Dashtop recovering

[DaveW]

I know that there are places in the US and in Australia that have proper facilities to restore the dashtops e.g. with vacuum formed recovering processes. Anyone had the same done over here / found a specialist with a vacuum press? Mine has been recovered on a temporary basis. Better than it was but a long way off looking new.

[shandyhaggis]

Hi Dave

apols for not replying sooner. I couldn't find anyone in the uk though I didn't look that hard.

My option was to fill and sand the current dash and use vinyl with glue and a hairdryer. Turned out ok. I'll have a better idea of how successful its been with I pull it out next year (after having a year of warm and cold conditions in the garage).

If I was doing it again I think a vacuum approach would be much better. Id also probably try and coat the original dash with something hard and durable to seal it after filling it to get rid of the minor undulations and give a better surface. I think Id get a 4 way stretch vinyl, 2 way was really hard to use around the binnacle.

If mine turns out to be rubbish then I may resort to sending to Oz:-)

thanks

Andrew

[roadiesean]

Mine is utterly shocking, definitely needs completely recovering. Who does it in Australia, going home next week, could tuck it under my arm !!!

[MikeH]

Flocking won't look original, but they can epoxy fill the cracks and it'll look pretty good - suede look - you could even colour code it!

This fella did a Mk1 Scirocco dash for me, for about £70. Nottingham area.
http://flockingfantastic.co.uk/?page_id=54

[DaveW]

I recovered mine having epoxy filled the cracks, sanded it and glued / heat formed the vinyl on to it. It is presentable (if anyone saw it at the NEC) but far from perfect. Having watched a few 'how-to' videos now, the step I missed was to glue and form a thin layer of foam to the dash to smooth out imperfections before the vinyl was glued and heat formed to the surface.

The site here in the US is an example of what I was looking for ( note video ):

http://www.justdashes.com

[DaveW]

Mine is utterly shocking, definitely needs completely recovering. Who does it in Australia, going home next week, could tuck it under my arm !!!

http://www.dashboarddoctor.com.au

[veltror]

Dashboards now available from Automobile atlanta