Cracked Dash Repair 101*

[Npulver]

Hmmmm good job but I feel if you have to remove the dash and reinstall, you mind as well put a good dash in. If only you could do something like this without removing the dash...this would be a good alternative.

You can certainly do this without removing the dash, i was removing the dash anyways, hence why i did it out of the vehicle. If your going to do it inside the vehicle you'll just ahve to tape off and cover things you dont want to get overspray on (I.E. everything)

[reelizmpro]

Hmmmm good job but I feel if you have to remove the dash and reinstall, you mind as well put a good dash in. If only you could do something like this without removing the dash...this would be a good alternative.

[noE30]

damn that turned out good. nice job

[Npulver]

went outside and took this real quick

[Npulver]

sanding and painting the next day would probably help get everything superflat.

it looked really good until it cured.

I didnt wait long enough for the texture to cure, so 75% of the texture was knocked off when i sanded. Didnt notice until i got it in the light the next day. Guess thats my fault for doing it in my basement under crappy lights.

[Npulver]

I guess there really was no rhyme or reason for superglue and baking soda other than thats what i read to use.

This is the finished product installed in the car.




You can see where it was repaired, but looks a hell of a lot better than a crack, thats for sure.

Funny thing is, the reason i originally pulled the dash was to fix the speaker wiring that was botch up, yet i still havn't ran new wire lol. Hence why the glove box is still off.

[AT-JeffT]

I've seen quite a few dash repair tutorials most usually use some sort of plastic bumper epoxy (semi-flexible rated) What was the benefit of using superglue and baking soda?

[Kershaw]

sanding and painting the next day would probably help get everything superflat.

it looked really good until it cured.

[N2MYE30]

That does look pretty good. I may hafta try this...one day.

[iwantspeed]

Nice job

[assblaster]

Any more pics of the finished product? Interesting and nice way of saving $200

[Npulver]

Next long post to the rescue!!!! Finally got a chance to refinish the dash (not as well as i had hoped) Followed the entire process for if someone wants to try themselves (can be done much better than i did, but it was my first try...o well.)

First you must start off with your supplies, I have the majority of them pictured here. (dont mind the guns lol...)

Shop towels
Super glue
Some kind of cleaner (i used armour all wipes)
SEM Texture
SEM Paint (i used Landau black)
Painters tape
Razor blades
Rubbing alcohol (used to clean of the greasy residue of the wipes for final prep)
Baking Soda
Painting mask/respirator



How the dash started.





next step is to create a V in the crack so you have more area to add material and to try to get it to smooth out easier when your all done filling.



Next tape of the areas so you dont get more than you need to on the dash (here you can see all the little crack spots)



By now everything should have been cleaned well enough (otherwise the painters tape wont stick well)

next, i put a single coat of super glue int he crack as a starting point.



After that dries put another squeeze of super glue in the crack and sprinkle some baking soda in the crack (It builds up and hardens.)



Afters building it up it will look similar to this.



Note: While adding the super glue and baking soda together make sure you have the razor knife handy to scrape the baking soda flat, anything higher than the dash will need to be sanded....and super glue SUCKS to sand.

Next comes the sanding once the baking soda and super glue have hardened.




Another Note: Doing a dash repair is VERY much like body work. Even the tiniest bump will show up like a sore thump, so make sure its SMOOTH!

Next give it another really good cleaning and mask everything you didnt take out so it doesnt get painted (unless for some reason you want trim to match your dash.)



Next comes the spray texture, how much texture you want depends on you, i did 3 coats all about 2 mins apart.

At this point the dash looks flawless (i though it smoothed everything out PERFECT....)





After this coat dries, you need to do a quick sand on the texture to give it an even flattened look. Directions on the can say use 400 grit, however i used some 1000 grit i had laying around.



Clean up the sanding.



Then next is the paint! Almost done!



This is what it looks like in the morning cured.



Few Ending notes: If i can do this, anyone can. This was my first attempt, didnt come out perfect but it was worth a shot. As i said previously your sanding is the MOST important thing to making this look good!

It you have a crack that is larger than my cracks you can also used rubberized silicone to fill the crack, paint and texture will still adhere to this (i imagine its easier to work with, but is not sandable, so you must be perfect upon application.

Hope this helps guys!