I am about to install new vinyl and padding (from RD). The original padding was glued completely to the metal dash top, and the original vinyl was glued only along the edges or where wrapped over the edge. It was not glued to the padding.

Some methods I have seen for replacement do glue the vinyl to the pad.

Opinions? Having the vinyl "loose" seems like it will let it stretch evenly, and maybe avoid wrinkles in the future.

out of curiosity i pulled my old lhd dashboard out which still has the vinyl attached.
as you say it is glued only to edges .
my guess is glued to the foam, air trapped in the foam, on hot days might bubble in areas where the vinyl might not have adhered to the foam or the adhesion breaks down.
i'd guess reason for factory not gluing to foam is not so much for wrinkles as bubbles forming under the vinyl? hot air expansion in the foam can disperse more evenly if not glue?

Thanks, Wonki. Any others who did this one way or the other?

I glued mine and was very happy with the results. I guess having it out in the hot sun will be the true test though. Sorry I didn’t get a picture of the finished product, I ended up not using the vinyl you see in the last pic because it had too much sheen, so I exchanged it for the newer material which has more of a matte finish.
Keep up the great work, your car looks great!

Cheers,
John

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I’ve done it both ways. I think gluing the vinyl to the foam looks better. The real key is the right adhesive. That area gets super hot in the sun and not many glues are up to the challenge. The DAP weld wood you used on other trim is great stuff. In case you haven’t seen it, here’s my video on the dash resto. Feel free to comment and critique if you find better / easier ways to do this project...

https://youtu.be/uP1IA944nyM