Are you sure you want to try to restore your own dash pad??

[hsb shadow]

After seeing the prices of three speaker dash pads made on a steel frame I decided to try to undertake my own repair. I had two candidates to pick from. The one I used was better than the other candidate but not by a whole lot. This is about 17 hours into it. This will probably be the first and last one that I do. LOL

 

[larry4406]

I’m rootin’ for you!

Keep up the pics and details!

 

[hsb shadow]

the damaged area around the speaker is leveled with polyester resin. This had at least six breaks across this area. I tried to fix it initially with the polyester resin but was unhappy of the results so I took it all down and then got my plastic welder out and repair it every one of the cracks and as is heated used a firm sponge to hold it in the place. If you don't use a sponge or something to hold the damaged area down you may end up with a protrusion. Polyester is applied blocked out all that's left is to apply the texture. You can make a stamp and then apply either texture paste or some other material with your stamp. I got my materials from viper supply. They sell a kit where you can mix material and then apply it to your dash and get an imprint of the texture. You then use that to put the texture in at the end

 

[hsb shadow]

I just wanted to make sure there's no confusion. The first picture is not the dash I'm building. It's the second dash I had and felt that it was a little too far gone to repair. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of the current dash before I started repairing it a few weeks ago

 

[Katfish]

I was wondering, that huge rough patch in the bad pic, made me think , that repair looks amazing.

 

[hsb shadow]

Initially this dash wasn't as bad as it looks but after sitting for six years it just started disintegrating like that big patch. LOL

 

[hsb shadow]

The first picture shows my homemade texture stamp. The other two show the texture material applied. Once it dries then you carefully knock it down until you get the desired appearance. Blend the edges and then prime and paint.

 

[hsb shadow]

It's not perfect but I think if you're building a nice driver car and you take your time you can get a pretty decent looking product. I had a lot of trial and error. It helps that I had a couple of dash pads laying around

 

[hsb shadow]

Last one for tonight. The textures lightly sanded down with 320 and blended at the edges

 

[larry4406]

Links to products used please?

 

[hsb shadow]

Sorry I don't have direct links but I've got pictures with the phone number of two of the products that you would need. Unfortunately I didn't know about the grain pro until after I made my own stamp the hard way. Had I known about it I would have just used this material because it makes a nice stamp. It's a two-part process and the instructions are pretty clear.
There are other products that you can use to make the grain but I was comfortable with the texture paste. I applied a very small amount of it with my finger on the surface desired .Waited a short period of time and then put the grain. If you try to put the grain too soon it just collapses back down. A lot of this is trial and error and depends on things such as the temperature. I will warn you it's a frustrating endeavor and I did this over a couple 3 weekends while doing other things until I got the desired look. It would be helpful if you had something to practice on such as an old dash. The texture paste initially will clean up with water if it's still wet but will come off with mineral spirits if you're not happy with the look.

 

[hsb shadow]

Get this picture didn't go through last night but this is the area sanded down after texturing and blended

 

[Katfish]

What's the base to build up the area? This Viper material is just a skim coat?
It looks like the Viper stuff is $40 and whatever for shipping.
So how much of it will you need?
I think it looks good, I'd go this route before spending $1500-$2k.
And my dash from the scammers in Texas looks like crap.

 

[hsb shadow]

I start out by taking a fine Dremel and v out all of the cracks. This is a very time consuming process and requires patience. When vinyl shrinks sometimes the ends roll up and you need to get it flat to begin with. I then plastic weld and fill all of the cracks. They don't have to be perfect you just want to bridge the area. Then the base is leveled with polyester putty. You can get this at any Auto body store but polyvance sells this as well. You then pretty much work it like you would any body filler. Once it sanded level then you take your graining tool and texture paste or whatever you decide to use and work it. I've had to go over some areas three times till I got the grain to lay the way I wanted. If you're not happy with it it sands easily or can cleanup with mineral spirits. I prefer to sand because it is less messy. You can either let the paste sit for a couple of minutes before you texture it or you can texture right away but then very carefully use a heat gun from a distance. If you don't the texture just falls back to a flat surface. Once it's cured then you can come back with something light like a 320 and gently work it to flatten the ridges and get the desired look. Then apply a clear plastic adhesion promoter and then paint. I try to avoid primer if I can because it tends to hide the grain. I just use sem landau black paint and then put a matte clear over it to take the shine out.

 

[hsb shadow]

I hope you're able to get your dash fixed up. I've done a couple of dashes in the past and I wouldn't make any money doing it for business because I take a long time and I'm a little picky. If it's a hobby then it doesn't really matter how long it takes I guess. LOL

 

[hsb shadow]

Sorry I didn't answer your question. The viper material is a skim coat texturing agent. and one tub is more than enough to do the dash. Ideally you don't want to do really large areas with the texture material it's meant for small repairs that you want to hide with the surrounding grain. I did manage repair the area on this side of the speaker and that took a lot of work since it was such a large area. I think it took me three attempts to get it to where I wanted it

 

[hsb shadow]

I had to go back and fix a couple of cracks which I tried to use the polyester to fix initially. Not a good idea because with movement it'll crack. So all the cracks are repaired by using a plastic welder and that makes all the difference. It's just been a big relearning experience and they're definitely no shortcuts

 

[Katfish]

Not familiar with plastic welding, how does that work?

 

[hsb shadow]

You're essentially soldering with plastic. My gun has a triangular tip and I use that to heat up the plastic in the crack and then I melt the plastic rod in. It takes a while to get the skill on how to lay a bead and then eventually sand it flat.

 

[hsb shadow]

Well ready for paint tomorrow finally