914 Instrument Panel ( dash ) recovering - assistance wanted

[32FlatSix]

With the hiatus in activity I’ve pulled forward some jobs on my 914 project which were otherwise planned for my final retirement.
A key one is to resurrect the badly cracked IP top trim and knee pad, the car was originally in California. I’m planning to grind out the cracks and fill with bumper filler, as I’ve seen others do, but then will need to recover the surfaces. I don’t believe that single pieces of leather-cloth or even leather could be made to fit satisfactorily ( at least not by me as an amateur ) so I’m thinking to follow a 916 type route, that is make up covers by stitching multiple pieces together.
I wonder therefore if anyone on the forum has done this before and if so would they have patterns to loan or rent out, which I could start from?

[LMR]

Vinyl will stretch and shape if you steam it.

After filling mine I used vinyl paint, and it has come up okay.

[32FlatSix]

Thanks, I've got duplicate parts for the knee pad so I'll give the steaming a go.

[RichardJ]

I believe it all depends which vinyl you start with. You need some which is designed to be stretched around complex shapes. I think it is called '4 way stretch vinyl'. There is a company in California who vacuum form it onto dashboards to professionally re-cover them, but I have not seen anyone over here doing that. I think they type of glue you use will be critical too. A friend bough some spray on contact adhesive from an auto trimmer years ago when re-doing the roof liner in his Karmann Ghia. It didn't grab instantly and permanantly like, say Evo Stik, but it allowed you to peel back and reposition the vinyl at least once.

I'm converting my 914 to RHD, so will have a similar problem at some point, except I don't have a remotely salvageable used original dash top. Mine is also a California car. Some of the cracked interior trim had been painted (badly) with some sort of vinyl paint. It peeled off, and they were not that bad underneath. Just minor cracking. The same can't be said for the dash top though. large parts of it had been made up from fibre glass. I do have a 2nd quality aftermarket new dash top though, so I'll probably start making my RHD version from that, then cover it in vinyl to hide the joins.

There is a youtube channel called Cechaflo. The guy is a real expert auto trimmer, and his videos show exactly how he does things. Some of the dashboard shapes had has covered in a single piece of leather are amazing. In particular there is one called "A Plastic Piece Wrapped in Leather - Auto Upholstery" which is very impressive, but I think a 914 dash may be beyond even his abilities on one piece. His channel is well worth a look for tips / ideas / inspiration though.

[32FlatSix]

Many thanks Richard, I'll take a look at that channel. I'm thinking maybe to make up a multi piece cover, like the 916 leather ones were. I will have a go at making some patterns first ( with some non woven paper type material ) and a trial cover piece before any bonding. I just need my industrial sewing machine back in order!
Chris