I hope I get the picture links to display properly. When I acquired Big Bird, there was some significant damage under the glove box. a large crack on the top of dash, and several small "spiderweb" type cracks in the dash. Although I plan to get quotes soon to redo the door cards and recover the seats, I was also thinking of a quote for ideas to dress up the dash. I recently saw a YouTUbe video of a guy repairing a hole in a Silverado dash top using something that looked like white Bondo, sanding, and spraying the top. THe video quality didn't really show if there was any grain or not. Anyway, after watching the video and having studied Frugality 101 from Papa Tony, I decided to give the dash a try. I figured if it came out bad, I could always get a quote from a pro for ideas to dress it up. So, over the past couple of days, I worked on repairing the damages and new dash finish.
Below is a photo of the worst of the damage below the glove box.
I had previously picked up an El Cheapo vinyl repair kit and decided to see if I could at least do the vinyl repair with the stock brown color, not caring to custom mix the color. The first one (the right side damage) worked out ok. On the second on, the cheap a$$ heating tool screws popped out and the thing shorted out. I tried to finish with my wife's flat iron, but it wasn't good. Besides. the graining paper that came with the kit was different, so I figured I'd have to refinish the whole dash. After the repair kit, I tried some vinyl repair goop from Ace Hardware, that looked like Duco cement and pretty much only soaked into the foam underlayment. I then used the vinyl adhesive/filler from the kit to fill the voids. The stuff looks more like Elmer's white glue. Using a tool that looks like a shirt collar stay that you use to spread and scrape smooth ( index finger also works well), I prepped the damaged areas and lightly sanded with 400 grit paper. See photos below.
Damage below dash prepped.
Glove box corner prepped:
Cracked top prepped, photo 1.
Cracked top prepped photo 2
I realized that I coudn't replicate the grain pattern, so I decieded to use a $6.50 can of Krylon Wrinkle Finish paint I picked up at Ace Hardware. Although the color was supposed to be dark brown, it came out like dark charcoal. After starting, it was beyone the point of no return. My wife's interior designer friends (not my friends) would probably say that the color is complimentary with dark brown. Anyway here's some results.
Damage below glove box totally covered.
Glove box corner:
Crack on top of dash:
Unfortunately, the pix with the flash don't do justice to the repair and make the new finish look like heavy undercoating paint. In general the finish is a thin wrinkled finish that almost looks like gator skin in places. Overall, I'm pleasantly surprised with the finish. I need to do some addition resprays close to the windshield as it's a difficult angle to get in there to get a uniform coat of the wrinkle finish.
It's not perfect, it doesn't match the original grain, but it doesn't look too bad. At least close enough for government work. Anyway, it's a lot less expensive and less work than replacing the dash. I'll let you know how the additional sprays on the top of the dash close to the windshield work out. But this is one way to handle cracked and damaged dashboards.
Mike
Below is a photo of the worst of the damage below the glove box.
I had previously picked up an El Cheapo vinyl repair kit and decided to see if I could at least do the vinyl repair with the stock brown color, not caring to custom mix the color. The first one (the right side damage) worked out ok. On the second on, the cheap a$$ heating tool screws popped out and the thing shorted out. I tried to finish with my wife's flat iron, but it wasn't good. Besides. the graining paper that came with the kit was different, so I figured I'd have to refinish the whole dash. After the repair kit, I tried some vinyl repair goop from Ace Hardware, that looked like Duco cement and pretty much only soaked into the foam underlayment. I then used the vinyl adhesive/filler from the kit to fill the voids. The stuff looks more like Elmer's white glue. Using a tool that looks like a shirt collar stay that you use to spread and scrape smooth ( index finger also works well), I prepped the damaged areas and lightly sanded with 400 grit paper. See photos below.
Damage below dash prepped.
Glove box corner prepped:
Cracked top prepped, photo 1.
Cracked top prepped photo 2
I realized that I coudn't replicate the grain pattern, so I decieded to use a $6.50 can of Krylon Wrinkle Finish paint I picked up at Ace Hardware. Although the color was supposed to be dark brown, it came out like dark charcoal. After starting, it was beyone the point of no return. My wife's interior designer friends (not my friends) would probably say that the color is complimentary with dark brown. Anyway here's some results.
Damage below glove box totally covered.
Glove box corner:
Crack on top of dash:
Unfortunately, the pix with the flash don't do justice to the repair and make the new finish look like heavy undercoating paint. In general the finish is a thin wrinkled finish that almost looks like gator skin in places. Overall, I'm pleasantly surprised with the finish. I need to do some addition resprays close to the windshield as it's a difficult angle to get in there to get a uniform coat of the wrinkle finish.
It's not perfect, it doesn't match the original grain, but it doesn't look too bad. At least close enough for government work. Anyway, it's a lot less expensive and less work than replacing the dash. I'll let you know how the additional sprays on the top of the dash close to the windshield work out. But this is one way to handle cracked and damaged dashboards.
Mike
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