Weather change is here and the cracked padded dashes are rolling in. With every weather change I get the phone calls. "My dash is cracked and what can be done to fix it."
Due to the exposer to old mum nature, these materials become dried out and crack over time leaving you with a crack in your dash. Left unattended this small crack can and will get larger.
Maintenance Hand Kit
There are measures that can be taken to prevent the dash from getting cracked in the first place. Now I know your dash is already cracked and your wanting to know how to fix it, but this will prevent supplementary cracks and keep your car cooler and looking nicer, and well.... For supplementary reference.
One way to prevent this is to use a sunshade. This will not only protect your automotive dash from the sun but also keep your vehicle cooler keeping the plastic pieces cooler and less likely to warp and then crack.
Another way to prevent the materials from drying on your dash is to condition them with a good vinyl conditioner-protectant. Now I know I've all the time said to not put the slimy stuff on your interior pieces and parts ... But if your vehicle is exposed to the sun on a constant basis, then I would advise you use a vinyl conditioner. Now I'm not going to say that any old vinyl conditioner will work, because it won't. Tire shine is not vinyl conditioner! This is probably one of the biggest mistakes made, and I do a lot of fix because of it. Tire shine contains solvents, which as you know from old articles, it doesn't mix well with the water based dyes being used on today's cars. What it does is lifts the dye from the surface, causing it to peel. So no tire shine...What I advise to my customers is a stock made from a leather conditioning producer that I feel from some of the study I've done is safe and should work very well, it's made by Lexol and it's called Vinylex. Designed by the guys that absolutely know their stuff when it comes to interior conditioning and protecting.
The last and final tip to keeping your automotive interior, together with your dash, looking it's best and chronic longer is window tint. Now in some states you need to be just with the tinting laws to make sure you don't get it too dark, plus you need to think of your security too. I have tint on our family Tahoe and I kinda wish I would have gone a limited lighter, at night it's absolutely hard to see, my Tahoe stays nice and cool, but it's a pain in the butt at night. I have to roll the window down sometimes just to see. So keep it light and you will be impressed with the results, plus it looks cool.
Now on with the fix for that crack in your dash.
Depending on where the crack is and how big it is will depend on how to fix it and how high-priced the fix will be. If the crack is bigger then 2"-3" and curled up on the edges, the fix will probably not look that great. There is a limit to the size of crack that can be repaired, too big and it probably won't hold and will look like crap. If the crack is too big, replace the dash pad, don't try to fix it. an additional one thing is location, if the crack is up close to the windshield then it's roughly impossible to do a fix without removing the windshield, which can be costly. So with that said you be the judge.
The first thing I do before I start any fix is to mix my color, this insures that at least the color will be right.
Next I inspect the crack in the dash, if the edges are curled up then you will need to trim that off with a razor blade or Xacto knife. The goal here is to get the area as level as you can. Now when doing so cut at a 45 degree angle and don't bring the ends to a point, what I mean by this is trim all the way colse to the crack rounding off the ends of the crack, this will insure that the crack will stop and not crack supplementary after your repair.
Of policy your next step is prepping the fix area, use your prep clarification with a scotch brite pad and clean the area thoroughly. You might need to clean the entire dash depending on where and how large the crack is.
Now it's time to resolve what fix you going to use.
If the crack is smaller then an 1/2" I ordinarily grab the super glue and do a super glue repair. I do this by spreading the glue in the crack then sanding it level with a 240 grit sandpaper, texture with your water based spray grain, then dye.
But there are times when your vinyl fix composition will need to be used, after all this is vinyl. The low cure ordinarily works best because high heat tends to warp the fix area. This is where your patience comes in when doing your repairs. Thin layers of composition work best, curing and dying in the middle of coats until the area is level and smooth. You can texture while layering your composition with your grain pads. One limited trick I use to help level the fix when using a grain pad is a limited rubber squeegee about 3"x5", it's what body shops use to squeegee the water off the painted surface when they wet sand. This limited thing works great, when you use your hand to imprint your grain into your repair, your hand kinda molds colse to the area and doesn't leave a level area but with the rubber squeegee it gives you a limited more backing when you go to imprint. Now graining your fix can be tricky, the low cure composition doesn't grain that well, but if all else fails make sure the fix is level, this is your best hide. If that is achieved then texture with your spray grain.
One last trick up my sleeve is the use of a great stock from Urethane provide Co. This is a two part epoxy like substance that is specifically designed for padded dashes and the name says it all, Padded Dash Filler.
This stuff is the bomb, when it comes to dash repair. Mixes like Bondo and is even applied like bondo, but its flexible. It's just what the physician ordered when it comes to dash repair. If the crack is larger then 1" this is the stuff to use.
Now this stock will wish you to trim the area and then sand colse to the area about 1" to 2" out with a heavier grit sandpaper like a 180 grit, this gives it something to bite too. Trim down into the foam a limited to, so that you make like a limited groove for the composition to lay in.
Mix your composition on a small piece of tile, I like using small tile pieces, they clean up absolutely and are easier to hold when mixing and applying. Now when you get the stock they send you the red catalyst, try the blue, it seems to set up a limited quicker. The blue you can get at any automotive parts shop. But the red works just as good just takes it a limited longer, time is money in my business.
Apply your composition liberally over the fix area, don't worry about getting your first coat absolutely smooth, all you need is to get it covered, you'll be sanding it level later. Let it set up for a while, depending on the weather will depend on how long this stuff takes. You can speed it up a limited with a heat gun but don't melt it just give it a limited boost.
Once hardened start sanding, I ordinarily start with a 180 grit to knock off the big chunks then progressively move my way up to a finer grit like 240 and then to 400.
One coat won't be sufficient, I promise, this is an additional one layer thing. Sanding in the middle of coats. Each coat you apply you will need to make smoother. Again what your trying to accomplish is a level level repair.
After all is level and level, grain with a spray grain then dye.
As far as texture goes, I use two types of spray grain. One is a water based spray grain and the other is Sems Texture Coat. In fact the Sems Texture Coat roughly matches the some of the Pontiac dashes to a tee. Now the Sems Texture coat is a solvent based, but I haven't had a qoute with it peeling up against the water based dyes on the dash, so kudos to Sems.
One other trick I have found with the the Sems Texture Coat is after sprayed if you let it flash out a limited but not dry completely, you can take your grain pad and imprint your grain into the texture coat, pretty cool huh.
Dash fix is an art and a craft, just like all automotive interior repairs. If the steps are followed right and patience is used in your repairs you success will be good.
Hope this helps in your dash fix adventure. One thing to all the time keep in mind is to keep your fix as level as possible, this is your best hide.
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