How To Repair A Cracked Dash On 1987 Toyota Pickup

When restoring older cars, it is often also expensive to replace a cracked dashboard. And, that is assuming a new nuance board is bachelor. In cases where new parts are too expensive, as well difficult to find, or impossible to find, you will need to restore what is already at that place. The padded dashboard on this 1971 Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser is a good example.

Pace 1

Every bit you can encounter, this dashboard has a hole that needs to be repaired. Most old cars and some new cars take dashboards fabricated from vinyl over urethane foam. Over fourth dimension in the sun, the vinyl gets brittle and the nuance board gets cracks. Many newer dashboard don't have any foam at all. Instead, they are made from injection molded TPO or ABS. But, these dashboards can also become cracked or get holes from exposure to the lord's day.

Pace 2

Use 80 grit or 180 grit sandpaper to bevel into the damage. Brand certain that you sand out any dried-out and crusty foam, also.

Step 3

Melt some of the polyurethane welding rod into the void that was created when y'all sanded out the crusty, stale out foam. The urethane rod is very flexible and closely simulates the urethane foam. Turn the temperature all of the style upwardly and the melted rod come out bubbly. Some of the bubbles remain encapsulated within the polyurethane and simulates the foam even more. Overfill the hole slighly. Y'all will be sanding it downwards and information technology is amend to overfill slightly than having to notice out that y'all need to cook more polyurethane rod into the pigsty after y'all have sanded it. IMPORTANT Notation:If you have one of the newer dashboards that don't have any foam, y'all may skip this pace.

Step four

This is what it looks like after filling the hole.

Step 5

Employ fourscore dust sandpaper to sand the urethane level with the surrounding area. The urethane is very stretchy and elastic so, if you lot apply really short strokes when yous sand, information technology may just stretch back and forth rather than getting footing away. A practiced way to preclude the back-and-forth stretching is to put your thumb on peak of the sandpaper over the area that you demand to sand. And so, pull the sandpaper while maintaining downward pressure with your thumb over the urethane.

Footstep 6

This is what the damaged area looks like after the urethane welding rod was sanded down.

Step 7

Mix some Padded Dash Filler with the cream hardener co-ordinate to the instructions. Use a spreader to utilize the Padded Dash Filler to the damaged area.

Step 8

Allow time for the Padded Nuance Filler to cure. Sand it smoothen starting with 180 dust sandpaper and then 320 grit sand paper.

Step 9

This is how it looks after sanding smooth the Padded Nuance Filler.

Step 10

Spray on Flextex VT. Yous may want to spray the texture coating on something else first. You will get unlike size texture depending on your spray gun settings and how much you reduce (dilute) the Flextex with lacquer thinner.

Step xi

Sometimes, the Flextex may go little "nibs" on information technology that tin easily be knocked off past lightly scuffing the surface with a scuff pad.

Pace 12

This is what it looks similar. Of course, Flextex is black. If your dashboard is black, you lot are finished. If non, you are going to need to put a coat of paint over the elevation of the Flextex.