My '81 is a fine daily driver and I'm not interested in a complete restoration or even in pulling out the dash. But I'd sure like to repair the ugly large cracks in the vinyl.
It seems that there should be a paste or something that could be used to cover over broken vinyl, maybe even requiring a little sanding and paint.

Anyone find a solution? I just want it to look decent.

 

I never had luck with those fillers. Haven't even seen them in a while. Maybe there are better ones out nowadays.

They do however, make those abs skins that you can paint and put right over the top of the factory dash pad. I have seen some of those that you can hardly even tell they are there. They just stick on over the original dash pad. They are made to look just like the oem dash when done and I think are around a 100 bucks.

Tip if you go this route: paint with lacquer paint or dye, for that satin oem finish. Also some of the abs covers are nicer than others. Look for the kind that actually wraps into the vents and contours. Some of the cheaper ones just have the holes cut out flat and you can see the edges after they're installed.

You wouldn't put one of these in a show car of course, but for a driver they are quite convincing and if done right, can look just like a new dash pad with minimal labor.

I had one in an old Trans Am until I found a good used pad, and to the untrained eye, you'd would have swore it just had a mint dash pad in it.

Good luck.

 

Go to Home Depot/Walmart/auto parts store in the paint department and look for something like vinyl fusion or vinyl weld. I don't remember the exact name. It was a couple of small tubes in a package. One is a cleaner and the other had some goopy stuff in it. It went on pretty easy but made more of a mess than I was ready for. I should have taped off the surrounding areas like you would for paint. I repaired several cracks on the top edge of the dash and now I am the only person who can see them. Another friend of mine bought one of the carpet dash top covers and just hid his cracks since they were just on the top.

Before you get one of the covers do a lot of research. I remember reading stories where the guys hated them.

Bill

 

One of the dash covers came with my Vette and now hangs on the garage wall. It slides off the dash on acceleration and tight cornering. I have not found a good way to fasten it down without glue.

 

Agree on the covers. Mine was not in a C3 or vette altogether, But it looked great. Doesn't mean they are all that good but a C3 top pad is pretty simple. The one thing I didn't think about was, that the dash pads sort of form their own unique shape from years of sunlight, etc. Mine sort of curves up a tad near the outer corners. Its not noticeable, but I could see that it might cause a fitment problem with one of those covers, if they are molded exactly after a brand new pad. Maybe this wouldnt be a good option if the pad had changed shape a tad. Hmm.

Also I mentioned the better ones that wrap around and into the vent edges. This type would actually be held in by the defroster vent which would have to removed to install the pad.

As far as fastening, I would recomend the 3M two way trim tape. It holds trim on at 100 mph, so I guarantee it would hold the cover on. Its easy to remove too, when needed. The key is to make sure and clean the surface with a prep sol, or alcohol or similar. I've found over the years, that anything with adhesive, 3M is the only way to go. Even masking tape when doing body work. They are the best.

I wondered if there was a decent filler out there. I've used some of those, and they never worked as well as claimed. But its been several years ago. Hows the texture? Do you press a piece of scrap vinyl into it when tacky to try and recreate the vinyl grain? Do they come with something or is it not really even neccesary?

I'll have to keep that stuff in mind in the future if it actually works.

 

I also went the repair route. Bought some sandable adhesive made especially for bonding plastic auto parts. Think it was 3m or SEM or something like that. I removed the dash from the car, spread ahesive over cracks, sanded, sprayed texture on, painted entire dash. It never looked right. Tried it several times and finally broke down and bought a new dash from Wilcox. I've heard the dash pads are junk. Even the guy at Wilcox said he sells them but he's always getting them returned. I think he's a pretty honest guy too so he's not just telling me that to sell me a more expensive product.

 

I have tried the little vinyl repair kit that consists of a white paste and a variety of color add-ins. It was crap. Still looking...

 

you might just try finding a used pad or hold out for a new one. If you can find a decent used one on Ebay or something, I had good luck with the color correct dyes that Corvette Central sells.

 

We have used the "Repro" late C-3 dash pads, they were always JUNK. Now we suggest a good, low-wear used one or a cap, until the vendors start making a better product.

 

I have one of the plastic caps. Save yourself the money. It's the biggest piece of shyte of put on my car. Wish I had never spent the money on it and justed saved up for a new dash. I hear really good things about the dashes from al knock.

 

how about this:

1. wrap the dash in thin fleece and staple it tight on the underside.

2. thin down fiberglass resin with acetone

3. paint the thinned resin all over the fleece - soaking it

4. thinning it less and less paint 4 or 5 layers of resin on it

5. sand it smooth

6. paint it to match your car

this seems to be the new hot rod thing to do to cars - fiberglass the dash and make it match your exterior paint.

just one option....

 

The quality of the new dash pads must have gone way downhill. After my dad bought the '77 back in the early 90s, one of the first things I did was replace the dash top - the old one was so broken you could fold it in half. The new one has looked great for over 10 years now, and it fit well. The only problem I had was the opening for the defroster vent, and that was a relatively easy fix.

 

No, 77 and down are very nice, 78 and up...

 

Which dash mat do you think is the best? Some are held on with velcro and will the adhesive backing harm your dash when you try to take it off?

 

I don't know what level of quality you are looking for but I'm happy with my pad I ended up winning on ebay for $44.00 including shipping.
It's called a dash pad coverlay. They have one on all the time. Right now there's one #7993816261 . I bought one and it was damaged in transit and he took care of the replacemnet no problem.
I suppose this isn't good enough for some but I'm happy with mine.

 

Then there is the nostalgic "Bubba" look----throw a piece of lime green **** carpet up there--BINGO---no more cracked dash pad

SEMPER FI--1970 Dave

 

Looks good Guppie.

This is the type of cover I was refering to in my original reply on this. Some evindently have had good luck, while some havent. Must be better manufacturers than others, or better years as stated above. I'm not sure which are better though. But definately not noticeable to the untrained eye. Looks like a new oem dash.

Definately looks good for 44 bucks!

 

I reskinned mine; I was not as tough as I thought it would be. The skin is pre formed so most of the work is done already. The instructions say to install it over the existing pad but I had big cracks with valleys in them, so I carefully peeled all of the old covering off. Then I bought some of that spray expanding insulation at the hardware store and filled the valleys with that. After it dried I used a new razor blade to trim off the excess and make the surface as flush as possible. The next step was to test fit the skin, leaving it in place I rolled back one side and sprayed 3M adhesive and laid that side back down, repeated on the other side and let set up and dry. Next I flipped it over and trimmed and glued the underside, let dry and used a heat gun to shrink up any areas that were baggy or not following the contour. The hardest part of the whole process was removing and reinstalling the dash itself.
The end result was really good and it looks like the factory dash that is in perfect condition. Oh and if you do this, save some time and just buy a new defroster grille, because the old one will look like doo doo in the refurbished pad. (ask me how I know that)