Cracked Dash Repair 101*

[craiggroves91]

My buddy told me one reason the dashes crack in e30s is because the engineers made the dash a little too big for the car so when the chassis flexes it cracks. I think thats what he said, not sure if its true. IDK

[///M42 sport]

dude, can you provide closeup pics of your repair? kinda pointless to do a writeup and have pics from 10 feet away

[kmarei]

The only problem is what you used to fill in the gap
Super glue becomes very hard when it dries
Which means the next time the dash expands, the super glued part won't expand and you'll get more cracks
I used a black silicone tube from home depot
It's called " red devil premium elastomeric acrylic latex sealant"
It stays resilient after it dries
And it's black so it won't show through the black paint like the baking soda

[Aonarch]

Ty!

[The München Monster]

Wonder what it would look like if i did this but painted it brown to match the vinyl interior of my E30

[aTron12]

Bump!

Anyone know if there is a way to treat a good dash so it doesn't crack? I replaced my dash a few years ago and it cracked when the weather got really cold.. and then another during the summer in the hot weather. I imaging that the cracking comes from expansion and contraction of the plastic. Gah!

[Npulver]

Any word on how well the dash repair is holding up? Are cracks reappearing or does it still look good?

Still looks exactly like it did in my finished picture :D

[getouth]

Not bad for less than $50.00 and a few hours. Good Job!!

[ColdAccord]

Looks better than cracked that's for sure. I can see doing it when dashes are pricey, 240z dash for example goes for $800-1000 uncracked, last time I pulled one it cracked on the way out, same thing happened to my uncle last year.

However e30 dashes typically trade at the $80-100 level, may be a worthwhile investment for others (I know you said yours was out anyway, I understand your reasoning).

Here's an in-depth how-to from a 240z guy,

http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/thread23919.html

to

[303e30]

Any word on how well the dash repair is holding up? Are cracks reappearing or does it still look good?

[bimmerkarl]

I wonder if Gorilla Glue would be a good alternate filler? I just used it to repair a surf board ding; it expands into a rigid foam, and if you tape over it with blue tape, the expansion is controlled. Sands beautifully when dry, and I would imagine the glue would hold together the two sides of the crack to help prevent further opening over time.

if you used Gorilla glue and stop-drilled the crack (to keep it from growing) I bet it would work Perfectly! I have been waiting for a break in my job to repair my dash... and was debating using epoxy or fiberglass resin... but Gorilla glue might be the best alternative.. any idea what kind of temperatures Gorilla glue can withstand? the Dash gets HOT...

[wikkid]

I wonder if Gorilla Glue would be a good alternate filler? I just used it to repair a surf board ding; it expands into a rigid foam, and if you tape over it with blue tape, the expansion is controlled. Sands beautifully when dry, and I would imagine the glue would hold together the two sides of the crack to help prevent further opening over time.

[ecuastyle84]

Great DIY! Came out really good.

[randomsv650]

really not bad for your 1st attempt. when painting anything, prep is key. we painted my car and its far from perfect, but happy to say my dad and i did it ourselves on the cheap. good learning experience. i bett you could scrounge up all of the used cracked dash's and refinish/sell them when you get good at it!

[Robotin]

This was my first time, and go to find out its very much like body work, every imperfection will show. It can be made to look better, but frankly this is about showing the process more than it is critiquing my work. lol


"pfahls1

I like the look of the texture coating by itself. Would there be any harm in just doing that and not painting it other than it may not match the rest of the interior color? "

i dont really see the harm in it, however it'll be a flat black color.

sorry. i guess that came out bad. what i meant by that. was it seemed that u put alot of work into it. and i can still see the crease on it. and i that would bother me if i had done all that.

i guess i would feel better if u could see one that was done this way that came out perfect.

would make me more open to trying it.