Dash pad repair

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adriner

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If you a cheapa$$ (or thrifty as I like to call it) like myself you'd rather spend 300 bucks on something worth 300 bucks and not a dash pad. I came up with a way to make your own and only have about 4 hours into it. My Initial budget was $20 and I didn't even spend that much! Here's how I did it

Step 1 - remove old dash pad

Step 2- cut off existing vinyl and foam (or burn it off with an acetylene torch like I did) and get down to the metal surface

Step 3- buy a can of spray foam and spray a small layer of foam over the metal. Getting the thin pieces around the defrosting vents is tricky. Let the foam dry

Step 4- once dry cut the foam into desires shape or use an airboard with 80 grit to cut and shape it. Once again this is very tricky and also REALLY MESSY!!

Step 5- get a piece of vinyl and cut and sew it to fit. Yes it is a pain in the balls but its doable

Step 6- once you get it fitting the way you like take spray adhesive and coat the dash then stretch the homemade cover over top

Step7- wrap the ends of the new vinyl up underneath the dash and some how fasten them, i used short panhead sepf taps. But be creative and do itthe way you want

Step 8- install new pad and spend the 280 bucks you got left on somethin else

Ill have a pic up tomorrow
 

muddyman184

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Cant wait to see this
 

jt1200r

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i guess hes still waiting for the glue to dry
 

hinkv10

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I'm really want to try this myself. Pics on how you screwed the cover onto the pad would be helpful. How much overlap on the sides and how you sewed it up would be helpful. Thanks
 

MrMarty51

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I think a hand stitched dash cover would be great.I would like to see pics, too.
 

chubble

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I'm happy to see someone else experimenting with the dash pad. I did something along these lines with mine a couple weeks ago.

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oopsman_09

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so doing this
 

HotRodPC

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If you a cheapa$$ (or thrifty as I like to call it) like myself you'd rather spend 300 bucks on something worth 300 bucks and not a dash pad. I came up with a way to make your own and only have about 4 hours into it. My Initial budget was $20 and I didn't even spend that much! Here's how I did it

Step 1 - remove old dash pad

Step 2- cut off existing vinyl and foam (or burn it off with an acetylene torch like I did) and get down to the metal surface

Step 3- buy a can of spray foam and spray a small layer of foam over the metal. Getting the thin pieces around the defrosting vents is tricky. Let the foam dry

Step 4- once dry cut the foam into desires shape or use an airboard with 80 grit to cut and shape it. Once again this is very tricky and also REALLY MESSY!!

Step 5- get a piece of vinyl and cut and sew it to fit. Yes it is a pain in the balls but its doable

Step 6- once you get it fitting the way you like take spray adhesive and coat the dash then stretch the homemade cover over top

Step7- wrap the ends of the new vinyl up underneath the dash and some how fasten them, i used short panhead sepf taps. But be creative and do itthe way you want

Step 8- install new pad and spend the 280 bucks you got left on somethin else

Ill have a pic up tomorrow

We don't pull no punches around here. Cheapass works just fine. Of course that depends one's definition of Cheapass. I won't skimp quality to get by cheap. But this certainly looks well enough to be much cheaper than the alternative. The other advantage is customizable options. This is great.


Repuatation Given !!!
 

HotRodPC

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I'm happy to see someone else experimenting with the dash pad. I did something along these lines with mine a couple weeks ago.

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Nice Addition to this thread. Is your instruction about the same??? Anything different or variable you might add?

Thanks for the Pics. Reputation Given here too. So your GMSB Cherry got popped !!!
 

89Suburban

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Self tapping pan head screws, got my attention. :D
 

adriner

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It's by no means perfect but I'm happy with how she turned out. You can see some loose edges but that can be tucked under during inylstallation
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