how can i stop my dash from cracking?

[280z]

i first noticed a tiny crack emerging from the right end of my dash about a year ago. i was histarical! but then i thought it was just a little tiny crack and maybe it had been there for a real long time and i never noticed it. but gradually the size has increased and 2 more tiny little cracks have started to show up. is there any way i could seal it or preserve it before it really starts to get bad?

[Bambikiller240]

Marc:

My experience has been that once a crack starts, it will continue to grow. The damage has been done. About all you can do is make every effort to protect the dash from excessive heat, and Ultaviolet exposure to minimize the speed at which the crack will grow.

Use a "Heatshield" on the windshield, and cover the dash with a nice thick towel as well when you aren't driving it. They are made in Sunnyvale and are fairly inexpensive. Link to CanvasWorks (makers of Heatshield)

Keep the fresh air vents open on hot days also to minimize the "Barbie E-Z Bake Oven" syndrome.

Oh, and start planning on replacing the dash (or having the dash recovered) some day cause unfortunately the cracks will not go away

[280z]

i hate old cars!! actually thats exactly what i used to do when i parked my car at school. i would put my simpsons sun shade over my windsheild and cover my dash with a white towel. thanks carl, ill look into the "heatshield"

ill start emptying all my loosechange at the end of the day in a bucket for a new dash...

[Bambikiller240]

Hi Marc:

Actually the "Heatshield" is just one of several shades that are good. IMO, 100% UV blocking and insulation properties are the most important chaectoristics.......along with proper fit.

I chose Heatshield because thier porduct worked good for a friend, and they are local, will custom fit the shade to a Z car (they already have the pattern), and the price was right. They have a multiple shade discount, so if you or your family needs a shade for another car, it pays to order 2 or more at the same time.

Look on the bright side, the dash lasted since 75, so if you get it recovered, it should last another 29 years or more.

[1 Bravo 6]

G'Day Marc,

Carl has given you the best advice mate.

I'm interested to know whether Armour All has been used on the dash in the past.

I've heard some rather disturbing reports on what happens after someone stops using the product.

Rick.

[26th-Z]

This site has great information about careing for vinyl and rubber. http://www.carcareonline.com/

Take note the references to Armor-All and products that contain silicon oils. In all reality, once a dash starts cracking, it is so dry that nothing is going to restore it. I like the One Grand products and have had a lot of success soaking rubber and vinyl parts for long periods in plastic bags. You just can't do that with a dash, though.

[240ZX]

IMO, Armor-All does exactly the opposite of what it tells you it will do! It seem to suck the life out of vinyl, not refurbish it. Oh yah, it looks good when you put it on, but as mentioned previously, once you stop using it you're in for trouble. Not a recommended product. My 2 cents worth..........

[280z]

i think this is all my fault. when this car was handed down to me by my uncle about a year and a half ago, i started using armor-all. it made the dash look so good so i never thought it could hurt it. then i took it to get the wheels aligned and the guy there warned me that using this stuff wil cause it to crack. so i quit using it and a few weeks later i noticed my first crack.

i geuss i learned the hard way (or the expensive way)

thanks for all the links guys. i remember thinking about a year ago how i wanted to sell this dash and get a new one before it got worse but i want to try and keep my car as original as possible so i will look into those restoration threads that ive seen pop up.

[beandip]

I have been using Turtle Wax 2001 on my vinyl with good results. Another member turned me on to it. I used it on the hot tub cover that is exposed to the weather 24 7 and it has been out in the weather for 2 years and looks like new. And thats sun , rain , snow the whole bit. It is covered with the same stuff the seats are done with. So far so good and it is not greasy nor does it attract dust like Armor all does. Works good on the rubber also.

[240ZX]

280z, I know some do not like the full dash caps, for fixing the cracks, but if you are a pretty good craftsman you can get these puppies to fit and look great. With mine,it took a number of times putting it on and taking it off, with minor tweeks in between, to get it right before securing it. The only way to tell it is a full cap is the have the door open, where you can see a small seam, but not very noticable to the untrained eye. These units are far less expensive than a new or refurbished dash. Just some food for thought!

[Carl Beck]

Hi Guys:

I believe that you may be assigning a cause and effect relationship to unrelated factors. Putting Armor-All or anything else on a 25+ year old piece of plastic; which you know very little or nothing about it's lifetime care or lack thereof... doesn't really show any significant cause/effect relationship, when there are so many other unknown, uncontrolled and certainly unrecorded factors involved.

Seemingly perfect dashes crack for many reasons... a new owner subjects the dash to different levels of stress, different levels of heat cycles, different levels of shock and vibration -all because the car is being driven and cared for quite differently than it had been. Now that old dash... that had taken a certain "set" from it's prior 20 years of use, simply isn't pliable enough to take a "reset" from a new owner.

Many dashes crack because someone put a new radio in, forced fit it and/or didn't put the dash braces back in the same position... now you have that old dash in an ever so slightly different bind. Very small forces that don't crack the dash at once, will over time...

A car that has been garage kept by it's last owner... for many years.. is purchased by someone who now drives it every day... lots of heat cycles... expansion/contraction and the dash is cracking... where if the original owner had kept in the garage it would still be "prefect".

As someone else mentioned "plastics" (aka vinyls) are destroyed by UV.. UV damage can normally be spotted because it turns the otherwise black plastic - a light gray, and in-turn, the other wise compliant plastic(vinyl) into a brittle surface.

Ozone also causes plastics/vinyls to decay (the long polymer chains start to break up as specific elements are broken down by exposure to the ozone).

All plastics outgas their plasticizes over time... the very chemical reactions that create them in the first place... destroy them with time -they simply dry out.

You can slow down the processes of destruction and/or decay by keeping the vinyl out of direct sun, covering it to protect it from ozone and applying some materials that slow down the out-gasing of the plasticizers. Likewise lowering the number and degree of the heat cycles it's exposed to.

The Tar matts on the floor, could last a 1000 years if you kept them covered with a thin layer of paint. The steel in the body would be here a 1000 years if you prevent oxidation.... but the best plastics money can buy.. or for that matter the best synthetic, man made materials might - just might last 100 years. The cheap vinyl used in the dash.... depending on the care it's given.... maybe 50 years.

Vinyl is a petroleum based product... many people use Vasoline Petroleum Jelly to coat the vinyl and slow down the outgasing (drying out) process. Silicons are also used for this purpose. If you had a brand new dash (made today) and you keep it coated with Vasoline, stored in a constant temp./constant humidity - and protected completely from UV and Ozone.... you might find it in good shape 80 to 100 years from now. (but I seriously doubt it;-)

I bought my Blue 1972 240Z in Dec. of 1971. Nothing other than Armor-All has ever been used on the dash. It is as nearly perfect as you can get.. no cracks. My White 72 240-Z I purchased from it's original owner.. he too had used only Armor-All on the dash and all interior vinyl as well as the tires... no cracks in the dash. Both dashes are still as compliant as they were when new. (as "soft" as you can expect a hard vinyl dash to be).

I personally do not believe it is reasonable to jump to the conclusion that just because Armor-All was applied to a 25+ year old dash... it cracked a day, a week or a month later - when there are so many other unknows and variables at work - that you can reasonably assign a cause and effect.

Everyone I've known with brown, or red hair that has bought a 280Z within the last eight years.. has cracked dashes now. That Brown or Red hair causes the dashes to crack every time. ;-) My friend Jim in California bought a 77 280Z from it's original owner... it has 51K miles, and has always been garage kept.. it still is... Jim has Gray hair and the dash hasn't cracked. ;-)

Just my perspectives after talking at length with the Materials Engineers I used to work with... I'm certainly not a Chemist, nor a Mechanical Engineer, nor a Materials Specialists (but we did have some of the worlds best working there) and I certainly could have failed to understand them fully. I just relate my experience (now 34 years using Armor-All), and their rational.

I will agree that today - Armor-All may not be the best product available, as 34 years of research has now been accumulated and plastics today might be quite different than the one's found in our old vinyl covered dashes.

However, I have always followed the manufacturers instructions. Clean the dash, apply a thin coat of Armor-All, let stand for a few hours, wipe off excess. Buff with a clean towel. I'll also say that there are many other products that are better for vinyl tops or exterior vinyls. Modern vinyl dressings that don't run, collect dirt etc.

FWIW,

Carl

Carl Beck

Clearwater, FL USA

http://ZHome.com

[280z]

wow carl i just read more in a couple minutes from your post then i did in all 4 years of high school. thanks for that but i dont know if your 100% correct because i have black hair and so did my uncle so..

no actually you could be very right because this car was stored in his garage for i dont know how many years in orange, ca. i dont know about the difference in temperature but it certainly was exposed to more heat since ive been driving it nearly everyday.

i did consider a dash cap even before i owned the car because i wanted to prevent any cracks from emerging in the future but i ddint want to install anything permanent.

can't you also tell that its a cap by looking at the gauges? at least one car i saw looked real tacky because it had uneven gaps where the gauges were. maybe he just didnt install it right i dont know.