Bondo question

[midwest]

I am thinking a bout repairing my dash before I drop $400 plus on a new one. If it works great, if not then I'll buy one. Watching a lot of youtube videos I see a lot of people using bondo. Some fill the cracks with it and many people end up putting a skim coat on the dash and basically treat it like body work, block sanding it etc. I have zero experience with body work and more specifically bondo. Does bondo adhere good to the dashes and does the cured bondo hold up decent in this application?

 

[fast 99]

Regular body filler will not work. It is hard, dash is flexible and expands / contracts. There are dash repair kits and I tried it once. Wasn't happy with the results.

Bought a replacement supposedly high-quality dash pad for over $500; fit was beyond horrible. Have since ordered from USA1. The feedback here is good on those. They are months out filling orders, haven't received it yet.

 

[Grit dog]

FWIW the dash pad (new) I bought from the The Truck Shop fit pretty well IMO. Only complaint is the fit is a little tight around the gauge bezel. It is a Counterpart vinyl wrapped dash pad.
@midwest From the repair videos I've seen, the bondo is used to skim over after filling in any of the splits with something like spray foam. I wouldn't expect good adhesion to any of the vinyl surface.
One guy on here did the spray foam/bondo and then wrapped it with a stretchy suede looking fabric, glued down. It looked awesome!
Theres a local upholsterer out here, Corbin Upholstery I believe, that rebuilds dash pads. Dunno price, as he wouldn't post that on FB, but another option.
One option I would have considered had I known about it when I purchased mine a couple years ago.

 

[midwest]

Thanks for the info. I am going to look around to see if anyone local does them. I've seen some with bondo to just fill the cracks and some with a complete bondo skim coat.

 

[DoubleDingo]

Maybe try flex seal? Not sure you can paint over that stuff, but it might work.

 

[bucket]

There are several products that you can use to make a terrible dash pad look presentable for very little money. But it would be wrong to call them "Bondo". Bondo is a brand name of some very low quality plastic body fillers.

In the past, I have used 3M Polyester Glaze to fill the cracks (after prep work, of course) and then coated the dash pad in an aerosol bedliner spray. It wasn't show quality for sure, but it was cheap and when people looked into the truck or got into the truck, they didn't say "golly, what the hell happened to your dash" as they did before.

 

[SirRobyn0]

@midwest Check out this thread, it's basically a tutorial on repairing a dash pad.

LINK>>> https://www.gmsquarebody.com/threads/how-to-refurbish-your-dashpad.8614/ <<<

 

[CheemsK1500]

The glue on cover lay covers aren't perfect but they're probably the best you can do without buying a new dash pad. The spray foam method works, but it takes a lot more effort. These old soft dash pads do not age well and are hard to save once they get old and brittle. I saw one that got leather wrapped and looked awesome, but that would be more expensive than just buying another dash pad.

 

[82sbshortbed]

@midwest Check out this thread, it's basically a tutorial on repairing a dash pad.

LINK>>> https://www.gmsquarebody.com/threads/how-to-refurbish-your-dashpad.8614/ <<<

I say this one here. Mr clean posted a video on page 10 or so that's really good to show you how to install the plastic cap that's under 200 bucks. I got one at the house and I'll be doing what the guy in the video is doing when I get the truck back from the shop.

 

[midwest]

Thanks, I've seen that link. That is what got me to the bondo. After reading through that thread I went to youtube and more people were using bondo or fiberglass than were using spray from.

 

[Ricko1966]

This is for someone with a lot of time and some fiberglass skills it might be worth making a mold and making fiberglass skins with the grain and you cover an old dash pad and paint it whatever color you want

 

[CheemsK1500]

Thanks, I've seen that link. That is what got me to the bondo. After reading through that thread I went to youtube and more people were using bondo or fiberglass than were using spray from.

As stated earlier, it will work but a soft dash needs to be able flex, since it contracts and expands based on the outside weather. Fiberglass and plastic fillers are liable to crack in this sort of application since they don't expand like the rest of the dash, that's why the spray foam is suggested.

 

[Dave Arends]

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I just purchased a coverlay one and from the top it doesn’t look to bad. But the lower edge and around gauge bezel you will be able to see old dash. It is not full installed in picture just pushed on to check fit. I’ve seen and read that USA1 industries and Cheyenne pickup parts have the best after market dashes. Been told by many that having the original professional wrapped is the best way to go.

 

[Grit dog]

As stated earlier, it will work but a soft dash needs to be able flex, since it contracts and expands based on the outside weather. Fiberglass and plastic fillers are liable to crack in this sort of application since they don't expand like the rest of the dash, that's why the spray foam is suggested.

Yet polyester filler (“bondo”) is exposed to the same temperature extremes and manages to expand and contract close enough to the rate of steel expansion when used in its normal application?

 

[bucket]

Yet polyester filler (“bondo”) is exposed to the same temperature extremes and manages to expand and contract close enough to the rate of steel expansion when used in its normal application?

Yes, I used it (3M Polyester Glaze) for years repairing plastic bumper covers. It has the ability to expand/contract as well as flex. To a certain point, of course. Below 0* in the winter and who knows how hot on a black car in August. When I used it on my dash pad, the filler was really only exposed to the original foam and vinyl.

Can't say I ever remember using polyester glaze to repair an actual dent on steel, just fixing minor imperfections in repairs done with a standard type plastic filler.