I just striped my dash after fixing it earlier. I want an inexpensive way of re-firbing it. It looks horrible.My first attempt looked good but I was not happy.Here is where I am now.

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This was my first attempt.

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Here is after I striped it back down in prep for my second attempt.

Your first attempt didn't look so bad. What are you covering it with? What are you using as a filler material?

I've seen one covered in leather (leather) that looked great. Take it to a good upholsterer and see if they think they can cover it in leather or vinyl for you. I'd think that you could get it done in vinyl for about $150.00, leather for twice that amount.
Both of my parents are upholsterers, I know that I could do it if I had a sewing machine, but I don't, plus I hate doing upholstery. I'd rather clean toilets in public restrooms.

I am using a liquid filler for plastic to fix the cracks and than spraying with a vinyl polymer spray that I found at walmart. The spray is intended for truck beds but i a vinyl so it seems to work. It is just an experiment for a low cost fix for a bad dash. Here is my latest progress. The first try had some issues with the polymer bubling so I striped it down and added primer first.

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here is another pic.

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Very intresting

here is close to the finish. I still need 1 more coat of vinyl and maybe a quick sanding with 150 grit.

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Here are the components I used for my trial. I think after all dries I will clean it up with Armorall and make sure it holds up.


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YIKES ! ! ! Now it looks even better ! ! !

What a cool option to have. I'm going to try your method as soon as we get a warm enough stretch for me to go out and wrestle the dash out of the car.

Getting on towards Winter in New England.



"I'd rather clean toilets in public restrooms."


NO . . . you wouldn't . . . .

I did for four years, late High School/early College years. I still have the very clear and horrible memories. Every time I see the lights of Boston twinkling at night, I KNOW that those lit up buildings contain cleaning crews and every floor has a "Men's" and a "Ladies" (you haven't LIVED 'til you've seen the horrible filthy mess that is hidden behind THAT door. "Ladies" my ass ! ! ! ! ! ! ) room being mucked out.


U U U U U G G G G H H H H ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

With a straw.

Well I think that it is now finished. It is far from show quality but on a budget it may be a good option. My dash was a mess so I had nothing to loose. I cleaned it up with armorall and it looks good. I will add a second coat when the temp get up a little. It is cold here in N.H so I cant paint today.

Think the paint will stick after the Armorall treatment?

Good point.

Naptha will remove MOST of the armor all.

And probably won't lift your existing finish.

Finish it off with LOTSA windex until a CLEAN WHITE soft cloth comes up with no color.

Then shoot till your hearts content.

Clayton

Looks great, nice job. I guess i should have saved all those baked dashes!!!

I think there's still 1 or 2 at the shop. Hmmmm......

I found another cleaner that worked fine. I put a second coat on and it mde little difference. I guess I would say in a nutshell that it is fairly sucessful. only time will tell how it holds up and how long before it crakcs if it does. I left it outside overnite to see how it would react when I brought into a warm house. It was about 23f in Hudson N.h last night so it is a good test. The finish seems pretty robust but it still has a similar feeling to an original dash. If I push on the surface it is not hard and brittle and does not feel like it will crack. I think that if you have a dash that is in bad shape and you dont mind a do it yourself project it is probably worth the $10 and a few hours of your time. I received several p.m`s on the steps I took to do this so here they are.
1)Clean the entire dash and try to get rid of all grime. Sand it if you need to with a fine grit paper around 100-150.
2)Next I aplied the filler with my fingertip so I could work it deep into the cracks.
3)After a few hours I sanded the filler flush to the dash.
4) Apply a primer that is good for either plastic or vinyl.
5)lightly sand the primer again using 100-150 grit.
6) Apply the vinyl polymer coating and let it dry for several hours. On my first attempt I tried to handle it right away and the finish was easily disturbed. It seems best to let it dry overnight.
7) If the finish is not what you want lightly sand any areas that are unacceptable and apply a second coat.
Remeber I am only 3 days into my project so I have no idea how long this will hold up. I think that if you have a dash that you have already considered replacing it may be worth a shot but if you have no intentions of replacing it and it does not work for you than youre stuck.
Here is a close up this morning.



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Joe..great job & write-up. It will be interesting to see how it holds-up. Not to sure what will happen when areas of the dash that hadn't previously cracked begin to crack?

Another 914 enthusiast recommended this spray, but I haven't tried it...yet.
They also make a kit, but I like your Walmart Locktite product better with perhaps the spray below.

Other areas cracking is an interesting point. But I guess time will tell and if other areas do crack A touch up may work. I do like the spray that you have posted because it is a true vinyl. That may be a better option.
Thanks for the comments.

Keyston has a putty that you can use to fill the cracks in dashes. That may help maintain the constitution of your recover IF your method doesnt completely work

Wow! That looks great.

I have a few junk dashes in my garage, I'll have to give this a try!

Thanks for the great ideas.

-Rob

I used that vinyl repair kit on my old mustang dash, after spraying it with vinyl spray from the FLAPS it looked great.

Could one also use this spray to coat the inside of the trunks? I have some bad rust with a shoddy paint-over in my rear trunk and I'm intending to have a shop bedliner the front & rear trunks. Could I use this vinyl spray from the OP to do my trunks?

GREAT THREAD Joe ! ! !

You've pretty much eliminated one of the nastiest areas on my car. Just follow your instructions and it looks like it'll be a done deal.

A great procedure for Karmann Ghia dashes as well I'll bet.

Thanks !

TC

I am glad I could contribute. Hopefully what I have done can help others. It seems like some parts are hard to come by and as a result the price is high. I also think that there are a lot people who like DIY projects and can actually make this even better. This was simply a trial for something that may have been regarded as un-salvageable. I am happy with the end results and am looking forward to see how it holds up in long run. For that matter even if it requires some touch up every few years it may be worth it. Good luck to anyone who tries this and if any alterations are made please share.
My next project will be to create my own custom gauge face plate. I did re-paint my existing gauges and they look good as is but it is a long winter so I need something to keep me busy. My wife says paint the ceilings but I think I can manage to sneak in some 914 time also. Here is a pic of my gauges as they are today. My plan is to change the color of the faceand add the porsche crest on the tach gauge. I have it drawn up and it looks kind of cool. This will probably be another thread with some templates if anyone is interested.

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