Dash refurbishing?

[wetminkey]

My factory dash fits perfectly, of course. I know that the number one complaint with dash replacement is poor fit, so I'd like to "refinish" my original one. I know how to trim back and fill the cracks in the factory dash,...I hope to smooth the entire dash with primer/surfacer, and then re-texture the "leather" with paint for plastic,...
Anyone have experience, or advice?
Thanks much, Todd.

[18Fiatsandcounting]

I can't speak directly to your proposed method, but I did "refinish" the dash on my '71 spider a couple months ago. It had the usual cracks on top, some as wide as a half inch, and it was in pretty rough shape overall. However, the bottom "bumper lip" that runs from one side to the other was in pretty good shape, and the damage was confined to the top surface under the windshield.

I know the purists are going to cringe, but here's what I did. Keep in mind I spent $175 on buying this car, so I'm not looking to dump a whole lot of money into it.

I went to Joann's Fabric and got a 5' by 2' roll of remnant of some black vinyl "fabric" with a slight texture to it (pretty close to the original dash, actually). Took out the dash and all the items in it, removed the defroster vents, stretched the vinyl tightly around just the top part, trimmed where necessary, including vent holes, and glued it with contact cement around the underside edges and right behind the instrument cluster and glovebox hole edges. I did not stretch the vinyl around the bottom "bumper lip", but rather cut it just above that part, in the crease that is right below the headlight switch (and the same story on the other side).

Total cost: $10 and perhaps a day's work to take everything apart, fix it, and reinstall. I'd post a picture, but I haven't figured out how to do that yet on this site, without uploading my photo to something like imgur. I think it looks pretty nice, all things considered.

Just food for thought.

-Bryan

[TX82FIAT]

Bryan, not to hijack the post... But, I have a roll of black vinyl in my garage that matches your description from when I created a custom storage compartment in place of the rear seat. I've been thinking of doing exactly what you have done. What did you use to clean the dash prior to applying the vinyl to get years of who knows what off the dash. What putty or bondo did you use to fill the cracks and did you sand it. Did you rough up the surface of the dash for better adhesion? How is it holding up.

As mentioned, I'm thinking about duplicating your process and just like you, I only want to do this once the right way.

Thanks, Ray

[DieselSpider]

I used the UV and Water Resistant Marine Vinyl from Joans Fabric to redo my door panels and am looking to do similar to the consoles and dash too. Any tutorials on adhesives, fillers and technique would be appreciated.

I have tried the hot irons, pattern tools, putty's and powders for repairing vinyl a number of times and found them lacking.

[18Fiatsandcounting]

Ray, I actually didn't do much to the dash before gluing down the vinyl around the edges. Cleaned it up with soap and water, filed down any sharp edges that stuck up around the cracks, but I left the cracks as they were. I also put some 1/4" padding under the vinyl (only on the top part) to take up any gaps. I may need to rethink this as there are some areas where you can press down on the vinyl and it "gives" a little bit before contacting the original dash underneath. This might be a problem in the future if the vinyl sags as it ages, or creases.

This was kind of a test case for me, in case I ever need to do it again, and so I actually didn't spend a huge amount of time on this project. Again, it's a $175 car with many, many other issues that I need to work through.

I can't speak to how long this solution will last as I just did it a couple months ago. It looks pretty good now, but in 5 years? Who knows? The good side is that if it does develop problems, I can just peel off the vinyl and try something else. In other words, good enough for now and I can do it better at a later time if needed.

-Bryan

[18Fiatsandcounting]

To DieselSpider: I plan on doing exactly what you described for the door panels, as mine are pretty rough and broken up along the edges. I have to redo the inner "fiberboard" part as well. Seems like it would work, but I am stuck on how to recreate the triangular shaped accent indentations just above the armrest. If anyone has ideas, please share them.

-Bryan

[PaulC]

We used vinyl with a glued on backing of "sew foam" and then stitched in the triangular pattern before glueing it to the door card material using the original covering as a template.
Like so:

[18Fiatsandcounting]

Looks nice; thanks!

-Bryan