Dash options: opinions ?

[Greg D.]

I currently have 2 cars with questionable dashes. The 72 911 has a growing crack near the speaker hole and the 69 912's is utterly destroyed and hiding in shame under a plastic cap. I had hopes of getting a spare cracked dash repaired (epoxy) and recovered in leather... The upholstery guy shot that down saying it would take fiberglass to guarantee a stable repair... My options are therefore:

- Take the cracked spare I have and have it glassed and recovered: $750
- Take a shot at it myself: has anyone had long term success???
- Buy a new dash: $1900 or so ? NOt gonna happen for the 912.
- The shop found me a perfect used one, looking new: $1000
- Upholster the dash cap ;-) Cheap...

Not asking for an opinion on a choice so much as one on pricing... Is $1000 for a used clean dash a decent deal? It seems high to me but I am out of touch. I may not buy it for the 912 - leaning towards the cap, as it's not gonna be a concours car - but if you guys think it's a fair deal I might buy it and stash it for the 911, which might be a concours type car someday and will need sooner or later... Or am I crazy because the Lakewell dash looks good enough or other repros are in the works ? Just want an opinion on the smart choice...

[wachuko]

You have nothing to loose with trying to fix it yourself... I did and the results were great. Epoxy the cracks, sand down to a smoth surface and recover with a piece of cow skin... A lot easier than what I thought... if I could do it, you can too... Total bill was something like 110.00 (leather taking about 92.00 out of that bill)...

I bought a cow, well 18 sq-ft of it for 92.00, a can of 3M 80 spray adhesive... and here is the result. I have a leather covered dash!! Yeah baby!!







Mind you... that is the second dash.. The other car we just got had an old spare dash... I tested the repair/recovery process on that one first as it was in worst condition than this one...only thing to waste was a good piece of leather (68.00).

This is the dash. I use some Bondo flexible epoxy (Bumper and Flexible Part Repair). That is the black stuff you see. The red stuff was my first attempt with some putty (not flexible so it sucked for this repair). I got rid of all the red bondo putty before covering with leather... but forgot to take a photo.

Since this was a test, I forgot to take photos along the way. The amount of time the adhesive gives you is not enough to drop what I was doing to take photos...



and after covering with leather. Used some 3M 80 adhesive. Strech strech strech, pull here, pull there, clean glue... cut at angle, strech some more. Turned out to be a bit easier than what I thought.

After: I now have a second dash covered in leather, woohooo!







And installed in the car... 1974 RSR 3.0 tribute

[Greg D.]

Nicejob Wachuko, really, wow.. you have me convinced to try on the spare... One piece ? The transition from the flat to the instrument cap does not unglue itself ?

That said, has anyone got an opinion on that $1000 almost-NOS-but-not-quite ? Worth acquiring as a spare or excessive ? I have 2 of these cars now, might as well start hoarding *if* it makes sense ;-)

[wachuko]

Nicejob Wachuko, really, wow.. you have me convinced to try on the spare... One piece ? The transition from the flat to the instrument cap does not unglue itself ? ...

Short answer, no. The glue does not allows it to come off... and you will be amazed at how much you can stretch the leather around the curves... I started with the center line... where the flat part met with the dash cap, then glued the flat area, left the dash pad area for last, just for the same reasoning you presented... sprayed some more glue on both surface (dash pad and leather), waited a few, and started to stretch and cover the dash pad area. Leave the cutting of the excess leather for last... don't try at first to cut the leather close to fitting... not worth it and you just run the risk of coming short on one end due to how you start working the dash... yes, I learned that one with the first dash

I say, go for it!

[NorthernThrux]

If it's not going to be a concours car, then I'd say fix it yourself. Cover with the right vinyl or leather. You can't go wrong. If it is going to be a concours car, then originality is important and you should get the almost NOS, assuming it is a two piece one (separate speaker grille).

I've bought 2 dashes in the past 4 months. A very nice one from dC Auto that was damaged in transit (packed badly). I'm still fighting with them to refund my money. It's been 3 months since the postal service claim was filed and in the mean time they won't refund my money even though it was their fault. It was $800. And I bought an almost perfect one from someone here or on the Bird for $1250. Both were without the speaker grille. So that's what they are going for these days and you know they'll only get rarer. You'll do better than the stock market if you can buy one and stash it away for a while.

Ravi

[steve shea]

IMHO leather is a very cool option. In fact the factory leather dashes have a seam as they are sewn in two parts along the break. Tony at Autobahn does leather with the seam like the factory did 73 and earlier at least. I have owned a 72S with a factory leather dash. If Iwas redoing one I'd go that route.

[gsjohnson]

Wow I'm impressed! I already bought a crack free dash for my 68, but I may try this on my 450SL.

[LongRanger]

. . . to dash repair


Wonder how this one 's holding up

Leather . . . .

[Drewshepard60]

I currently have 2 cars with questionable dashes. The 72 911 has a growing crack near the speaker hole and the 69 912's is utterly destroyed and hiding in shame under a plastic cap. I had hopes of getting a spare cracked dash repaired (epoxy) and recovered in leather... The upholstery guy shot that down saying it would take fiberglass to guarantee a stable repair... My options are therefore:

- Take the cracked spare I have and have it glassed and recovered: $750
- Take a shot at it myself: has anyone had long term success???
- Buy a new dash: $1900 or so ? NOt gonna happen for the 912.
- The shop found me a perfect used one, looking new: $1000
- Upholster the dash cap ;-) Cheap...

Not asking for an opinion on a choice so much as one on pricing... Is $1000 for a used clean dash a decent deal? It seems high to me but I am out of touch. I may not buy it for the 912 - leaning towards the cap, as it's not gonna be a concours car - but if you guys think it's a fair deal I might buy it and stash it for the 911, which might be a concours type car someday and will need sooner or later... Or am I crazy because the Lakewell dash looks good enough or other repros are in the works ? Just want an opinion on the smart choice...

IMHO leather is a very cool option. In fact the factory leather dashes have a seam as they are sewn in two parts along the break. Tony at Autobahn does leather with the seam like the factory did 73 and earlier at least. I have owned a 72S with a factory leather dash. If Iwas redoing one I'd go that route.

Do you have Tony'Stewart contact information?

[RSTarga]

Autobahn interiors.com for Tony, (not Stewart).
If you choose leather, always put a towel on it when in the sun, it tends to shrink. That’s why the factory quit offering them in the US.
I had one in my 81 Turbo and the towel trick kept it in nice shape.