Anybody have any advice on removing an old dash cover? I haven't decided on what to do to replace it, but the old one seems a bit recalcitrant coming off in my feeble first probes. It's one of those 3 piece plastic dealies. Is there something that can be done to make things come apart easier that won't cause me to pull off half of the vinyl on the dash?

 

When I purchased my car it had one of those covers on it. It looked okay for about two months and then started wrinkling. It was held on by clear silicone sealant. It pulled off fairly easy but getting all of the silicone off is a pain in the hind end. I just used my fingernails and fingers and rolled the stuff off. No damage occured to the dash underneath due to removal of the cover.

Cheers,

 

I just pulled my dash last week to remove the cover that's been on for over two years. I going to reapplied it for a little while longer. I just gently pull it loose and used a spat. on some of the hard areas to remove. Sounds bad sometimes but no vinyl came off. I'm lucky but it has not wrinkled yet. Other than that I used 3M adhesive remover to help get silicone off. No discolor of dash using the 3M product.

 

I'm guessing that's the abbr. for spatula?


I guess I just need to really pull. I started working on the front piece on the pod, and it wasn't coming off, so I'm hoping they didn't use something a little more, aggressive, to attach that piece.

Thanks for the advice, I may have a go at it this evening.

 

yes the abbr. for spatula or you could use a putty knife

 

Sorry, I just thought it was funny that your abbreviated spatula, so I wanted to double check to make sure it wasn't some tool I wasn't familiar with.

Didn't do anything with this last night, I went and road my bicycle. Maybe this weekend.

 

Well, I went at the dash cover tonight, and got it off, with a little collateral damage. The dash is in bad shape - equal to the worst pictures I've seen on here. I was hoping it wouldn't be quite so bad, but wouldn't know until I got it off.

Took a few pieces of vinyl off the pod on the top, and a nice strip along the windshield edge. It looks pretty tatty. I'll hit it with a little vinylex, mostly for the hell of it, and start deciding how I want to deal with this. Time to find that thread on patching dashes.

 

there is a thread by a guy, can't remember who did it, who used a fiberglass bondo compound. He said it did a good job. Don't know the long term hold up ability. Would be interested in finding out if it still holding up good. Pictures looked ok. But the different rates of expansion of bondo fill cracks might be iffy.

 

yeah, I think that's the one I was thinking of. Another method is to redo it using some SEM product, I can't remember who it was, it was well done. But I can be a bit of stickler for things that don't quite match, which was the problem with the texture of this method.

Has anybody had experience with either of these companies:

http://www.dashboardrestorations.com/

http://www.autoupholsterykits.com/dashpad.html

They basically rebuild it, but maybe do a better job than Ron's favorite, Just Dashes.

 

I talked with a guy at auto upholstery named Ron. The Company is out of Australia. Ron's shop is the NA go-between. The dash was priced at $544 in 2003. They seem to do good work. But like every company there are good and bad stories, just like with Just Dashes.

 

Interesting. Now it's $695, but turnaround time is 5-6 weeks. Still not bad. But it will have to wait until next winter at the earliest, when I don't really need the car.

 

Fabric, why not buy an old trashed dash from a wrecking yard and send that so you won't need to wait until Winter? You should be able to find someone who will gladly and inexpensively furnish one to get it out of their yard.

If all else fails, and you want an original, check with Susan at Devek who can order a NOS dash from Porsche (although at a premium price; I paid $1200 for mine).

 

Ron do you think that dash is made any better than the first ones? And $1200, oooooh, man that would hurt me

 

Bill, I have in my car presently a dash "reconstructed" by JustDashes which would literally make you vomit if you saw it. It had a guarantee which proved to be worthless because I got it through Devek who ordered it themselves after removing mine. The pod and dash were together $1300 and the pod I have decided to re-dye. Devek negotiated a refund and ate the other half which gave me my mony back, and I opted for the NOS Porsche dash. It will be installed prior to the Parade in June. Both Devek and I have lost big time considering the time and hassle and the cost of replacing the JustDashes unit. Fortunately, Susan is as tough as she is and cares about her customers or we would both be out more. Yes, I think if I take better care of it, it will last at least as long as the original dash (18 years and 150,000 miles in Southern California sun). The original had slight initial cracks around the vent openings and one small crack around the glove box opening with which I could have lived. Or I could have used SEM products to re-finish it myself and re-dye it. JustDashes wove a fantastic promise of superior quality and I needed to remove my dash because of an electrical fire, so I gobbled that "hook" and once again in my life was suckered into believing there is a Santa Claus. And once again it was a big mistake.

The dash I have from Porsche is a perfect color, it is a beautiful item compared to the trash I have from JustDashes. It is worth the money considering I can just bolt it in and it will fit, which is not what has happened with the other dash. If you think you can duplicate the quality of this dash, be my guest. Just don't bother to tell me why it isn't as good when you finish it. The answer to your question is Yes, it is as good or better than the dash because it is NEW and to spec. And it will be covered and kept out of the sun. Good luck sir.

 

Ron, Take a breathe and relax. I did not say Just Dashes was great or bad. I did not say I did a better job than them or that I did anything. I just used a cover like Jeff. I'm lucky it has not warped or crack or faded and it's been two years. When I finish doing other projects first, I'll get around to re-doing the dash. Maybe I'll be like you and spend the money for a NOS from Porsche, or send Rob some leather to make a cover. But take it easy, man you people here are touchy about the dash. Second time I've had people jump on me about the dash