Dash Pad Speaker Cloth Refurb
Thread Starter
Race Director
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 10,036
Likes: 346
From: Anaheim CA
Dash Pad Speaker Cloth Refurb
I have the standard Delco radio, so I have speakers in my dash pad instead of in the doors like the Bose radios have. I thought my dash speaker grille cloth looked gray instead of the black I thought it ought to be. When I took my dash pad out recently I took out the grilles and found that the edges were black. I put black shoe leather dye on them and it made a world of difference (and it also had a nice applicator -- you can't get this kind of bottle any more (real glass!) -- mine is ancient). Here's a pic. Note that the dyed part looks blotchy. That's because the dye was drying as I put it on but it all came out even and black after it dried overnight. The light parts are actually shiny because they are wet.
Pro
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 617
Likes: 17
From: Hamilton Ontario
Cliff...with the speakers in the dash from the factory...do you get any "sagging" of the speaker cloth?
What is under the cloth as far a support housing from the factory?
My 86 did not have dash speakers..so i put some 4x6's in the dash and cut out the plastic speaker grill housing with my jig saw. Dyed my old weathered "blue" speaker cloths--Put the cloth back on...stretched it pretty tight so i thought..looked good when i re-installed everything..now shes sagging in the middle a bit after a few weeks...doesn't look nice
Any ideas how to fix this issue?
What is under the cloth as far a support housing from the factory?
My 86 did not have dash speakers..so i put some 4x6's in the dash and cut out the plastic speaker grill housing with my jig saw. Dyed my old weathered "blue" speaker cloths--Put the cloth back on...stretched it pretty tight so i thought..looked good when i re-installed everything..now shes sagging in the middle a bit after a few weeks...doesn't look nice
Any ideas how to fix this issue?
Safety Car
Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 3,660
Likes: 22
These require some sort of a frame to support the cloth. No matter whats used,. laying across close to 6" in sun-lite and going thru hot/cold cycles will make anything sag eventually.
You might find an old dash pad, rob the cover plates and cut them out.
I also used another trick that I learned from younger days of home speaker repair/restoration. Spray paints that are plastics will stiffen the cloth and help it support itself better. Paint both sides just use caution not to fill in the tiny spaces between each fiber or it dulls the sound too much,. but a lite even coat on both sides makes the cloth much stiffer like starched fabric and the paint makes it weather resistant.
I also recovered the dash pad with a high quality faux leather with fabric back, fine or lite grained. Looks great, been in place 3 yrs + and saved me $500 for a new pad. Cost <$50 for fabric, 3M glue and some tacs to secure edges and around cut outs. Its a good weekend project to do both the grills and the dash pad and the end result transforms the car.
I was thinking of painting the door panels this week to get the clean shine look back to the interior. Those carpet panels on the doors and under-dash fade and tell a story of age...
You might find an old dash pad, rob the cover plates and cut them out.
I also used another trick that I learned from younger days of home speaker repair/restoration. Spray paints that are plastics will stiffen the cloth and help it support itself better. Paint both sides just use caution not to fill in the tiny spaces between each fiber or it dulls the sound too much,. but a lite even coat on both sides makes the cloth much stiffer like starched fabric and the paint makes it weather resistant.
I also recovered the dash pad with a high quality faux leather with fabric back, fine or lite grained. Looks great, been in place 3 yrs + and saved me $500 for a new pad. Cost <$50 for fabric, 3M glue and some tacs to secure edges and around cut outs. Its a good weekend project to do both the grills and the dash pad and the end result transforms the car.
I was thinking of painting the door panels this week to get the clean shine look back to the interior. Those carpet panels on the doors and under-dash fade and tell a story of age...
Thread Starter
Race Director
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 10,036
Likes: 346
From: Anaheim CA
No sagging. The plastic piece underneath supports it. The grille cloth looks like it was melted into the plastic around the edges of the plastic piece underneath. I couldn't figure out an easy way to describe it so I took a picture instead:
