how can i stop my dash from cracking?

[Carl Beck]

Hi 280Z:

Well that's most likely more than I wrote in 4 years of High School.. Out of a class of 365 students.... I was ranked 363rd. That means that two people did less than me, and still graduated!! I hate coming in third!!

Of course a couple years later - I paid the price in college. Took me two years of very hard work - to get past being a Freshman..

Anyway - I've seen some pretty sad dash caps... and I've seen a couple that I had to look very closely at to notice - then only after someone else that was with me brought to my attention. Could be my eyes are just getting old and I don't see as well as I used to. It was a full dash cap and other than looking closely at the gauge openings, I'd have never caught it... The one good thing about the dash caps, if they are installed properly, the pattern/grain is almost a dead match for the original.

I believe that there are a couple of manufacturers... could be that one is slightly higher quality than the other... I'm not sure of that however. Maybe someone here has more experience buying/installing them and can suggest a brand name and source.

good luck, sound like a nice car to have..

regards,

Carl

[1 Bravo 6]

G'Day Carl,

Regarding Armour All, the auto trimmer who recovered the seats in my car warned me most emphaticly against using the product. It's not USING the product that causes the trouble, it's when you STOP using it.

That was around twelve months ago. I mentioned his warning on this site and received numerous replies agreeing with my statement. One such reply was from a member, (can't remember who it was), who reported the results of tests made by a company he worked for, (I think), which confirmed that problems arose when the product was no longer used.

I'll do some back tracking and see if I can dig up the thread. I'll let you know.

Rick.

[1 Bravo 6]

Took a while to find the thread.

It's in Open Discussions under "Not Armour All".

Enjoy.

Rick.

[Carl Beck]

26th Z wrote:

>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

Hi 26th Z (everyone):

I've read the materials at the site you reference... I have not found anything that's says anything about "Armor-All". Did I miss something?

Quoted From CarCareOnLine.com

>Vinyl Care:

>....snipped....

>A quality cleaner/dressing product will contain a UV protectant and

>essential oils to replace lost oils from the vinyl. These protectants

>are very expensive, so the K-Mart specials may do more harm than

>good. Silicone oil also has a very strong electrostatic attraction which

>may be considered beneficial in that it will tend to stay where it is placed,

>but will also attract every dust particle in the surrounding three counties.

Armor-All label information says:

"Protectant guards against ozone, oxygen and ultra-violet rays..

....bla bla bla....It makes surfaces anti-static to repel dust and dirt."

So they claim at least that Armor-All has the UV shield recommended.

I just took a rubber balloon, rubbed it through my hair... Yep, lots of static cling!! The now static charged balloon sucked the dust off the top of my monitors!!! Then applied a little Armor-All from one of the Armor-All wipes to the balloon.... all static gone.... and now I can't even get it charged up again by rubbing it through my hair. (however my hair is now flat ;-).

I sent the following e-mail note to Car Care Specialties, Inc.

= = =Copy follows = = ==

Car Care Specialties, Inc.

http://www.carcareonline.com/

Hello:

In your "How-To" articles related to vinyl and rubber care, you write about the various ingredients of vinyl and rubber care products.

I have several different products in my garage, not one has a list of ingredients on any of the labels, nor can I find a list of ingredients with percentages of total from the manufacturers. Most seem to be secrete formulas.

I would appreciate knowing how you found the specific ingredients of any of the products, especially the discount brands you warn against.

Short of having a list of ingredients with percentages of contents, do you use specific scientific tests to determine the presents of any of the ingredients you warn against. I don't want to drink all this stuff to see if any contain formaldehyde!!

Thank you for any help you can provide.

kind regards,

Carl

Carl Beck, President

Internet Z Car Club

Clearwater, FL USA

http://ZHome.com

= = = = = = End Copy = = = =

I'd love to figure out how to determine what's in all these various products... I guess it's good that Car Care Specialties, Inc. sells the products they recommend... and warns you against any other competition... isn't it?

"raw Silicone Oil" (what the hell is THAT?) - I'm pretty sure it's all Snake Oil... ;-)

FWIW,

Carl

Next email goes to McKesson Inc.. aka Armor-All...

[TrojanOreo]

I know this is a joke, and someone will get a good laugh, but where can I get a decently priced original dash. Mine Z came with a fresh lookin' cap, but I'm looking for the real thing.

[Bambikiller240]

Laughing and crying at the same time. OEM (NOS) dashes (when/where available) are routinely priced around $800-$900. No telling how long they have been stored in a warehouse. (i.e. they aren't "new")

Good condition used dashes appear on eBay occasionally, but they have been known to begin cracking in shipment and upon installation in a different vehicle. (Different stresses, and twisting, and climate)

For many people, the best option is to have an original dash recovered by Dashboard Restorations (a sponsor of theis site). Several members here can provide details of their experiences withthis company. Check out their forum for further data.

Unfortunately, your options are rather limited with replacing this part.

[daddz]

Another alternative to installing a dash cap is to order a molded dash cover from Motorsport (others offer the same type of product) to lay over the dash while it is parked. The kit will suggest using their velcro stickies which to me defeats the purpose of trying to preserve the dash in the first place.

I have had good success with Armour All in the 22 years that I have been using it.

As a sort of testimonial, my avatar 280Z which was bought from the original owner in September of 2001 has always had that product applied to it and the dash has two cracks which the owner admitted appeared back in '85/'86 when he was stationed in California and his application of Armour All was absent for a few years and the car was always parked outside. Since my purchase the car has always been stored outside with that molded cover and has been coated periodically with Armour All and no further cracking has appeared.

Lastly, the '81 280ZX which has a black interior has no cracks in the dashboard and has also been stored outside for most of its life thanks to Armour All. Some people prefer Formula 2001 and I have used both but, still I come back to Armour All.

[280z]

hey carl beck, i doubt you will get a response but let us know what the say if you do

[Carl Beck]

Hello 280Z (everyone)

Below is the reply I received from Car Care Specialities.

= == = =Copy Message = = =

From: "carcare" <sales@carcareonline.com>

To: "Carl Beck" <cbeck@becksystems.com>

Subject: Re: Vinyl Care Product Ingredients

Date: Fri, 3 Sep 2004 10:47:32 -0400

Dear Carl:

All manufacturers must provide you with an M.S.D.S. form upon request. Any

product we carry or seriously test for possible inclusion in our range of

products we run through a Mass Spec. to determine the exact ingredients. We have even found some companies that are "less than truthful" on their

M.S.D.S. forms.

Any product we carry does not contain the harmful forms of raw silicone oil.

We will not sell anything that we have not thoroughly tested.

There is no way to know what is in the "discount store" products. One rule

of thumb is that the lower the price, the more raw silicone oil it contains,

as raw silicone oil is very cheap. The "discount store" type of retailer is

looking for a fat profit margin and national advertising budgets. Bottles

cost the same, so the only way to increase profit margin and provide

national advertising budgets is to reduce the costs of the product.

I hope this helps.

Thank you again,

Larry Reynolds

Car Care Specialties, Inc.

Distributors of Quality Car Care Products

116 South Main Street

Unit # 2

Lodi, NJ 07644-2251

US Toll Free (877) 796-8300

Outside US (201) 796-8300

Fax (973) 767-0038

email: larry@carcareonline.com

website: www.carcareonline.com

Old enough to remember when sex was safe

and race cars were dangerous.

= = = = =END Copy = = = = = = = =

So now I have another term... to find.... "raw silicone oil". There must be some kind of "cooked silicone oil" out there too. This company must be fairly large to afford time on a Mass. Spec. to check every product.

FWIW,

Carl

[Alfadog]

Just wanted to say I have subscribed to this thread, and I'm sure many others have too. Very interesting discussion... will be good if we can find a product superior to Armor-All. Currently I use Meguiars. Keep up the good work, Sherlock!

[MikeW]

So now I have another term... to find.... "raw silicone oil".

Google is your friend. Note that all 38 hits for the exact phrase "raw silicone oil" say basically the same thing. This either means that it's bad stuff or people are simply repeating the claims of others. I make no judgment call myself as I have no experience with these products.

http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=mozclient&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&q=%22raw+silicone+oil%22

[Bambikiller240]

.......................So now I have another term... to find.... "raw silicone oil". There must be some kind of "cooked silicone oil" out there too. This company must be fairly large to afford time on a Mass. Spec. to check every product.

Maybe the alternative to "raw" silicone is "refined" (rather than "cooked")???

As for every product being tested via a Mass Spectrometer, maybe Larry Reynolds is a salesman just blowing smoke up................(you get the idea). Can he provide the actual official results of the test?

Everybody says the stuff they sell, or currently use is the "Cat's Meow", and all the other stuff is Cat Poop.

(not being critical of you Carl B., it's just that I tend not to believe what someone (Larry R. etc.) with a vested interest in certain products has to say publically). Did they report the false M.S.D.S sheets to the gov't? Doubt it.