Dash Recovering Tips?

[John912]

I'm about to try recovering a 66-67 dash and was hoping someone who has already done it could help with some advice. After removing the cover and the thin steel band, it's clear on how it goes back together but doing it for the first time will be tricky for sure ... especially getting the rear section of vinyl (the one with speaker holes) secured to the front section, getting the steel band secured into the tabs, and then folding the rear section back over the metal band. Also, any suggestions for replacing the original horsehair padding? Words of wisdom from past experiences would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance

[super9064]

I'm with Tom on this one. There are just some things that are best left up to the experts. There is nothing "in your face " as much as the dash, I would want mine perfect.

[John912]

I was anticipating that response. Tony is a good man -- I have a complete red leather interior from him going in a Slate Gray 65 build 911, but I've been doing some other vinyl upholstery work on other P cars such as lower dash covering, door/rear shelf panels, rear quarter panels, window/door garnishes, A and B pillars, etc. and want to give the dash a try. Challenges are a good thing!

[Rotmilky]

That's what Sam Houston said at the Alamo.

Sam Houston wasn't at the alamo. Maybe you meant Davey Crockett.. Sam was too busy retreating at the time to get anywhere near the alamo. Who would have thought that the 7th grade Texas history I was forced to take would have ever come in handy?

John, I'm planning on attempting to recover my dash as a winter project (once the snows hit around here, working in the garage is too miserable). If you hold up a few months, I might be able to offer some advice...at least what not to do. If you do recover your dash, I'd love to see photos of how you go about it. Good luck in any event.

--Von

[super9064]

I was anticipating that response. Tony is a good man -- I have a complete red leather interior from him going in a Slate Gray 65 build 911, but I've been doing some other vinyl upholstery work on other P cars such as lower dash covering, door/rear shelf panels, rear quarter panels, window/door garnishes, A and B pillars, etc. and want to give the dash a try. Challenges are a good thing!

Good for you, why don't you detail you experience on a thread. Even Tony had to do it for the first time.

[buddeman]

Hi John,
I recovered my dash about a year ago, in addition to a full interior resto. Have a number of pictures I took along the process and would be happy to talk to you in detail about the experience (send me a pm if you'd like). But just a couple of things to jot down for the registry "record"...

First, some pics of the process:

Bare metal... horsehair still in great shape, so just got right into the process.


First step was to rough cut. Be generous


Overlap and glue with proper relief cuts to follow curvature, noting placement for speaker holes. Only put contact cement on the bottom side of the steel band - the top needs to be accessible for when you re-install with the tabs.


Then onto the main dash... contact cement vinyl along entire ridge where steel band will sit on top of. Extended around the tabs just to provide more area for 'bite'.


Then secure the steel-band based piece. By not cementing the top of the steel band, you can now bend the tabs back. With tabs back in place, provides extra strength for the pulling and stretching to come.


More to come...

[buddeman]

Additional pics of the band secured...


And with the steel banded part now secured...


Give the contact cement time to fully dry... then onto the fun part.

Front part of dash pretty easy... just wrap around and secure in the backside.




Toughest part of the entire process is the compound curves... used low-heat hair dryer and just pulled taut til looked right. In some places had to go back and apply a little more tension to get the sags out... make sure to take full advantage of the metal teeth to help hold in place.

[buddeman]

Sorry about the repeat threads... kept reposting because was getting some weird message. Anyway, third and final post on this thread...

Few more pics from the front compound curves...


And of the front corner...


Then onto the back of the dash... Those heat vent indents were actually a little more painful than anticipated




Hope this helps! Best advice - take your time, a little heat does help, and don't be afraid to pull and stretch to shape. Contact cement (I used Wildwood contact cement from Home Depot) is a wonderful thing.

[merbesfield]

Great job Patrick, always nice to see someone not afraid to do the job themselves.

[Jay Laifman]

Attachment 199612

I'm about to embark on this same journey. I hear that having vinyl that will stretch in both directions is critical. I also recently found that 3M makes a special contact cement just for automotive vinyl. It is available at only one store in my general area - not Pep Boys or NAPA.

I have to say though that the bunched up area at the spot just to the right of the "hood" where it changes to the long horizontal portion for the passenger side looks especially difficult to get smooth. I'm wondering if you have any specific tips for that area? On hindsight, would you have set it up in that area differently - like preheated and stretched it one way or another?

Any other areas where the material tended to bunch up? It's a lot easier to stretch vinyl and make it bigger - but when it is already bunched up and too big, it's certainly difficult to shrink it, right?

Thanks.