Help! My original '68 dash pad is nice and straight, but it has a split down the whole speaker grille in the center. There is some info online on repairing cracked dash pads, but I haven’t found anything that deals with a fragile / perforated area like this. It seems like the material has shrunk because it’s hard to pull the two split halves together. I’d like to save this pad if possible. Anyone have any ideas for me?
Here are a couple pics, never mind the dust. It’s a nice pad aside from this split.
IDK about repair on that unless you use a patch underneath like a bridge and glue, epoxy it. May seal the holes, but would not show on top, however there would be a seam.
If you don’t care about factory, maybe a speaker grille that screws to a plate underneath, but finding the right size would be a challenge.
Just throwing out ideas, see you tomorrow for the video.
BTW, I just read your sig line, I rebuilt my 1974 Opel Manta 1.9L, loved that thing! Then I was rear ended by a TR3 and it was totalled back in 1989.
Like devildog said, that patch under the speaker holes will be difficult to conceal. I would think your first priority would be to restore some of the structural integrity of the piece. Otherwise, that crack will just keep growing. Highlighted in red is where I think it should be repaired first. But with what?..maybe some hot staples (is that what they’re called?) from the underside to stabilze the pad in those spots, making sure the speaker hole section is lined up first.
I feel your pain…2 years ago the speaker grill area in my '69 dash developed a split between two of the grill holes…now it’s up to six. Seems that outer vinyl covering had reached a critical level in loss of elasticity and began to shrink …the speaker grill was the path of least resistance. I’ve researched the options…no luck,…that is if I want to maintain a factory appearance. You’re acquainted with the Just Dashes option with its scratch flaw, price and reshaping process. My thoughts are…that is if it does not have to be 100% factory correct, would be; flex the pad back to close the split, cross stitch across the crack with some heavy polyester thread, bridge the stitched area with epoxy, vinyl repair the 1 inch split at the windshield edge,…then build a cover(which would custom fit the recess) from Masonite and wrap the new cover panel with speaker grill type fabric.
Sorry Andrew, I think you are facing a losing battle on this one. The fact that you say that you cannot get the crack to close up means that no matter how you “repair” it it will never look right. Covering it with an aftermarket speaker grille would be one option and would probably look better than the big crack. The only other thing that comes to my mind would be to get some of the vinyl repair material and fill in the whole gap with that. After it has set up then drill holes in it to match the existing ones. The pattern will never be right but someone just walking by the car will probably not notice the difference in the hole pattern compared to the big crack. The other option, which will not save your old pad at all, would be if you need to make a video showing how to replace an old dash pad with a new reproduction.
I have one in mine too that I tried to repair and it only made it look worse. So I made a steel cover the shape of the indented grill area and used 4 chrome hex bolts and tee nuts that would sit flush on the back of the foam and not spin free. I positioned them near the corners and it looks like a custom cover without any grill holes.
Dang. I had a feeling there wasn’t going to be a straightforward way to repair it. Thanks for all the suggestions though, some interesting ideas for sure.
One thing I thought of was to cut out the whole recessed area and try to graft in another intact grille section from another dash pad (one that is otherwise trashed of course) but I’m not sure A) what kind of adhesives / fillers to use and how to make it as seamless as possible and B) whether a patch piece would even fit due to the shrinking / stretching of the whole pad.
I was hoping to avoid the repro dash pad but that may be the most realistic option at this point… I still think it’s super lame that Dashes Direct is too lazy to fix their mould and get rid of the scratches. Otherwise it is pretty decent. But still… it’s just not the same!
In addition to the flaws I was under the impression that the repop doesn’t fit very well either. Hence my comment on not knowing where to get a good one.
It’s not a TERRIBLE fit, and it looks good, IMO. Some of the attach points are off, but nothing that can’t be overcome. Heck, I made it work, surely Andrew can, with that wealth of Cougar knowledge he has access to!
That’s one of the ones I have. Or at least, that’s the impression I was given when I ordered it. They weren’t “thrilled” with the fit, but I was willing to chance it, since it was better than nothing, which is what I had. Like I said, some of the holes did not line up quite perfectly. Mainly, the two studs on the lower corners, but a quick drill took care of that, and the factory holes are covered up. :shrug: Works fer me!
[quote=“Blitz”]One thing I thought of was to cut out the whole recessed area and try to graft in another intact grille section from another dash pad (one that is otherwise trashed of course) but I’m not sure A) what kind of adhesives / fillers to use and how to make it as seamless as possible and B) whether a patch piece would even fit due to the shrinking / stretching of the whole pad./quote]
I don’t think that you would have a problem making a piece from another pad fit. Since you cannot get the crack to close up though no matter what you do your pad will be a little wider than it was originally, by however wide that crack is. When you cut a section out of the donor pad lay it on top of your pad, trace the outline, then cut your pad. The donor section should drop right into place. Now the trick will be to hide the joint. I have tried some of the vinyl repair material sold by NAPA. It works but I could never really get it to seam into the original material completely. Still, this might be better than the big crack. Since your pad is already cracked and if you have a bad pad with a good speaker grille area to use as the donor your cost to try this method should not be too much. Invest a little time and money, still less than a repro pad, and see what happens. Can the repair look any worse than the big crack? Well, maybe. But nothing ventured, nothing gained.
