walkerbk Posted September 13, 2016 Share Posted September 13, 2016 So as all good stories start out... so, there I was... After sitting out in the Texas sun for all these years, my dash had bit the dust, many cracks had become small canyons and had been filled with RTV by the previous owner. While I had the car apart for my LS swap, and my dash was out for my Speed Hut Gauge install I figured I would rebuild the dash. I had heard many people say they just "fixed" the cracks and went with it, but I wanted to make something that would last so after reading about how I could cover the foam with fiberglass, I decided to give it a try. Removing the old PVC crap was easy work with a heat gun, the whole thing took less than an hour. after that, I spent a few days coating it with fiberglass... BIG MISTAKE, DO NOT USE FIBERGLASS. Let me explain this; first, in the case that you are ever in a car crash, your face would be met by a very soft plush fiberglass wall... not good. Second off, living in Texas, I am assuming that it had to do with the heat, the dash had bubbled and cracked within a few weeks. So what was I going to do. I spent many hours with the heat gun removing the fiberglass and many more hours patching the foam with spray foam. So I was left with a uncovered foam dash with very few options. I could cover it with leather but that to would have problems in the heat over time. So I was on the hunt for something that would flex, handle heat, and be cheap to buy. I found a few people had success at patching parts with bumper repair and then it hit me... CAULK. I know I know you are all thinking I have spent to many nights in the garage with the car running, but after a hour of walking around Lowes, I bought a few things of exterior caulk and took them home to be tested. After testing them all, I found something I like, Liquid Nails Extreme Heavy Duty. It spread somewhat thick, but it leveled out a little to reduce brush strokes. It is paintable, flexible, heat tolerant, and can fill gaps up to 3/8". so any flaws could be filled in plus it is sandable. I used a cheap trim brush from walmart (its the red one in the attached image) and it worked very well, I also tried using a regular paintbrush that I trimmed the end off to make it stiffer, but this didnt work as well. I think I trimmed it to short. I have put four coats of this on the dash and it has become somewhat thick (maybe 1/8" thick on avg). I can push my fingernail into it and it will flex but return to normal. I started painting it tonight but do not have any pictures of it at this time. So, I might be crazy, but I fell this is going to work much better than the fiberglass. Let me know what yall think and I will keep yall updated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samurai7one Posted September 16, 2016 Share Posted September 16, 2016 Well I'll give you an "A" for out of the box thinking, as well as effort. Let's see some painted pics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
71240z1957 Posted November 9, 2016 Share Posted November 9, 2016 Love to see the finished product. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MRGierut Posted March 22, 2017 Share Posted March 22, 2017 Interesting..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walkerbk Posted March 25, 2017 Author Share Posted March 25, 2017 Sorry it has been so long, I forgot about this post. Well it survived the lovely texas winter and we are now getting into the 80s and low 90s so we will see how the summer goes. So far it is looking great for what I did. I am sure if I spent more time on it, it would look much better. I believe that the 2 things that I didn't do that I should have is. 1, sand it down better. The caulk is sandable so you should be able to get a smooth finish. 2, I think that you could probably add water to the caulk to thin it out to make it flow over the dash better. This would remove the brush strokes. Again, overall I am very happy with it and I have had to tell everyone that has ridden in the car that it is not original (they aren't really car guys though). The attached pictures don't really do it justice but here they are. If anyone has any questions let me know. Btw, the reason I did this is because the fiberglass cracked. Plus if you are ever in a wreck, a fiberglass dash is not what you want to hit your head on. After the summer, I will be redoing the rest of the interior. I will be applying great stuff foam and sanding it to get the exact shape I want and then doing this over it instead of vinyl. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grannyknot Posted March 25, 2017 Share Posted March 25, 2017 Well, that's quite... unique, kinda reminds me of Fred Flintsone's ride. Are you going to sand it down to shape and cover or spray it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BJSZED Posted March 26, 2017 Share Posted March 26, 2017 Beauty is in the eye of the beholder...definitely A for effort and for trying something new. Maybe in a safari type car ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tim.d Posted March 26, 2017 Share Posted March 26, 2017 I have had to tell everyone that has ridden in the car that it is not original (they aren't really car guys though). Well at least you have polite friends Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walkerbk Posted March 26, 2017 Author Share Posted March 26, 2017 Hey now, as I said, the pics don't do it justice. There have been several times that I don't even notice that it's not stock. If I find a decent one at a junk yard now that I know this will work, I will go back and redo it, but until then this one stays as is. She might be ugly, but she has an LS under the hood. Maybe one day she will get a nice coat of paint. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Merrill Posted March 26, 2017 Share Posted March 26, 2017 not going to win you any beauty contests lol. I would try and get another dash. The silicone try stuff just can never be smooth. In the end its your car, and if your happy, its all that matters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fyanrudger Posted March 26, 2017 Share Posted March 26, 2017 (edited) Sometimes new ideas don't work... Edited March 26, 2017 by fyanrudger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samurai7one Posted March 29, 2017 Share Posted March 29, 2017 First thing that came to mind: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walkerbk Posted March 30, 2017 Author Share Posted March 30, 2017 you guys are killing me. It's the fact that it's just the photo that looks bad. The dash really looks a lot better than the photos show. Here are some during the installation. These are more of what it really looks like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Medic8 Posted April 1, 2017 Share Posted April 1, 2017 I applaud your effort and as every photographer knows, lighting is everything. I wonder if that flex seal liquid would flow over, just a a cover, to smooth it out.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samurai7one Posted April 3, 2017 Share Posted April 3, 2017 Or maybe some chia paste, like this: https://youtu.be/K0dyH8ZqYVU Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nelsonian Posted April 3, 2017 Share Posted April 3, 2017 Or maybe some chia paste, like this: https://youtu.be/K0dyH8ZqYVU Tough crowd here! Got to admit though I like the Scooby and Shaggy chia pet though. Like Zoiks Scoob! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hcarrickz3 Posted April 3, 2017 Share Posted April 3, 2017 Anyone tried the Polyvance flexible dash repair kit? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MRGierut Posted April 3, 2017 Share Posted April 3, 2017 (edited) Anyone tried the Polyvance flexible dash repair kit? Yup. http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/127012-silver-1977-datsun-280z-project/ Dash repair is towards the bottom of the first page. Edited April 3, 2017 by MRGierut Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greeko Posted April 4, 2017 Share Posted April 4, 2017 the second set of pics look much better! I have started using hook and loop sanding blocks for my dash restoration. Made a huge difference for leveling out surfaces. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walkerbk Posted February 1, 2018 Author Share Posted February 1, 2018 This is to all you haters out there. In the hopes of improving the process I continued to search and attempt to improve my idea. After further investigation, I found that many people use foam for stage props and cover them with a type of material. this is called to as hard coating. there is many different types of coatings that you can buy or make. From my searching, the most common that I found was a mixture of latex paint, latex caulk, and joint compound. the paint thins the caulk and the joint compound hardens the surface. these three ingredients can be mixed in any different amount to achieve a soft pliable or rock hard surface. I decided that since the surfaces of the car should remain flexible I would not add any joint compound. I mixed about 2/3 caulk to 1/3 paint. I used the alex siliconized latex paint since it is still paintable and coated the foam 3 times with a paint brush letting it dry 24 hours between coats and sanding with 60 grit sand paper in between coats. Also, the paint that I I used was satin and I had it tented black to help make it easier to paint. when mixed with the white caulk it was a nice grey. My first impression was that it was still laying on very thick and that I should thin it out but though the drying, it leveled out some and then the sanding helped. The third coat I should have thinned out a little more to help it smooth out the surface but through sanding I was able to make it pretty near perfect... but I will let you be the judge of that... As for the test piece. I have always hated the soft trashy visors that came with the car. I tried to remove it and make a new one out of vinyl but it was no better. In the end I removed it and glued two pieces of foam over it. In between the two pieces of foam is a 1/4 piece of cheap hobby wood. This did two things; one, it filled in the area that was taken up by the wire frame, two it added more stability to the visor. After that I filled in the edges with great stuff spray foam and trimmed down to the wire frame with a dremel sanding drum. The actual shaping was done with a sanding block and 60 grit sand paper. this ensured a smooth and even surface. In the end I am very pleased with the results. In the future I will be buying another dash to redue, and more than likely start recovering or making my own interior panels with this method. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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