Dash Repair

[waterzap]

My eldorado dash started to crack, and every time I look at it, the thing grows. Anythign I can do? Any companies that does dash repairs? Not the whole thing, and its ok if not 100%, just better, thats all.

[jaxops]

I'm not an upholstery expert-

I would recommend replacing your dash pad.  Don't use Armour-All as it dries the material out.  A good leather conditioner and protectant is better or even Old English Leather soap.  You could have someone patch it and recolor it but if the dash pad is too dried out it might be too late.  Worth finding out though to see what can be done and for how much.

Good luck- I hope that helps.

[cwcinps]

Once that started on my 72 Eldo the only resolution I found was to send it to just dashes in So Cal and have it redone.  It looked great and have had zero issues.  but yes that is a big job to remove, ship and wait and reinstall.

[Scot Minesinger]

Sometimes you can find a good used dash on e-bay, however that will be very fragile and maybe not durable.  Generally repairing the dash yourself never works out or this method would be well known by now.  Also you can buy a dash on e-bay that is not that great and send it to Just Dashes in CA for repair with color matching your car.  Then when it arrives you can make the switch at your convenience and not be without a dash on your own car for a month or so.  After that sell your dash on e-bay.  I did this on my 1970 DeVille and got $135 for the dash I would have otherwise thrown in the trash - you can use the boxes from the prior shipments, plus you will know how expensive dash shipping.

Generally my rule is don't take essential components off my car to be sent out for repair/refurbishment.  Rather I buy a core and have it made new and then make the switch and sell my core or retain it.

[Gene Beaird]

Just Dashes is a good choice, but I'd be interested to see how much it would cost to ship something like that. 

That dash pad is probably too dry to treat.  I've heard of people who have repaired such cracks, but unless you're practiced at it, and can use another part to lay over the repair to duplicate the grain, the repair will be obvious. 

If you can find a crack-free replacement, I have had luck with a trick a friend taught me years ago: you coat the dash pad with a thick layer of Vaseline (yes, that Vaseline), wrap the entire dash pad with Saran Wrap (or some other clingy plastic wrap) and leave it like that for a while.  The dash pad my friend treated was ON his car, so he just covered it with a layer of foil so he could use the car. 

After a while (days, weeks, months, the longer the better), uncover the pad, wipe it clean and install it.  The vinyl cover should be softer and more pliable.  Try to keep the sun off the pad, though, because that's what dries and bleaches them out. 

I've done this on the dash of our 86 SVO (they are prone to crumbling and there is NO decent replacement), it not only helped the vinyl get softer, it also helped make the color more uniform.  I am also in the process of doing this on a replacement dash pad for our 92 B4C Camaro.  Undamaged dash pads for 3rd Gen Camaros are approaching $400 each!  I'll unwrap that dash pad when we get to the restoration of that car.

Alternatively, I recently read a forum thread on a guy who stripped the vinyl off of his existing cracked dash, covered it with expandable foam, sanded the foam down to the original surface and then recovered the pad with leather:

http://www.thirdgen.org/techboard/interior/694743-leather-covered-dash-pad.html

The result was not too bad.  He had issues with the exposed corners, which I think you can hide under the Eldo dash pad.  For something that I just want to look okay, that's probably the route I'd follow.  The pad in the above link was black, but after you're done with the recover, you can dye the leather. 

[waterzap]

I called Just Dashes once for the Seville dash, and they quoted me something like $1000. Too much. Will just have to figure something out I guess.