Plastic dashboard repairs?

[phorbiuz]

I'm wondering if it can be done?

My mk1 Sierra came with a blue dashboard to match the blue interior but as is common on the Fords of that era it has split in a few areas. As if finding a good mk1 dashboard isn't hard enough blue is even rarer.

Does anyone know if there are any companies who can do some sort of repair on these and maybe repaint afterwards?

Thanks.

[rld14]

Been through this with my E28... cracked dash, new ones aren't going to last any better as they're 23+ year old stock. I have yet to find a product that fixes cracks where it doesn't look like it was done by a drunken 4 year old

The only way that I know of to truly do this is a company called Just Dashes http://www.justdashes.com that will make your dash like new again, unfortunately it's a 4-6 week turnaround, plus shipping to and from America, and it costs about $1,000-1,500.

They tend to cater to the high dollar Muscle Car resto crowd

Dunno if they make plastic caps for the Sierra, they do for the E28 and they look.. well they look "ok" but not perfect.

[rld14]

http://www.coverlaymfg.com/

Might give them an email....

[Luxobarge]

Yeah, covering it with something is what comes to mind for me, difficult to make it look really nice though, with no wrinkles.

Phorbiuz - interesting question this, and one that's going to crop up more and more as the newer cars that people percieve as "classic" tend to have plastic dash tops as a norm. Any chance of some pictures?

Also - are you intent on returning it to as-near-as-possible standard look, or would a different finish/colour etc. not bother you too much?

BTW - if you get another good dash but in the wrong colour, I'd say worry not, as the vinyl colour dye kits available from Woolies and other trimmers are amazingly good - I re-coloured the vinyl seats on our Moggie minor a year or two back, and they still look like new, you'd never know they had been "painted". I believe S-type on this very same forum has done a similar thing to some of the vinyl trim on his car too. Wollies will do you a custom colour match if one of their standard colours isn't right for you - that's what we did, and the colour match is spot on.

Cheers!

[phorbiuz]

Ta for the replies.

I can certainly get pics, but not for a couple of days as I don't have the car at home. The plan is to get it as original as possible as that's the way I go with my show cars now rather than modded. The colour is also quite imporant as the dash is in a number of pieces so it has to match all the other pieces too.

[phorbiuz]

Sorry it's been so long before I got back to this but it's been chaos on the work front as I'll be gone in a few more days. Anyway, back to it. Find below a couple of pics which if you take a look around the dash vent area shows the pretty bad damage around the top centre vent.





This now takes me off on a potential solution... Even though I can't get the correct dash I've been able to source one in light grey. Remembering posts from the previous board (a search drew a blank on here) I remembered a product called Vinylcote or such. This company could colour match and you could spray your trim to match.

Generic web searches come up with a load of tosh, so can anyone point me in the right direction for this company or an equivalent?

Thanks.

[TerryG]

Woolies Trim do vinyl paint.
http://www.woolies-trim.co.uk/c-118-vin ... ation.aspx
I have never used it myself but I believe S-Type has with good results on his door cards.
I'm not sure how it would work re-colouring an "elephant skin" dash as the paint will probably fill in much of the texture.

[Luxobarge]

I've used it, and it's very good indeed. The stuff I got from Woolies was sprayed on from an aerosol, and wouldn't hide or affect the "texture" finish that's on the dash, the stuff I did looked exactly like it did before I started, except it was a different colour and looked brand new - it's wierd how it works, but it does. Get the whole kit though, including all the cleaners and solvents etc. as prep is the key to a good result.

Woolies will do a custom colour match if you need them to, a bit more expensive but probably worth it if you want to match other interior items. You'll need to send them a sample.

Give them a call and discuss it, I've always found them very knowledgeable and helpful.

If you can get a dash in good condition, this is definately the way I'd go, looking at those pictures I can't see a good way of repairing that without it looking a bodge, to be honest.

Mind you I'd colour it black, not blue, but each to their own.

Cheers!

[TriumphDriver]

OMG that dash just brings me right back to the 1980s, when I drove these for work!
Vinlykote should work on that texture of dash.

[phorbiuz]

I've just spoke to Woolies (thanks TerryG and Luxobarge). I've explained the situation and they're going to find out for me if the product is suitable and send me a sample of the blue colour they do. Their concern is just how plastic the dash is rather than vinyl. I can't argue with that level of service.

I seem to have found the website for Vinylkote now too, thanks to TriumphDriver 'encouraging' me to spell it differently.