Vinyl Dash Repair kits

[Ralf11]

- dunno where to put this question...

I have an old VW Vanagon with a lot of cracks in the dash. I am wondering about using on of those vinyl repair kits with the little bottles of filler that you put in the crack and then heat with an iron to set.

I'm wondering if anyone has ever used these and if they last (stay in the crack like a glue).

My plan is to paint over the dash with a vinyl spray paint from SEM afterwards.

Any experiences on this type of repair?

 

[toplessHO]

my experience is its not worth the effort.
if you can fill the cracks and make it smooth again just reskin with new vinyl

 

[bcschief]

A lot of VW parts are available repop. I would search the internet for a VW bus dash pad. Like these https://www.westcoastmetric.com/search.html?q=dash+pad&go=Search

 

[Ralf11]

they are a kilobuck IF IF you can find one - not wanting a piece of carpet on my dash

how can you DIY reskin with new vinyl?

 

[toplessHO]

just dashes does almost anything
might be too spendy.

Find the same grain and weight vinyl as was OEM
make a vacuum table and get to work.

 

[Stooge]

I was looking into some products by Polyvance, after seeing someone fixing a padded dash over on the AACA forums. The dash i had in mind to give it a try with is too far gone so i havent tried it yet. https://www.polyvance.com/Padded-Dash-Filler-2/2050-9/

Here is the picture post from it, but the explanation is a few posts down

https://forums.aaca.org/topic/345920-my-trans-am-resto/?do=findComment&comment=2057857
"I use a product from a company called Polyvance. It is called padded dash filler. It looks and works like bondo, but stays flexible. The dash itself is originally a plastic type of material over a thin layer of foam which gives a bit of push. UV rays ( i suppose) deteriorate it over time. I have seen very few of these dashs that are good. Once the filler sets up, several coats later it can be sanded smooth. I use a coat of texture spray from SEM then colour dye from SEM for a finish. I have come up with a few techniques over the few I have done to make things a bit easier. Its really not hard work, just technique. "

 

[mepstein]

Not worth repairing old vinyl. It needs to be removed, cracks repaired and recovered. Talk to your local upholstery shop. They use a stretchy vinyl so it will follow the curves. It’s very common to re-skin a Porsche dash. Usually costs me $400-500.

 

[bcschief]

So why not spend $199 for the repop one in the link I gave you is this too expensive ?

 

[Ralf11]

when I looked at the link, I saw a cover, not a dash

it's well over $1,000 bucks to get it recovered and it has to be shipped - nobody here does it

 

[Monza Harry]

I have a Monza [Chevrolet not MAZDA] and these cars have virtually no aftermarket support. I have an original in excellent condition, but it is from a Non-A/C car and well I'm old now and have become a ...... (you know what goes there) and now i have acquired an A/C car, So after searching High and Low I have come up with a ~good ish one but it has come unglued at the edges, oh and the vinyl is very stiff, I am afraid to try and bend it back with some fresh glue as I am sure it will crack instead of bend. The one that came with the A/C car is about 3 or 4 times removed from being Sh!+ [ie: much worse than Sh!+]. So I did some Yahoo searches [usually Yahoo this time it was Google] and found this You Tube Vid from Polyvance they re-do a dash for a Datsun 2xxZ with their product. Too costly for my Cheap @$$ to import to Canada for what I consider to be a "gamble" just dashes will do a re-coat but the Monza dash has stitching in some key places and their process doesn't replicate that. $600 US at 25% exchange rate plus shipping and import & export fee's [about 7 or 8 years ago] not too much just WAY TOO MUCH for a poor looking copy. If this is available (re-pop) and it really matters, just budget and save until it can happen. So looking at this has left me with the prospect of trying to re-create one in Fiber glass without destroying a Mint original in the process. I hope this long winded story helps! Harry

and here is the whole search: https://www.google.com/search?q=pad...0i22i30l3.11077j1j15&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

 

[toplessHO]

Is the stitching fake,as in embossed into the vinyl?
can you have a shop sew it up just like the OEM and vacuum form it?

 

[Ralf11]

no stitching on it at all

 

[toplessHO]

sorry that was actually aimed at M H.

but if thats the case all the more reason to DIY with a vacuum table.

Maybe find an old foosball table and put a shop vac on it.