Sean

The dashglove does look like a very attractive idea. It would actually be an "upgrade" from the old vinyl dash, and should look great.

The only catch for me is my car's Saddle Brown interior. It may be difficult to color match.

I am replacing the factory 4-spoke brown steering wheel with a factory 3-spoke black 968 CS steering wheel. Maybe switching the dash to black leather would also work?

I dunno... I was hoping to 'restore' the dash as opposed to recovering it, but I'm not sold on my ability to use those DIY kits. And the best kit is kinda expensive, in the $140 range.

Has anyone tried the Dashglove? I have yet to hear from anyone who has installed it on their car.

bs

to add another angle to this:

what would those in the know reccomend for those of us (me) who have slightly cracked dashes and more important things to fix but who would like to prevent the cracks from growing/spreading or new ones from forming?

Sean

Okay, here's an update on the Dash Glove.

I spoke with a guy at A.Bauer and he told me, "Actually, we were very dissatisfied with that product, so we are no longer offering it for sale."

So that's it for the Dashglove.

The guy said that for those in the San Fran area, there is a place called California Covers that covered a 911 dash with leather. He said it took a while for the leather to spread out and hide the cracks, but the final results were good.

All of this research keeps leading me back to the vinyl repair kit as the most cost-effective solution to the cracks (if you want to avoid the plastic cover). I'm sure that in the hands of an experienced professional, the vinyl kit would be great. In my hands though...

I guess that if I botch the dash with the vinyl kit, I can always slap on a plastic cover. Or replace the whole enchilada. Grrrrrr

Sean

With regard to preventing the existing cracks from spreading, I have heard a lot of negative buzz about Armor All. Some people claim that the silicone in Armor All dries out the vinyl, which leads to more cracks.

I was surprised to hear this, since Armor All claims to PROTECT vinyl. But hey, I'm laying off the Armor All to be safe. I guess you'd be better off finding some other detailing product.

AndyK

When I bought a leather couch from a store, I called the manufacturer, to ask what to use to keep it good, and oiled. They said dont use anything with silicone, because it winds up drying out the leather. Using NOTHING was their recommendation.

I would assume silicone would do the same thing (maybe slower) to vinyl.

Soap and water on a rag is probably the safest bet!

Lew

I did the Coverlay bit. It is kind of shiny and plastic looking, BUT it's cheap, easy to install, and easy to remove when you're ready to go the expensive route. It sure beats looking at all the cracks, and most people don't notice it.

Matt O.

Don't get a dash glove or any other cover over thing. I'm working on a solution that looks awesome, feels better then stock and is probably less expensive then any coverlay. I think cost would be somewhere around 75 dollars. I will keep you posted.

-Matt

Sean

Hey Matt....any progress? My dash still looks like a satellite photo of Arizona...

jordanolder

yeah tell us the solution?

I tried the colorplus flex fill.

It works good on seats but not on dashboards.

I think the best solution is to get a custom leather dash or to get it redone by justdashes.

Mark-87-951

I checked out that DIY dash repair link. Looks easy enough on a flat surface but my dash has cracks starting from the vent holes which are not simple holes cut into a flat surface so I dont think it will be possible to repair those cracks.

I have the dual airbags so a cover is not an option unfortunately unless I try cutting the cover in some sort of fashion to expose the airbag. I dont know how to do that so it looks good.

Justdashes seems the best bet except for having a daily driver with no dash for awhile. Maybe pick up a dash on ebay and send it in? Not sure what one on ebay would cost though so it may be the same total for an aftermarket piece.

If someone would only come out with a cover for the dual airbags :-(

Mark

Perry 951

I am doing the dash with the Color Plus right after I paint it. Easy now since everything is out. Should have a report in a few weeks.

Sean

Where's the best place to buy a leather covered dash?

I found an ad in a year 2000 copy of Excellence magazine for a place called Metricraft. Seems they were selling 944 leather dashes for $269 (black & dark brown!). Sounds great....but when I called, the number was no longer valid. I'm afraid they have gone out of business.

So....where to find a leather dash? Is there still someplace that sells em?

Bryans951

Hey Matt,

Any luck on your cheaper solution yet?

Bryan
86 951

CS Mende

Bump!

Deepice

I have been avoiding this post until I was able to finish my dash but I will kick in my 2 cents

My dash after 315,000 miles was in very bad shape.

The car is being converted into a track car so installing the rollcage will severely limit future repair of the dash.

So I decided to pull the dash. this took less than an hour.

I had no desire to spend $600 US to recover a dash for track and DE. nor wait 6 weeks for the dash recovery.

So I tracked down the US distributor for a automotive fabric called ALACANTARA. It is a synthetic Ultrasuede in BLACK. You can find it being used by many Rally cars, Mercedes, Volvo, Lamborghini, Ferrari, Maserati,
Bentley, Ect... it is made in Italy

The crack in the black top layer of the dash allowed me to remove the black vinyl but leave the foam under layer.
I then used bondo to fill in the cracks in the dash and feathered things out. I have less than 3 hours into the
whole project but I am not done with the bondo. If you close your eyes and run your fingers over the top of the
dash you can no longer feel the cracks. The Material is the same thickness as the black plastic removed from
the dash.

Here is a link to a pic of the dash in progress

<a href="http://personal.atl.bellsouth.net/lig/s/m/smit1668/dash.jpg" target="_blank">http://personal.atl.bellsouth.net/lig/s/m/smit1668/dash.jpg</a>

I purchased 65$ worth of material it is 56" by 3' just wide enough to cover the dash. I will be using a 3M contact
adhesive. The material has a vinyl underlayer and is very stretchy. I will use a heat gun to mold the material
around the compound angles of the dash.

I will have about $75 in it plus about 7-8 hours of my time.

If people are interested I can post more pics and info on the material.

James