I have an aftermarket fuzzy dashpad cover in my 78 F150 that is slowly fading from Red to pink. I tried dyeing it with RIT red dye, but it must be a polyester fabric, because the dye did not work. I had nothing to loose so I tried spray painting a small section of it. And voila', it looks great! I went over the entire surface with Duplicolor Bright Red automotive finish and made very lite passes so the paint would not pile up on the fabric, and it really does look like a new dash pad! So if your dash pad cover is fading and dyeing won't work, I would suggest a light coat of good quality spray paint before buying a new pad cover.

 

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 17-Sep-02 AT 10:27 AM (EST)]Great idea bud. I've used Duplicolor before and really like their products. The best thing is they use a high quality spray button that gives a very good spray pattern. I redid some carpet and vinyl door panels with it and it looks brand new.

Ron


Edit to ask: I've been thinking about using a dash cover on my 85's cracked dash pad. How do you like yours for fit and finish? What brand do you have? Thanks for the info. By the way, beautiful truck bud!!!

 

Cool, another Ron. Ya, that multi-position nozzle greatly helps. Thanks for the compliments, as soon as I get some free time I'll add some interior pics of my truck to my gallery.
As for the fit quality of my pad cover, it's not bad. It is not as fancy or heavy as some of the other dash pad covers, but it works and looks good. It's got the defroster holes already cutout, but the center speaker hole is not. That's no biggie, since I don't use a center channel speaker. It's affixed to the dash with velcro tape. Aside from the color fade, I'm satisfied. It came with the truck when I bought it from the previous owner, and I think the only name on it is "DashPadz".

Speaking of nice trucks, I bet yours sounds impressive!

Later,
-Ron

 

Thanks for the info Ron, I'll be looking forward to seeing the pictures of the interior.

Ron