I wish I would have seen this before my attempt, but here is mine..........

 

Nice job, Em! My own dash panel needs a similar treatment, so I'll "borrow" a few of your ideas and give it a try. I have no speaker in the dash anyway, so why do I need that ugly bunch of hole? The smooth dash looks so much better.

Repped

 

FAR OUT!!!

This is quite a trick.

However ...

I'm more into utility then I am looks ... It occurs to me that there is a LOT of wasted space in one of these trucks ...

I wonder if I could trim out that hole and find some sort of pan or bin or something ... and fit it into the hole ... the fill the hole nicely with filler as you did.

I measured the area and a pan or ... something ... 6" X 7" ... and maybe an inch or two deep will fit nicely. Whatever pan I found would rest on the speaker mount.

Just a bin to toss stuff into.

Whatever I use ... it would have to be non-reflective and be able to stand up to the heat of the sun.

Just a thought ...

oddshot

 

Has anyone thought about a pop up 7 inch dvd player with the top of the player painted to match the dash?

 

This is a GREAT idea ... do you have a picture of one of these things ... or an idea where I might look at one.


I wonder how it would stand up to the heat ... I got a boom box that has a CD player in the top ... I use it when I'm working outside.

One day after working outside ... I found that the door warped from the direct sun on it. It still plays but it ain't right.

A CD player mounted up there would be in the sun all the time.

oddshot

 

Wal mart has the DVD players for around 100.00. They are made like a laptop computer and about an inch thick. you could run all power wires right under the dash and play your movies through your stereo speakers.
I am sure it is illegal to use while driving, unless you swivel the screen towards the passenger. These units do swivel.

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/produ...ct_id=10980580

 

Like I said ... my Ford ain't about good looks ... as much as its about utility.

There is SO much space in the cab of a Ford does goes to waste!

anyoldways ... as per all your hints and tips ... I cleaned up the dash ... cut the hole ... braced up the bottom of the dash with fiber glass around the hole ... mounted it back in the truck ... taped and masked every thing off as I wanted ... greased up the tray ... and filled it all in with foam.

The old speaker mount acts as a support for the bottom of the tray.

I let it cure ... pulled the dash back out ... removed the masking , cleaned off the grease ...

Now I'm gonna fill in the cracks with bondo. I'm gonna use bondo ... to make the hole the tray fits in pretty ... then I'll paint the whole thing.

A tip ... there were a couple of spots where the dash covering was cracked and loose ... to anchor that down ... I lifted up the edges ... and filled under them with "Goop" adhesive. I "clamped" it down with duct tape and let it cure.


When I CAREFULLY removed the duct tape ... the Goop held the cracks almost perfectly closed ... nice and solid with NO FLEX. You almost couldn't see the crack.

Then I took a drill with a 1/8" bit ... and drilled a hole at the very end of each crack ... this SHOULD keep the crack from expanding.

Then I took my Dremel with a grinding bit ... and ground a "V" shaped grove following the crack ... do give a good site for the Bondo.

Then I block sanded along the crack ... to make SURE that every thing was FLAT.

Now I'm gonna go ahead and put in the bondo filler.

Check it all out ... put down a second coat where needed ... sand prime ... install.

I'll post the pictures when done.

 

what paint did you use? any primer?

 

is your pan going to extend that far above the dash? i was thinking, more flush

 

hey oddshot, how did the dash end up looking?

 

for those of you that repainted how is your painting holding up to the sun close to a year later?

 

Smash I've painted my door panel with the same paint, its not been close to a year but... One panel was soaked, dropped on concrete, and scratched a few times, and is always seeing the sun and still looks great. (No peeling, flaking, scratching, etc) Its the cleaning, and primer thats most important in the long run.

 

I totally agree. Any refinishing job only holds up as well as the prep work that goes into it, before the finish is applied. This holds true for wood, metal, plastic ECT...
The quality of the finish product only matters if the proper prep is done. Even the best finishes won't last on a poorly prepped suface, but low quality finishes will last longer on a properly prepped surface.

 

My word of advice is to use better quality filler than 'Bondo' brand, there is a big crack in my repaired dash pad where I filled a smaller crack. The filler was too brittle to hold up. Still looks fairly decent though, the other spots are still holding, and the color is holding up nicely too, despite it being cheap Krylon Fusion paint instead of SEM.

 

all is still well for me! no far no scratches, cracks or splits...now remember i'm in coastal cali so it only ever gets about 85 here...we hit 90s only about 2 days a year