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I am becoming obsessed with dash cracks and I'm begging to watch them as they creep along like a windshield crack. I don't know how to stop them but they are winning. I use a sun screen when parked, I keep the car covered, crack both windows for ventilation. I not keen on putting a rug over the dash. To make matters worse, having a grey green interior which is NLA, I can't plan ahead for recovering. Is there any solution to this? ( the pod is fine ).
I am becoming obsessed with dash cracks and I'm begging to watch them as they creep along like a windshield crack. I don't know how to stop them but they are winning. I use a sun screen when parked, I keep the car covered, crack both windows for ventilation. I not keen on putting a rug over the dash. To make matters worse, having a grey green interior which is NLA, I can't plan ahead for recovering. Is there any solution to this? ( the pod is fine ).
I am sufffering from the same obsession. I have an interior guy that tells me to drill a small hole at the end of the crack and fill it. That doesn't sound appealing to me.
In metal, a hole will relieve local stress risers and slow a crack's migration. To be an effective stopper in the dash, one would need to drill through the cover and the foam substrate. Even then it just delays the progression.
As much as I might dislike the looks of having a cover on the dash, it's been a day-saver in my car with the black dash and pod. I don't like the carpet mats at all for the same reasons Van dislikes them -- they look like a floor mat was accidentally left at the bottom of the windshield. I've had a "velour" cover on the dash since the second day I've owned it, and it's kept the dash dirt and crack free for the interim twenty-some years. It's only been off a few times, mostly for cleaning, once to try and redye it black again. That didn't work BTW, so I may casually look for a replacement. I suspect that we can get Alcantera or other more contemporary materials from one of our supporters like Rob Budd at Classic9 if we ask. Much better than what looks like a floor mat left on the dash...
I'm sure you guys in the US have houses that suffer from salt damp. Here they drill holes into the brick work and inject a silicone based fluid that that does not dry up. I spoke to a dash recovering guy here and he reckons most times it's the foam underneath that is shrinking and pulling the vinyl with it. I wonder if a solution may be like the slat damp trick. Impregnate the foam with a non drying liquid.
Call me crazy but I like the vinyl dash and pod in my 79. I had the option of getting it covered and while they look great, the car came with vinyl so I was a little **** about keeping it that way. Drove to Boston for my dash and shipped my pod over from England
The weird thing about the cracking is I've seen and know of an '84 that sat outside through MI winters and summers uncovered and neglected for years and the Dash and Pod are in perfect condition, go figure.
I get the really cracked ones recovered in leather with custom thread and whatever suites me for the car, but do like the Stock vinyl look too. Its hard to duplicate it though.
Great idea's. I have no qualms about having a dash recovered. I am having Budd do one at the moment for my 81 comp. The interior in my red car (per pic) is grey green. There isn't any material out there to match it. Not even the seats or the carpet. Rob Budd told me if I wanted to recover my seats I would have to buy 3 cows @$1000 each and have them died then made into seats. I live in a semi urban area and I'm not sure how my neighbors would react to me raising 3 cows let alone about all the cars I own.
I use Capt. Tolley's Creeping Crack Cure on my Airstream. This finds leaks and cracks. It does a really good job of sealing. I think I will try it and if my dash explodes I will take pics
You'd have to run and hide when the neighbors came by...
Many moons ago the Rolls Royce guys spoke about how the cows were raised special for the interiors. All soft barriers, no insects, barbed wire, sharp edges etc that might add a defect to the skins. Sounded a little far-fetched but then again it's just wild enough to be true. The supercar build shows display some of the care needed these days when selecting and laying out the pieces for an interior on a hide. Any detectable defect gets a mark, and the cutting machine knows to avoid that area.
07-26-2018, 03:59 PM
Dash crack obsession
