BitchinZ Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 (edited) This is part of my '77 280Z refurnish and turbo motor swap. I bought the car in Oregon and brought it to So. Utah. One thing I just finished was the dash restoration. When I got the car it had the plastic dash cap glued on it. When I peeled it off it was completely cracked underneath. Well, it took tons of time but it turned out better than I would have ever thought. This is my first time doing a dash and I was very happy with the results. This is the most recent pic of the car, taken a couple months ago - Peeled of the dash cap to see what was underneath. I almost gave up immediately - I started picking at the rotten foam - Using a Dremel I beveled out all the cracks flush. This is the most important step. Some of them I had to bevel out several inches. Any crack I could pick material out of I dremeled out. At the end of all the small cracks I drilled a circle so they wouldnt spread. Stupidly I didnt get any pictures of the beveling. I then had to fill the cracks. First I tried the expanding plumbing foam but it sucked so I dug it back out. Then I tried this NAPA bumper repair kit. NAPA doesnt make this anymore but theres a guy on ebay selling it. I ordered two kits but only used a little of the second one. It says its flexible but it dried very hard - This is what it starts to look like after sanding on it - I had to sand it down and feather it using a sanding block and my fingers. It was a pain to sand and took me several days. I used 80 grit to knock it down then 100 for most of it shaping the lines and contours. After I finally had it contoured and sanded smooth I left it in the 90 degree sun for a couple days to see if the material would change shape but it didnt budge. So then I sanded the entire dash with 200 grit, wiped it down with wax and grease remover and then taped it off. I used Duplicolor truck bed armor from Autozone for the coating. It dried tough and has a nice pebble texture to it. I first bought Rustoleum truck bed coating from Walmart but didnt like the way it sprayed out on a test panel. I used a full can of the Duplicolor, 4 coats - Final - Ive had it out in the 100 degree sun for the past few days, so far so good. And the guages it will be getting, Speedhut Revolution series - Edited June 14, 2014 by BitchinZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RB26powered74zcar Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 Nice job! I agree, it turned out bitchen... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HI OFECR Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 Nice job keep us updated on how it holds up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daz Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 Me Likey ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leon Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 Nice work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dershum Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 What is the texture on the bed liner like? Is it like "scratch your knuckles" rough? Or is it more rubberized? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BitchinZ Posted June 3, 2013 Author Share Posted June 3, 2013 Its tough but it wont hurt your knuckles. The pebble texture almost matches the OEM pebble texture. The cap on the can is pretty accurate of what the texture feels like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nelsonian Posted June 4, 2013 Share Posted June 4, 2013 Well done there Bitchin! Gives me more ambition to get off my lazy but and fix my extra one as I have all the SEM products ready and waiting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SUNNY Z Posted June 4, 2013 Share Posted June 4, 2013 Hope yours holds up better than mine has. I used a similar technique, and mine is cracking. I'll be laying down some glass over everything next time its out. Looks good. Duplicolor bedliner is good stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miky_ Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 I tried it with SEM products and mine came out looking like shit LOL. Kudos to you! Did you use an electric sander or just by hand? I have no patience for hand sanding anything lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Domzs Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 Great job ! Keep us updated after installation and usage . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metro Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 I just spent the last week working on my dash (was suppose to only take 1-2 days, that was really optimistic). My dash was pretty far gone, cracks every 10 inches, and I ran out of the SEM bumper repair epoxy on the second crack, so I just used JB Qwik weld for the rest. It seems like they cure to about the same hardness but the SEM bumper coating is definitely easier to sand. My dash had split on either side of the middle gauges and there was about 1" missing. I put some tape across the bottom and used Great Stuff to fill in the missing sections. I carved and feathered it back and sealed it with epoxy. This was my second go at filling the cracks. The first time around I didn't put anything over the top of the new foam aside from glazing putty and I found that the new foam expands much more than the dash so I had lots of high spots when the dash was warmed up. Sealing it with epoxy seems to have completely fixed that. I didn't think of drilling out the cracks, that would have been a great idea.. I was really unimpressed with the SEM texture coating, it didn't really give much of a texture and it was kind of a pain to keep it consistent. I went for a Duplicolor Bedliner, not exactly the same stuff as BitchinZ used, I think it was the cheaper version. It's high build so it gave a nice texture and filled in all of the scratches from sanding. I topped it with the SEM Trim Black and it looks really, really good. I was kind of in a rush to get my Z back on the road, so I didn't do some things as nicely as I should. I'll probably have to revisit this in the future to fix a few things, but for a few days and $40, it looks a thousand times better than it ever did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh280z Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 pics? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ritrebor Posted June 7, 2013 Share Posted June 7, 2013 When I did mine, cracks would show up in a few days. Redid it about a half dozen times. What I found out that worked for me is to take out all but 4 of the screws that hold the dash to the frame. Once the dash is installed, it isn't going anywhere. Hasn't cracked in 2 years now. ritrebor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rome03 Posted August 22, 2013 Share Posted August 22, 2013 Bitchinz, I'm interested in doing the exact process that you did. It looks great! You know how the dash kinda flares up where it cracks, is this where you beveled it down to match the rest of the dash's height. Did u also bevel out the rotten foam, which made the crack larger, then filled it in with the bumper repair? Also, what do you mean by waxing and greasing? You sanded it and waxed it.....what about the greasing? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NgoZ Posted August 23, 2013 Share Posted August 23, 2013 Also, what do you mean by waxing and greasing? You sanded it and waxed it.....what about the greasing? I think he meant Wax/Grease Remover. As for beveling, I would bevel and cut the edges down and make sure everything was smooth with no sharp edges. Depends on how large your cracks are you may need to reinforce them to give the foam something to "grab" onto. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rome03 Posted August 23, 2013 Share Posted August 23, 2013 I think he meant Wax/Grease Remover. As for beveling, I would bevel and cut the edges down and make sure everything was smooth with no sharp edges. Depends on how large your cracks are you may need to reinforce them to give the foam something to "grab" onto. May need to reinforce what? You shave down the sharp edges, clean out rotten foam, and fill in with the bumper stuff right? Then after it hardens in place you sand it. Im confused, what did you mean by reinforce "them" to give the foam something to grab onto. What is "them" Sorry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NgoZ Posted August 23, 2013 Share Posted August 23, 2013 (edited) Sent you a PM to avoid hijacking BitchnZ's thread. Edited August 23, 2013 by NgoZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BitchinZ Posted August 23, 2013 Author Share Posted August 23, 2013 (edited) Bitchinz, I'm interested in doing the exact process that you did. It looks great! You know how the dash kinda flares up where it cracks, is this where you beveled it down to match the rest of the dash's height. Did u also bevel out the rotten foam, which made the crack larger, then filled it in with the bumper repair? Also, what do you mean by waxing and greasing? You sanded it and waxed it.....what about the greasing? Thanks. Yes bevel everycrack down and out so its a little lower than the good areas around it, so when you fill it and sand it down its all even. Mine looked like Vs but curved way out at the tops. I took out bad foam but it didnt go very deep until the foam changed color into good foam. If there are any pinholes left in the bumper repair after you sand it down, fill them again or else they will show up when you spray the bed liner on. The bed liner wont fill them. After all your sanding is done wipe the whole thing down with Wax and grease remover before spraying the liner on. The dash still looks like when I finished it, still holding up fine. I got a tech fabric dash cover(looks better than the carpet ones) off of ebay to put on the top, just to keep heat off of it. Edited August 23, 2013 by BitchinZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BitchinZ Posted August 23, 2013 Author Share Posted August 23, 2013 I thought about reinforcing one or two areas with wood screws with the heads cut off but I didnt. If your cracks are wider than mine were you might try something like that. NgoZ no problem post away, these threads are for disscusions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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