Cascade Crew

Whiskeychick · Posted: Mon Apr 30, 2012 6:58 pm Post subject: Dash Repair.

Well, in light of Cows coming up I have got the bug for fixing up the GTA. Fired her up the other day, sounds so good lol Spring is finally here!!!

Anyways, My dash pad cracked, so I bought one of those cheap fix it kits from canadian tire (Think walmart has it too lol) to see how it went..... It didn't. So, now I decided to fix it properly!

Thought I would do a quick write up on it seeing how all fbody dash pads crack at some point no matter what you do.

Anyways, on to the pics! PS This might take a bit im in the process of doing it right as I type just letting things cure.

Now I got lucky with my crack, not only did it go from point A to B and cannot crack anymore, it did so in a straight line, but this repair will work even if you are missing chunks.

First I took a die grinder with a fine burr bit and grooved out the edges, you can see where I started at the top of the pic. The front of the dash I havent done yet.

Side note, All the plastic tabs broke on the back of the speaker cover because of a bad design so I took a 1/16th drill bit drilled a hole and i'm going to get little cotter pins or similar to hold them on from now on, for the time being a little piece of wire works.

Next, I sanded the area around the crack with 180 grit sand paper on a orbital sander.

Then, I used a product called Fusor 142. It is used in the shop for repairing rips in plastic bumpers, flexable but tough.

And now its cured.... Off to the next portion.

Whiskeychick · Posted: Mon Apr 30, 2012 7:13 pm Post subject:

Once the 142 is cured, I sanded it down with 180grit again, as you can see I had a few low spots so I scuffed in the low spots with 180 and applied a second coat to smooth it all out, then sanded that smooth with 180 grit once it was cured.

chevymad · Posted: Mon Apr 30, 2012 9:00 pm Post subject:

You forgot the finished pic! From the fb picture it looks like it turned out awesome.

Whiskeychick · Posted: Mon Apr 30, 2012 10:16 pm Post subject:

Workin on it!! lol

Anyways, once it was all smooth I put a little putty on it for a final smoothing, and sanded it down with 400 grit sand paper.

Once it was all smooth, I then put a coat of texture over the repair and blended it out (Sanding the dash with 400 grit sandpaper first)

And the final Result after a coat of paint...

Still not totally happy with the finish, so I think I might lightly scuff it smooth again and retexture and paint it.
But, Ta daaaa! Razz

flea · Posted: Mon Apr 30, 2012 10:29 pm Post subject:

That looks really good. Cool

Dewey316 · Posted: Tue May 01, 2012 6:55 am Post subject:

Looks great! This is exactly why I am storing a brand new dash pad, and have for many years... one day it will be usefull!

Schultzy89GTA · Posted: Tue May 01, 2012 11:41 am Post subject:

But that looks great and good to know it can be done. I actually might have other plastic bits that could use a similar treatment.

Thanks!

-Schultzy

Twilightoptics · Posted: Tue May 01, 2012 12:13 pm Post subject:

Wow. I've got two cracks in my Mazda that I'd love to give this a try on! The hard part is getting it out of the car :O(

Looks great!

Did you paint the whole dash? I'm curious how it's going to hold up.

QwkTrip · Posted: Tue May 01, 2012 3:01 pm Post subject:

Nice write up. Thanks! Cool

91RSVert · Posted: Tue May 01, 2012 3:04 pm Post subject:

looks great, I have 3-4 cracks in mine that need done.

RSFreak · Posted: Tue May 01, 2012 9:20 pm Post subject:

That looks great! Nice job! Cool

Whiskeychick · Posted: Thu May 03, 2012 8:47 pm Post subject:

not I didn't paint the whole dash. just the center section, but the paint I used is designed for the exterior of a vehicle and I actually painted it over a year ago still looks like new black, it had a uv protectant in it.
as for the fusor 142 if it fails my dash is the least of my worries! lol

algershick · Member Joined: 05 Jan 2012 Posts: 69 Location: Kent, WA

That's an impressive repair. My new GTA miraculously has a crack free dash, but my Z28 could benefit from this repair... in about 4 places. Laughing