Dashtop crack can it be repaired?, Can it be done? Options

[Mikey914]

The upholstery guys will want to "wrap" them. We have a guy and he does a good job, but there are issues with getting the corners around the cluster all the way down. He did a nice French stitch across the front of the cluster. Looked good, but you are not hundreds of dollars, and for the effort you might as well put something that's OEM looking and isn't "puffy".

My personal opinion is to -
1- get the vinyl kit for texturing, give it a shot
2- if you don't like it put a dash cap on it
3- replace the unit
I'd go new, for the reasons listed above.

Really depends on your budget and time you want to throw at it.

[mepstein]

The upholstery guys will want to "wrap" them. We have a guy and he does a good job, but there are issues with getting the corners around the cluster all the way down. He did a nice French stitch across the front of the cluster. Looked good, but you are not hundreds of dollars, and for the effort you might as well put something that's OEM looking and isn't "puffy".

My personal opinion is to -
1- get the vinyl kit for texturing, give it a shot
2- if you don't like it put a dash cap on it
3- replace the unit
I'd go new, for the reasons listed above.

Really depends on your budget and time you want to throw at it.

We had to get a couple 911 dash tops done when the supply of new ones dried up for a while. They cost $350-400 to get done. JustDashes charges double that. Might as well buy new.

[gothspeed]

The problem is the whole dash is 45 years old so once it starts cracking, it won't stop. It will just crack in a different area.

+1 .. I have been trying my hand at 'repairing' my dash pad. I found the surface material to be very brittle and I ended up removing a lot of it. I used a fiberglass filler to restore the shape of the area above the gauges. I have sanded it smooth and am considering doing a texture paint or matte felt finish, as done on some race cars.

[Mikey914]

It's basically the way they were made.
The OEM version was a 2 sided mold. That the thin vinyl (surface) was pulled into one side and the the frame was put into the other side. Foam was them shot into the cavity. Thia gave the dash some "give". Unfortunately, differential rates of expansion and contraction work to create cracks at focal points for the stress. This is why they all crack in the same areas.

We believe ours to be better in that using a more dense material that self skins the density is more uniform and the substructure is more stable. This is all done under very high pressure (as some of you may remember me mentioning blowing out my molds. It was definitely a trial and error process, and there are still variables we have to control, but we've finally got it down. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[Mblizzard]

While my wife has very little interest in my 914 one of the things she insisted on me fixing, and fixing right, was the dash. When I asked her why she was so insistent on fixing the dash right she provided some very simple and insightful reasons.

She said that the one thing that you always see as a driver and passenger in the car is the dash. You have to look out across the dash every minute you are in the car. If there is a scratch on the side of the car you may only see it every so often when you look directly at it. But you look directly at the dash every time your drive or ride in the car. That is something that is worth fixing right even if it is expensive.

She insisted on a new dash. So should you. Just my thoughts.

On fixing a dash. There are ways and some are better than others. I had a very good friend that explained to me that basic truth in older cars is that the plastics and vinyl's were not designed to last. The plasticizers used in them were very prone to breakdown by UV light and once a dash starts cracking it will never stop.

So the bottom line is if your dash is cracked in one spot, it is cracked in 100's of other spots that you just cant see. Don't bother with repairs. Replace or cover are the only options that result in lasting results.

[ericoneal]

Just throwing this out there...

Plastidipping the dash

[gothspeed]

Thanks for the replies. I could get one from 914 rubber but if I could fix it I would be money ahead for other stuff. That plasti-dip texture may look acceptable with a matte finish.
I will look into some other finishes as well and report back the results. Otherwise it may have to be the 914 rubber version (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smash.gif)

[mepstein]

The thick plastic dash cap is amazingly good. Not stiock but it just snaps on and you’re done.