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Haven't had a chance to get going yet. I have purchased the foam underlay, so I am ready to go whenever I have a few consecutive hours to spare. The roads just got salted for the first time last night, so I don't have any excuse to keep the dash in the car anymore.
I did the same to my early dash on my 924 (note that early dash have more curves to them)
Fixed all the cracks with bondo and lots of sanding.
Took me several hours to put the foam on the dash and sand it down to a level i felt confortable with.
I brought my dash to a friend who's been working with custom vynil upholstery for the last 20 years to ensure a quality installation job.
After 15 minutes we decided to rip the foam out and glue the vynil directly on the dash.
Took me an hour to remove the foam (remembring all the evenings i spent sanding it down)
In the end I am very happy with the move as the dash looks amazing now.
You need to know that with the foam, the instant the vinyl touches the foam it is glued and you cannot move it anymore.
There is also no way to stretch the vinyl as once the vynil touches the foam it will rip the foam while stretching.
After seeing how many times we had to stretch the vynil for a proper fit I believe you need to be a god of reupholstering to manage this on an early dash.
I had all the pics from Rob at Classic9 to do the work on my own but could not replicate his workmanship.
Be aware that while he sells the vinyl dash cover in DIY mode, you will save money if you send him your dash and ask him to do it if you count the time you invest in it.
Good to know- found an early dash core locally for $50, so I'm going to pick that up tomorrow.
Any other tips for getting the core ready for covering? If you're completely removing the foam underlayment, are there still any cracks to fill in at that point, or is all the cracking in the upper layers?
Good to know- found an early dash core locally for $50, so I'm going to pick that up tomorrow.
Any other tips for getting the core ready for covering? If you're completely removing the foam underlayment, are there still any cracks to fill in at that point, or is all the cracking in the upper layers?
C9 includes a polyethelene foam with their kits, pretty sure this is what he is talking about, you leave the original foam in place and grind out/fill the cracks.
C9 includes a polyethelene foam with their kits, pretty sure this is what he is talking about, you leave the original foam in place and grind out/fill the cracks.
Sorry for the confusion, you are correct, i was mentionning the white polyethelene that come with the C9 kit.
The early dash actually have no foam at all from the factory
Sorry for the confusion, you are correct, i was mentionning the white polyethelene that come with the C9 kit.
The early dash actually have no foam at all from the factory
They have foam, but it's pretty stiff. It's about 1/4"-1/2" thick, below the vinyl.
I wonder if the DAP gel or nonflammable adhesives would work. They have a longer dry time so might not tear the foam, but I did read that the gel melts styrofoam, so who knows what it might do to a dash or underlay.
01-18-2016, 11:19 AM
