Dashboard Repair Guide

[rcb280z]

Was that Foghorn Leghorn? I love it. You're showing your age CO

Edited March 3, 2018 by rcb280z

[Captain Obvious]

Yes it was. And yes I am!   

Some twenty-something dropped a Bugs Bunny reference in conversation a week ago. I'm not sure he even knew what he was really talking about. The topic was what type of monster lives under a bed and after suggestions of troll and gnome, someone suggested gremlins. The 20-something remarked that gremlins were only on planes.

I did suggest to him that you have to hit em juuuuuuust right and got a glassed over look, but I didn't research further.

[Namerow]

21 hours ago, mklyons said:

Hi guys. I just wrote a dashboard repair guide for my website, ZCarGuide.com! Take a look and let me know what you think.

Good write-up.  It'll be interesting to see whether the Polyvance filler lives up to expectations.  I did this job myself about three years ago.  I using SEM's 'Bumper-Bite' flex filler, because it was recommended by others.  I don't think Polyvance was even around at that time. I think that the weakest link in the dash-crack repair chain is the limited bonding area offered by the exposed edges of the hard-vinyl top layer.  If you chamfer those edges at a 45 to 60-degree angle, you increase the width of the bonding surface by about 50%... but it's still going to be only 1/8" - 3/16" wide, at best.  Better, but still not much.  As with all adhesive joints, it's important to make the most of what you have in the way of bonding area by making sure that everything is ultra-clean beforehand and paying attention to the adhesive manufacturer's recommendations -- if any -- about preferred surface condition (roughed-up vs. smooth).

[gwri8]

I did my dash a couple of years ago with the SEM Bumper repair product and now It's cracked again where the filler is,  albeit smaller cracks than the original gaping ones, so not as obvious.  I'm interested in the Polyvance products to re-do the dash, But has anyone noticed that on Amazon the shipping cost is the same as the Filler Prep product cost?  $13.95 shipping for a 13.95 small can and all of a sudden it's almost $30.  I've been gouged before but that one kind of stings a bit.

[Jeff Berk]

9 hours ago, gwri8 said:

I did my dash a couple of years ago with the SEM Bumper repair product and now It's cracked again where the filler is,  albeit smaller cracks than the original gaping ones, so not as obvious.  I'm interested in the Polyvance products to re-do the dash, But has anyone noticed that on Amazon the shipping cost is the same as the Filler Prep product cost?  $13.95 shipping for a 13.95 small can and all of a sudden it's almost $30.  I've been gouged before but that one kind of stings a bit.

I think the problem is that the product is not sold by Amazon so you need to pay the full shipping cost. I noticed that several of the Polyvance products have an erratic price history (www.camelcamelcamel.com) so you might consider setting an alert for a price drop if you want to use their system.

Padded Dash Filler (B0002JKE6Y) Currently $24.99 but was $17.99 in January

Plastic Magic (aerosol) (B0002JKE3M) Currently $25.95 but was 17.96 up until January.

[gwri8]

22 minutes ago, Jeff Berk said:

I think the problem is that the product is not sold by Amazon so you need to pay the full shipping cost. I noticed that several of the Polyvance products have an erratic price history (www.camelcamelcamel.com) so you might consider setting an alert for a price drop if you want to use their system.

Padded Dash Filler (B0002JKE6Y) Currently $24.99 but was $17.99 in January

Plastic Magic (aerosol) (B0002JKE3M) Currently $25.95 but was 17.96 up until January.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0007LTXGO/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?smid=ARWMSGI3PN495&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002JKE6Y/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?smid=A21C4U5X700J66&psc=1

[Jeff Berk]

gwri8...If you are buying several Polyvance items, it looks like you are better off going directly to their web site where you get combined shipping.

[wheee!]

Like I said before, it’s almost $150 here in Canada.

[HSL]

12 hours ago, wheee! said:

Like I said before, it’s almost $150 here in Canada.

Check out handsontools.com

[gwri8]

Well I finally got my hands on the Polyvance dash pad filler. As mentioned earlier in this thread, I found there is not a consistent price point on this product, so shop around and you will probably find better and worse deals,  even directly from the manufacturer.  I liked this better than the SEM bumper repair because it has a little  longer work time and I could make more of it at a time to spread it over more area quicker.  I needed to basically re-coat the whole top surface of the dash , I think because with the previous dash refinish I used the SEM bumper repair sparingly.  Upon examination, the SEM product held quite well in the filled cracks but new small stress cracks had formed all over the top.  I suppose just from age and the tussle of work from sanding/handling at the first go around.  At any rate, I achieved satisfactory to me results for less than the cost of a new full dash cover.  We'll see if it holds up for Zcon in Oct.

Edited June 22, 2018 by gwri8

[grannyknot]

What did you use for the top coat, SEM Landau?

[gwri8]

For the finish coats I used SEM Texture Coating 39853 and SEM Trim Black 39143.