I'm covering my entire interior with tweed anyway, but I thought I would share a cheap, decent looking fix for those of you with a cracked 78 to 82 model dash. This is something you can do in a few hours time, it looks good when finished, and it only costs about $35

My dash had a small crack above the speedometer and I just couldn't see spending $400 on a whole new dash when it was just a small crack. I tried the vinyl repair kit and it looked like crap, but it did level the crack. I was planning on going tweed anyway and while I had it out to install my new wiring harness I figured it was time to go ahead and do it. It turned out great. It actually looks better up close than in the photo.

Here's what I did. I went the the local fabric store and bought some black tweed. Medium weight is what you want, the heavy is too thick and the thin is more like fabric than tweed. it cost $22 a yard and 1 yard will do the dash. It comes in 60" lenght. The local parts store has 3m super adhesive spray in a can $12.

I laid out a few peices of newspaper and taped them together and sat the dash on it upside down and traced out a pattern of the top of the dash, cut it out, and laid it on top to make sure it right with the curvatures. Transfer this to the tweed and cut it out. Turn the pattern over and cut a small strip about 3-4" wides to the same curvature stopping on the pattern where the dash screws to the side by the doors. Place the 2 peices tweed to tweed and sew them with a sewing machine. I borrowed one from my mother. Anyway just sew the seam following the curvature about a 1/4" from the edge.This was my first time with a sewing machine, it was easy, if you don't want to tackle it I'm sure you can find someone to sew it for you. The seam isn't really necessary but I think it makes it look better and its easier to cut the bottom piece with it that way. Now on to the short piece that goes down the front of the dash, just use a roll of 2" masking tape and tape it following the seam. Cut the bottom piece with sharp scissors (so it doesn't fray) and you have your cover.

Clean the dash good. I used some dx 440 solvent that I had laying around but alcohol will work. You just want to get rid of the silocone. Remove the covers, speakers, and defroster vent next. Spray the top of the dash from the back towards the front. The spray is easy to control this way and doesn't get where its not supposed to. Let it sit for 5 min and spray it again. Even thin coats. now turn the dash cover you just made inside out and spary a light coat on the back side of the tweed. Go ahead and grab it at the corners and lay it on top of the dash and fold the 2" strip over the front. Stretch, pull and adjust till it is tight and smooth. Clean any adhesive with solvent now (it won't come off later) Let it sit and dry overnight and then cut out the holes and replace the speaker, covers, and defroster vent.

Yes it's a little bit of work but not everyone has $400 for a new dash. By the way the rest of the interior pieces cover the same way. That's what I'm doing and it's looking great. I can't wait to get it all back together and put in. Here's what the dash looks like

 

That's awsome, got any bigger pics?

I've been planning to do that with mine, except go with vinyl and leather. I've just been putting off the ugly job of dash removal as long as I can stand the small cracks!

I'm also planning on carrying it all the way down, to include the glove box, etc.

 

Well done! Looks great!

 

hey that looks fantastic.....excellent job!!! Will you post some pics when the interior is complete?

 

Is that the stuff the made lesiure suits out of?

Anyway, the picture looks good.

 

Looks great, thanks for the detailed steps.

 

i did my whole interior...might switch out to black once i get some cash rollin again

b

 

Your door panels look awesome! How did you get the material to conform to all the curves. Exactly what material did you use?

 

I love threads like this (no pun intended) ...You should start a bizness with that idea..

 

I like the fact that they took their old stuff and made it into what they wanted instead of just buying the part or hiring it done. Great work fellas!

 

Great work - nice to see posts of work accomplished with prolific talent rather than prolific dollars. BTW, anyone know of the UV/sunlight resistant characteristics of a neoprene material like they make wetsuits out of? I'm thinking seat covers (and now maybe dash and door panels) in a roadster - bring on the surprise thunderstorms!

 

the trick for doing the doors/curves is to start at the lowest point and work out...... find a spoon with a round handle end and use that to help contour into the corners....... the tweed is just a mesh so it will conform around alot of things.... just have to make sure you dont pull tooo much tension on it or it will screw you all up...... i cut where the trim parts went and i also wrapped a few fender washers to help hold the door panels on....the velcro snaps arent worth 2 cents........ i also just painted my trim black to go with the "theme" i was working with at the time........the inside of the notch for the door stricker, i just folded up a piece and glued,tacked it in place...... if you tweed ends up tooo tight in the end, it will tweek the door panel a bit and might be a pain to get to fit.......... just take your time..... took about 25 mintues per door once i figured it out....... my brother in law helped me through it and taught me a few tricks.......tweed is the way to go..... looks nice and has that old school hot rod look to it.......

and use a spray glue...yellow in a gallon....should have iit at the upolhestry stores....get a cheap spray gun also and spray both the panel and the material as you go.......just make sure you watch the overspray of the glue......and not tooo thick cause it will ooze through the tweed

b

 

 

ohh and on the ends where u have an outer corner (upper left/right, lower left/right)....instead of overlapping the materials...... pinch the sides together and cut off the excess then use a lighter to sort of melt the end together a bit...... looks better than 3-4 thicknesses of overlapped material.....

b

 

Looks great...........
The way I see it
The more people that change their cars from stock to....... whatever.... the higher the prices go on stock Corvettes like mine
Thanks to all of you

 

I really like those interior ideas. I just went to the Hot Rod Power Tour and those interiors just killed me this time around. Its like I have seen the engines and the paint, now I want a Corvette interior with the look those show cars had.


Thanks



http://www.mycarframes.com

 

bob...

all i need to do is repaint and switch out my interior back to stock and mine would probably worth more than yours.........

since i rebuilt the whole car myself.... and took me about 3 years


nice way to toss in a smart azz remark btw.........

to each his own

 

I really like that idea, especially on the dash, to reduce the sunglare of the vinyl reflecting onto the windshield. If I can ever get out from under the car and into the interior, I will definately look into that!


John

 

It wasnt a smart a$$ remark... its a fact
Sorry if I offended you...

ps: I seriously doubt a day will ever come when a 77 is worth more than a 73 in showroom condition thats also 95% original

 

Thanks for all the compliments guys, I'll take more pics of some of the other pieces later today and post them.

Onaqwst- That's radical Looks cool. I'm sticking with the more or less stock theme. I'll be doing brushed aluminum plates for the gauges and console areas and changing out to ultralites. Nice work. My door panels will be a little more challenging. I'm pulling the skins, taking the stitches apart and sewing it back with piping. Well actually I'm geting help with the sewing part. I can sew a straight line, but I'm not ready for all that just yet.


Bob onit- Thanks for the compliment.The C3's are the most customized corvettes that there are. I'm sure one day they will be real collector items, but I doubt it will be in my lifetime. I didn't buy it for an investment anyway. I like the curves and I love to drive it. I bought this car bone stock with 64000 miles on it. Call me crazy if you want but it's mine and I like to personalize my cars to my taste. To each his own. If you want your perfectly stock that's cool too. The C3's are beautiful both ways. If your really into investment bone stock cars the C1 or C2's would be more in line for you.