I just completed the installation of my refinished dash pad. I am really happy with it. Let me know what you think.

Acknowledgement - I found my inspiration to do this by some posts I read a while back by ‘crsweet78’. I just searched and the posts are still live. I think this individual does a better job than I did even though mine turned out really nice IMHO. He adds a French seem to his which is just a really nice extra detail. I reached out to him prior to doing this as I wanted to send mine to him but never heard back so I’m not sure if he is still on here.

I reached a point in my restoration where I could not wait any longer to address the dash pad. This needs to be installed prior to the rest of the dash otherwise it’d be really difficult to do. My choices were; cheap aftermarket dash pad or cover, expensive but nice Dennis Carpenter dash pad or have mine refinished; I could pay some one just as much as a new pad would cost or I could try and do it myself. I chose the last option.

Here is what I started with:





It was faded & cracked but not disfigured.

I chose to wrap this with black marine grade vinyl from Joann fabrics. A yard costs about $50 but they always have 1/2 off coupons so $25. I also purchased a 16oz can of HH-66 vinyl cement on Amazon for about $26; this stuff has to be the best possible glue for this application. Total cost is about $50 plus a few hours in over the course of a few evenings.





Here is a pic of the installation process. I started on top. Then the front. And finally the rear which is actually the part the passengers stare at all the time.




A few pics of the completed dash pad uninstalled.








And finally installed.






As you can see I simplified from what crsweet78 did by not adding a French seem; I have minimal experience with a sewing machine so with my skills I couldn’t have don’t this if I wanted to. The glue reacted with the vinyl and made it very pliable when wet. I basically stretched and pressed the vinyl against the dash pad by hand and with a rubber roller to ensure it was adhered as smoothly and evenly as possible. I did this until the glue dried enough to hold and then I’d move to the next section; this took about five minutes or so as it’s a form of contact cement.

The texture seemed to relax once the glue was applied; it slightly contracted once the glue dried. This created a nice distressed leather look. If you look carefully you can still see where the cracks are but I don’t think this is noticeable to the casual observer as the distressed appearance hides the cracks very well.

My least favorite part are the creases on the inside curves on either end. My choice was this or cut it which would be very hard to hide so I went with the creases; the material had to go somewhere. Another option would have been to start applying the vinyl on the rear side but I think this would have resulted in creases on top that are even more noticeable. My guess is this creasing effect is why crsweet did a two piece vinyl wrap with the seem. In any case by the time I figured out that it was going to crease, I had already done 90% of the dash pad so I was committed.

I am very happy with the end result. For the price and being my first time attempting anything like this I think it turned out pretty nice.

For anyone looking for a different approach to refinishing one of these, hopefully this post offers you something.

 

In regards to the zoomed in pic showing the creases… in the photo it appears significantly more pronounced than it actually is. The ridges are very level; if you slide your hand over it, it feels smooth. And that faces down so you’d have to get under there with a flashlight looking straight up at it in order to nit pick.




I am beating myself up over this a little as I know it’s there and it’s not how I wanted it to turn out but again it’s a very small hard to see area. One positive is both sides are very consistently creased.

 

Crazy,
Wonderful job. Looks great to me, as I really like to see self inspired projects
Be proud of it.
Alex

 

That looks pretty "SUPER" to me, I did a '67 Chevelle once, I know it was work and it was straight.

 

That's beautiful work. I've got a new dash pad, but I'm gonna bookmark this for later. Thank you for sharing your talent.

 

Nice job
I was wondering about the cracks showing up without filling them in.
I think it was in the 80 - 86 truck area or was it projects? Someone posted they just did a fix on their 8? dash pad following a BMW site dash fix.
He used plastic weld to fill in the cracks to just below the surface then used a filler to bring it up level. Because he was going to paint it it had to be level.
I think if you filled in the cracks with something then your covering would not sink in and show up.
Just wondering what might happen when it gets hot and the covering gets soft will it sink inmore?

On my 81 that started a whole lot worst then yours I tried a few fixes on that failed for me.
My next "fix" is the blanket & fiber glass rosin you see on Youtube to see how that works out.
But I had a 2nd dash not as bad and I went with a dash cover.
Once installed it is hard to tell it is a cover unless you look for it.
Dave ----

 

These trucks are in the neighborhood of 50 years old. My opinion is you did a “spectacular job “

 

Thank you for all the positive feedback.

 

Thank you for the feedback.

I considered filling the cracks but didn’t want to spend time over fixing this thing to the point it was worse after than it was before. I figured a fair amount of glue would make its way in there to serve as a filler anyway.

In this particular example the edges of the cracks were slightly raised… If you look close enough that is what can be seen rather than vinyl sinking down into the crack. This was so subtle that again I risked making things worse by trying to fix it.

I suppose only time will tell how this holds up. The vinyl is rated for UV exposure so hopefully no issues for a while. The reality is nothing lasts forever. If it lasts ten years it’s beaten my expectations.

 

I hear you on the raised edges and not sinking in for showing the crack.
One of the repairs I seen takes that raised part off with a die grinder so that dose not happen.

You know you always learn from the first one what to do on the next one like the corners and the folds.
Still a great job and you get to say you did the recover not farmed out to a shop.
Dave ----

 

nice job I went with one of the cheap plastic covers,,,,,,I like the result

 

That’s nice too… how thick was it? Do you have any other pics of this (installed)? Brand? How did you adhere it?

 

I jumped on it as soon as LMC c

 

its an LMC product that I gave a try,,,and it worked over a blue dash,,its around 3/16 thick ,came with adhesive ,been in the truck maybe 5yrs,,,,looks new