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I had a good dashboard in my ‘67, and kept a carpet cover on it for years to save it from the sun.
This last year it gave up the ghost and split wide open and now Ive got to address that; all-metal dash, or the replacement hard-vinyl cover that you can buy as an overlay.
Recently read where someone got horrible results from his replacement cover - all wavy and not looking very good.
Wondering what other folks experience was with the replacement cove, How they applied them over the original.
And any pictures of them.
I've done a few for a buddy of mine who buys and sells Hi-Boys and I can tell you the they come oversized so if you try to put them in with the dash pad still in the truck it can cause issues. The directions say to install in the vehicle but I would recommend taking the dash pad out and gluing the cover to it. Then do some trimming to fit it nicely. The buckling/wavy issues we've had were all on the first one we did and had glued it in place. Removing them also allows you to clean it better to get better adhesion from the glue.
davelj
This one was missing a big chunk over the radio speaker and had multiple cracks. Some contact cement and a couple of yards of vinyl fixed it right up.
Upholsterer!
Did you have to smooth out the cracks on the old top? Do any filling?
Did you use heat when you applied the new vinyl? What was the process?
Upholsterer!
Did you have to smooth out the cracks on the old top? Do any filling?
Did you use heat when you applied the new vinyl? What was the process?
I filled the big hole with a piece of wood, sanded down all the places where the vinyl had cracked and curled up. Veed out the cracked areas and used body filler to smooth it all out. Heat helped when stretching the vinyl around the corners using a Harbor Freight heat gun. It took me two tries to get to what you see in the pictures.
I watched a bunch of YouTube videos before I decided to give it a shot.
