Refurbishing the Dash

[Rackned]

Hi all

Having had a small fire behind the dash it's time to bite the bullet and go for a dash upgrade. Walnut dash and a recover.

Has anyone got any advice on the leather recovers like the ones on ebay. I have recovered a 911 dash many years ago which was a right pain but looked good when done.

I did however buy the leather and cut and stitched it.

I'm hoping you can help me prevent the hours of template making and the needle punctures.

Mark

[jakesmig]

I bought a large leather hyde off ebay and spray glued it to the dash vinyll. Worked fine, just took time persuading it into the dash 'tray' and instrument binnacle opening.

[malc4d]

Had mine recovered in beige by Aldridge. Looks great, but not the cheapest tho......

[new to this]

Hi all

Having had a small fire behind the dash it's time to bite the bullet and go for a dash upgrade. Walnut dash and a recover.

Has anyone got any advice on the leather recovers like the ones on ebay. I have recovered a 911 dash many years ago which was a right pain but looked good when done.

I did however buy the leather and cut and stitched it.

I'm hoping you can help me prevent the hours of template making and the needle punctures.

Mark

Seen those leather dashs on ebay, just waiting for some one else,to cover one first done the console and that went ok

dave

[Davenott]

Leather needs to be carefully positioned to line up properly.
Alpha Thixofix adhesive is good, as it allows a little repositioning.
Remember to think about what areas are going to show and which aren't and concentrate on getting a perfect fit on the areas which show.
Don't apply too much pressure on the stitched areas or the overlap of leather underneath will show.
Needs to fit down into the dash top recess well and if not adhering properly here will lift after glue sets and leather becomes taughter.
Top right and left corners can be a bit tricky to finish properly in leather and this area shows, if there are any creases.
If you are covering with your own leather rather than the ready made kit, if padded out under leather, then looks better in my opinion than applying straight to the metal dash itself.
Dave,

[Davenott]

I bought a large leather hyde off ebay and spray glued it to the dash vinyll. Worked fine, just took time persuading it into the dash 'tray' and instrument binnacle opening.

Well done on doing it from a hide rather than a kit.
Did you stitch it? If not how did you do the seams?
What thickness and softness hide did you use?
Have you any photos?
Regards, Dave.

[Rackned]

Well here goes, had to wait till I could spend a bit of time getting all the dash out to do the job properly.

Dashboard out, but is scrap. There is so much rust on the lower leading edge that it's will need a full rebuild, fell to bits as I got it out. Note to oneself, fix water leak on windscreen.

Luck, dashboard on eBay and it's got an extra part that mine hasent.

Leather cover purchased, wood laminate purchased, Adhesive purchased.

Job list.

Repair holes by windscreen wiper motors (both sides)
Reinstate rain gutter both sides (previous owner filled these in)
Spray and make good
Recondition new dash in areas where there is a bit of rust (no where close to how mine was)
Cover dash
Led lights in clocks.
Second set of clocks to make white faces, (may do this later)
Laminated wood dash.

Other jobs to consider
ZF gearbox swap. Is this the right time? As all the dash and console is out.
Have box, bell housing already done, need to do speedo configuration which I haven't got a clue where to get from, and the auto gearshift mod.

Photos later when I can get them to upload....



Mark

[DJT]

Speak to Ian Coe at Monarch-Stags about the speedo. I fitted his prototype unit and it works fine after a bit of to-and-fro fettling between us.

[Rackned]

The work to do,
bottom dash on the center photo is my old one.

588-Optimized.jpg589-Optimized.jpg590-Optimized.jpg

[new to this]

The work to do,
bottom dash on the center photo is my old one.

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whys the dash so rusty ? is the windscreen leaking ?

dave

[Rackned]

Yes I'm afraid it was well before I got my girl. I've had the car about 15 months and it's been garaged all the time. But the windscreen did leak and I knew it was rusty from the material that would drop onto my feet every now and then. But I had no idea how bad. Now it's time to put it right.

[new to this]

Yes I'm afraid it was well before I got my girl. I've had the car about 15 months and it's been garaged all the time. But the windscreen did leak and I knew it was rusty from the material that would drop onto my feet every now and then. But I had no idea how bad. Now it's time to put it right.

yes looking forward to see how you cover the dash,and finding out how hard the job it is to do,its one job on my very long list

[malc4d]

Maybe its my eyes...but they both seem the same. Mine was also bad because of leaky windscreen and badly cracked from years of Californian sun and rain. OMG you should have seen the rusty seat frames. Aldridge did a dam good re-trim though.....

[Rackned]

One end is needs a small amount of reconstruction work but it's nothing like the one i took out, even the stearing was affected now I've seen the corrosion, had a minor on its last mot that the tester thought was bearing movement, no such luck it was the dash!!!!!

[Guest]

I have fitted the leather kit from top gaiters. Took 3 hours to do, thought I'd done a decent job but when I fitted it to the car I noticed that one of the corners for the recess has come unstuck and has lifted very slightly, I have a dash mat to hide this though I also found 2 small creases which I'm sure weren't there, but it still looks nice!

Jason