3ZR DIY Dash Repair
 

So, for my Father's Day gift, my wife and daughter gave me a full day off to play with my cars. Well, I chose to attack the peeling leather dash on the ZR1 that was annoying me and slowing getting worse as the summer heat started to climb. I searched the CF forums and found this is a common issue with 3ZR dashes. Make matters worse, they are not available anymore from dealers. So, brought the car to my shop and got started at 11:30am and the dash was out of the car before 1:30pm. Not too bad of a job to remove the dash on a C6. This was my first one and if I had to do it again, I now know some shortcuts to do it a bit faster.
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...e8eb2db63c.jpg
Leather was peeling/bubbling up by the defrost vent. Started off not too bad but got really bad in June when the heat came around.
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...3bb6a0e0e1.jpg
A couple of weeks ago, it started lifting on the passenger side. A bit embarrasing pulling in at a cruise night.
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...879706cb53.jpg
In about 2 hours I had the dash out without much difficulty.
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...f4c70eea88.jpg
There it is. Ready for inspection and DIY repair. I peeled back the leather and it came off almost effortlessly. The real reason these 3ZR dashes fail is due to a lack of adhesive applied at the factory. When I pulled back the leather in the center, near the defrost vent, there was VERY LITTLE adhesive applied in that area. I applied acetone to the base vinyl dash to clean up old loose glue and thorougly prep for the new glue. I used a product called Dap Wellwood Landau Top and Trim Adhesive to reglue the dash.This stuff is what the pros use and it's very strong so use with ventilation and wear a mask. I used a brush to apply the new adhesive. This part of the process took about 1-1/2 hours.
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...850343688e.jpg
It took another couple of hours to re install the dash and components. No extra screws or nuts left over. Looks great! So far, I'm happy with the results.
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...f524acaa27.jpg
I've owned the car since December 2019 and the dash has never looked so good! I hope it was all worth it and it won't peel anymore. Wish me luck, lol.
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...52af7b7bf9.jpg

Nice job!!!! Came out great..

Good stuff man. It does look very good.

You could do this on the side lol, i dont have what it takes to tackle that kind of job, I was very fortunate to get a new dash from GM and installed by a dealer. My ventures wind up costing more to fix what I have done than the original problem. Mine has been good for several years. Hats off to you and looks perfect.

That looks great! :thumbs:

Outstanding DIY Work & Great repair!!

Come to Tampa and do mine

That looks great

It's hot up here in Toronto now but maybe I'll come to Tampa over the winter:)
Besides, I can't cross the border due to the damn Covid BS.

Well done buddy - should I see issues with, I now know who to call locally

Hey Lello, your car is mint and very low mileage. We gotta go out for another cruise soon.

Wow that looks fantastic. Great job! How much glue do you use and where do you apply it? I mean, do you paint a layer of glue or just make a strip near the perimeter? Do you have to clamp it together while it dries or what?

I'm next in line if he comes to Tampa! :D

Fantastic job man! Looks great. Need to get this done on mine, but no way I'm comfortable tackling removing the entire dash.

I brushed on the adhesive sparingly in sections starting with the passenger side curved area. Apply the adhesive to the underside of the leather(suede) as well as the vinyl dash. Cover both surfaces entirely and keep them separated. Wait about 10 minutes to dry before resetting the leather to the vinyl dash. Once the stuff is tacky (8-10 minutes) and you attach the leather to the dash, it will bond to itself and cannot be reset if you make a mistake. The edges of both the leather and dash also need coverage. Hope that helps.

I wish you would have done a step by step video. Steve you can spend the quarantine time in Tampa repairing dashes. I know at least five guys that need it lol

Great job! I count myself fortunate that my 3LZ dash still looks new but am dreading the day when I’m sure it’ll start to come apart. Considering I’ve already taken apart the interior a time or two, glad to know this won’t be too difficult should I need to tackle it down the road. :thumbs:

Excellent job. If you have time, could you list the steps in order? Such as 1) disconnect battery and wait 10 minutes. 2) remove center console 3) remove steering wheel airbag and wheel, etc? If there are any hard to get to screws or special tool required (such as short wrench, long extension, etc) this would be very helpful.

We re&re dashes at work on occasion because we work on some collision cars and the passenger airbag deploys. I watched the video below and got some idea where not to waste too much time. Honestly, it's a 5 or 6 on a difficutly level.

Good write up! Mine started to bubble a little on top part and where it says corvette on passenger air bag. I bought the car like that knowing this is somewhat a normal thing with these dashes. My car rarely sees direct sun and I have the cover craft dash shade that I put out if there car goes out doors. I too get annoyed seeing it every time I take the car out. I was thinking removing the windshield. I don’t have the skills or tools to remove the dash.

Bumping this thread. Think i'm finally going to tackle my peeling 3LZ dash in the next few weeks. Anyone repaired their own dash in a similar fashion? I emailed my local upholstery shop a picture and he told me the whole leather dash piece would need to be thrown out and a new piece made which seems a bit exessive. Think im going to try re-gluing myself.

Covid's over. Come to Tampa

I spoke too soon! :willy: Less than a year after posting this I had to take out my dash to fix the leather.

One of mine is just starting to come up a little bit in one spot. I didn't notice it until it was pointed out to me recently since it's still small, on the passenger's side, and way down close to the windshield. When I have it redone I'm thinking about doing the main part of it in alcantara to match the rest of the interior. This will fix one of my small peeves about these cars in that the dash is shiny and reflects brightly off of the windshield which is very annoying in certain light. :nonod: The alcantara is, of course, very flat and most decidedly NOT shiny. :thumbs: Gonna have the dash threads (including the "CORVETTE" on the passenger's side) done in red to match the rest of the interior's threads as well (already had everything else done).

Very nice. One of the wheels fell off the top of my glass shower door today. I walked into the garage 5 times to get the tools needed to fix it. Lifted the door off the track and then spent 30 minutes looking for the screw to fix it. I had the screw in my hand 30 minutes before. Just had no idea where I placed it.

Just like you, no extra parts laying around. I only needed 1 screw to fix the door. 😎

Great write up and insight

What happened to the video?

Got my dash out.

don’t be fooled. It’s twice as long as the 2 hour job indicated in this thread. But got it fixed. Dash looks great. Dreading having to put it back in. Been sitting for two weeks cause I’m in no mood to deal with that pain in the ass. That said. It was worth it to not have to look at the bubbles dash.

Nice :thumbs: Took me about an hour 40 to remove it taking my time labeling and bagging all the nuts/bolts/screws. Took me & my 12 yr old son about an hour 15 to put it back in. I did have to admonish my son as we found a month later he forgot to fully tighten the 3 bolts holding the glove box in :lol:

Did you fix it or someone else? How was the repair done?

Corvette Tuner in Tampa
 

Im hearing if the leather has shrunk to much, it cant be stretched back to position and you have to buy new leather. Anyone know where to buy the new OEM leather?
Phil
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took it to a upholstery shop. They did say that it may have shrunk and that they may not be able to stretch it. I told them to do the best they can and that cost was a non issue. They ended up spraying with something to relax the leather. They were able to stretch it and put it back to stock. Looks great. They glued the hell out of it and stapled it to hell for good measure. only charged 300.00. I was happy.

id call Apsis.

Apsis will not sell just the cover, they'll sell you the whole dash with the cover. I have asked them to sell just a cover.

I bought one of JF Customs suede covers off ebay. They didn't have the right color I wanted (Relicate Alcantara 9002 which is the OEM suede color GM used). I bought a black one. I since decided I don't want black. I never installed it and took it to a local upholstery shop and they said they could use it as a template so I am going to get a couple of yards of the correct color and have one made. I am not going back to leather since the issue just seems to repeat itself after a while.

Hmm, I wonder what that "stretch" product was. Looking to tackle mine in the next week or two.

Didnt they changed slight over the years because of speaker location.

Yes, 2012-2013 have two extra dash speakers. I have a 2013 dash to install in my 2009. I have the wiring diagrams and the dash speakers piggyback off the upper door tweeters. I also bought some aftermarket speakers that will fit in the holes (maybe some creativity will be needed but I am up to the task).

The only difference I could tell between the two years were the speaker holes and corresponding holes in the dash cover.

Here goes nothin. Got a gallon of the glue to attempt to repair and re-glue myself.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...a1927a7b23.jpg
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...c8969228f5.jpg

Let us know how it goes!

Well done! I have taken my dash off and 2 hours is about right.

I did mine about a year ago. When I finished putting it back together with the new dash I said to myself I'm never doing this again. It was not fun.

Did you repair yourself or bring it to a pro? Hows it holding up?

I brought mine to an upholstery shop here in Naples. They deal in lots of high end cars, so I trusted em to do it. Pulled the glass and did it. Give you lots of credit for takin that on!

I did it myself. It still looks great. My dash wasn't an easy one to find, dark titanium with blue stitch and I have the little speakers on the left and right side. I'm hoping they used a different glue on the replacement dash.

Which shop did you bring it to? I live in Estero and brought mine to a naples upholstery shop that does hi-end cars (cant remember their name but they are located close to naples dodge) when I had the drivers bolster repaired and they did a great job, but a few years later when I brought it for the dash they did not seem to want to take it on so I did it myself with the new dash.

Boom. Done.

Before:
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...471520d195.jpg


After:

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...35ee2169cb.jpg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...c61e8776bb.jpg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...e813850e15.jpg


Came out way better than I thought I could get it. Looks absolutely perfect. Added some staples in hidden edges to add some strength as well. Got the dash back in last night in about 2 hours. Takes a little longer for me since I have aftermarket guages, boost control and lots of associated wiring. Just need to vacuum and clean up and job done.

I used DAP weldwood adhesive and an $8 seam roller I bought on amazon. I'll have a video up on my youtube channel documenting the process in a bit more detail.

Very nicely done. Looking forward to the video. Mine doesn't need it (yet), but it would be nice to have in my back pocket for when/if the time comes. :cheers:

That came out great !
Take a trip to Tampa to do mine!

I took it to Ted and Son custom upholstery.
They are on Enterprise Dr.

Great job! Like brand new!

Quick shout out on your videos. Really really enjoy them.

Back on topic, my dash leather is a mess and I’ve been wanting to fix it. I really want to flock the dash instead of fixing the leather because the leather is so reflective and flocking can look really good. If anyone reading this has considered doing the same please share what you’ve learned.

Here’s my inspiration, Jake Rozelles C5 Z06:


https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...6c408b0cc.jpeg


https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...5da9224b9.jpeg

Went back just to ask for you. Lexol Leather conditioner. Rub it on. Let it sit for 30 minutes or so. He told me to put that stuff on my seats too. Good stuff.

Except your seats aren't leather. They have a plastic coating and the "conditioners" don't do anything.

joy. It is what he used in the dash however. I’ll be sure to keep it off my seats.

An easy way to tell (with the dash also) is to put a few drops of water on them. If they sit on top, plasticized coating. There's a really good example of this difference in the C8 Z06 forum where a member posted pics of their Ferrari 458 and their new Z06. The Ferrari has real leather interior, even the ridiculously expensive Z06 has cheap GM plasticized "leather".

Mai it’s not leather at all. Pleather is what it used to be refered to back in the day.

but like t it just be just real but cheap leather witha protective coating?