yet, but you might try to find something similar in your area.

-- Rob

Posted by: Brew Apr 22 2006, 06:59 AM

What Rob said! It's a franchise, so they're everywhere. I had them do the dash in my 67, and it came out great! Fairly cheap, too.

Posted by: VegasRacer Apr 22 2006, 07:10 AM

303 Protectant is good stuff. It will not fix the crack that has already started but it might help you from getting any more. I can't find in anywhere locally, so I get mine on eBay.


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Posted by: ThinAir914 Apr 22 2006, 11:52 AM

Thanks guys! Vinyl Doctor turns out to be something associated with replacement windows for your house, but Dr. Vinyl (at http://www.drvinyl.com/index2.html) seems to be the one. They have a franchise in Scottsdale where my daughter lives so I think I'll have to make a trip to see my grandkids one of these days :-) and get my dash fixed at the same time!

Now if I can only get my wife to ride along in the 914 for that long...

Posted by: WRX914 Apr 22 2006, 12:20 PM

John,

I think you can find it at West Marine on Lake Mead BLVD in Henderson. Give them a buzz and find out. The owner's name is Tony and is a damn nice guy.

Posted by: Seagrave Apr 23 2006, 12:55 AM

I looked at dash toppers when I first got my car...ordered one from Performance Products. I was disappointed in the effect and so I sent it back, bought a replacement dash top and put it in myself, without taking out the windshield. It was a stone bitch to do. In fact, I got so frustrated the first day that I had to stop and continue the next. I eventually got it though and, since then, I have a black dash mat that covers it most of the time (it looks like a fine texture floor mat that is custom fitted to match the instrument binnacle and the ashtray. I don't know what the availability of dash tops are any more (this was in about 1988) but it was not cheap then. I can only imagine that now the cost probably approaches that a full tank of gas . Unless the crack is very minor, I don't see how the repair will be invisible.

Posted by: LvSteveH Apr 23 2006, 11:00 AM

Camping World has it too. I think it's great, although I'm sure it works much better if you actually apply it as opposed to letting it sit in the bottle in the garage like I do.

Posted by: anthony Apr 23 2006, 12:02 PM

Just buy a new dash. $600 every 30 years isn't too much of a price to pay.