lgoodson@pacbell.net Posted October 26, 2009 Share Posted October 26, 2009 I just bouhgt a dash for my 240Z today. It looks good and at first glance you don't see any cracks but if you look real hard you will see the start of some cracks along the windshield trim. The car had been sitting for years under a carport down by the beach but I wonder Does any body know how to stop the cracking from getting worse. Is there some kind of adhesive that could be used to strenghten the future crack points? Would Armoral help the plyabilty and therefore help resist cracking. IT looks good now but what can be done to stop the spread? Thanks Larry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cockerstar Posted October 27, 2009 Share Posted October 27, 2009 I have the same exact situation in my Z right now. I armoral'd the entire dash, and covered it to keep the direct sunlight off of it for the time being, but I'm looking for a long term solution to keep things from getting worse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ritrebor Posted October 27, 2009 Share Posted October 27, 2009 That's about all you could do as I believe it's the foam under the top layer of the dash that is hard and brittle and is starting to split. Just redid my dash and after about 10 times I got all the cracks out. They start out small and start to split wider. Not a lot you can do to stop that. ritrebor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lgoodson@pacbell.net Posted October 28, 2009 Author Share Posted October 28, 2009 Well if it's the foam that is the problem then why is it spliting and drying out. I have the dash out of the car right now so could something be done to restore the moisture or flexability to the foam. Some one in the upolstry repair industrey should have some information on this. Would maybe steaming it help or injecting some type of lubricant into or through the vinyl. There must be something we can do to retard this problem. I've heard pros and cons on Armorall but I have had good results with it but I want to research it before I apply it the my Datsun dash, But I did have a 85 Chev Silvarado with a Charcoal dash that after a few years I noticed that the charcoal was getting lighter, as if it was oxidising. It was almost medium grey at this point. I thought it was ruined but a I applied some Armorall and it looked better but not quite right. But I noticed after a few weeks, to my suprise, the dash looked like new. Completely restored so I came to the conclusion that Armorall has some preervative qualities. This dash had never had tjhe bennifit of a sun screen in the window and the dash looked great when I sold the truck after 9 years of owenership. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ritrebor Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 When I was fixing my dash I found that my foam was hard and brittle. Probably from years in the sun and age. The foam would split and start to separate and would start to split the outer vinyl covering. Short of replacing the foam I guess you could make the outer vinyl as soft and plyable as possible. Here is a youtube video showing how they redo dashes. ritrebor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJBrian Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 I was told that actual armor-all is bad because is contains alcohol and it will dry it out more. Might would to look into that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lgoodson@pacbell.net Posted October 31, 2009 Author Share Posted October 31, 2009 That youTube video was very interesting, There is a lot of good info there if you want to repair your vinyl. Thanks for the link. From reading some of the links there, I believe that the cracks can be repaired. There is a person here locally that does that I believe. I will be talking to him and let everyone know if it can be done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ritrebor Posted October 31, 2009 Share Posted October 31, 2009 Thanks keep us informed. ritrebor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ritrebor Posted November 2, 2009 Share Posted November 2, 2009 Forgot to mention. When I was reparing my dash I kept getting new hairline cracks while I was working on it. I thought tightening all the mounting screws would keep everything secure and tight but I was wrong. I took out all but 2 mounting screws to let the foam dash float on the metal subframe and it seemed to eliminate new cracks from forming. ritrebor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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