It still looks better than any of my dash pads. Small imperfections keep it a driver and a freekin awesome one
My 83 Wagon
- Thread starter mikester
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Worked on the dash again today. Got the tach mounted and touched up some of the scratches from putting everything together. The tach came in my 81 so I figured I would put it to good use. Im sure some of you guys are wondering whats behind the tach or why I did that. Its a piece of aluminum that runs behind the mount to stiffen up the side of the cluster housing. I painted it and mounted it with #6 button head screws. That tach hardly moves at all. I did the same on my 81. I hate when they vibrate. LOL
I still have to fix the stupid screw up with the emergency brake release. I think I might try to use the spare glove box door that I have. Its a similar grain, I just have to figure out how Im going to attach it.
I also need to stick the radio in. Ive got two Alpines that I got from cars my son once owned. Free is good !
I still have to fix the stupid screw up with the emergency brake release. I think I might try to use the spare glove box door that I have. Its a similar grain, I just have to figure out how Im going to attach it.
I also need to stick the radio in. Ive got two Alpines that I got from cars my son once owned. Free is good !
I swear it just never ends ! LOL
While I was putting the dash in the black on the repop cluster bezel got scuffed in a couple of spots. I hit it with some 2000 and tried to polish it out but that made it look worse. So I taped off the gray, cleaned and prepped the black and the other night I resprayed it with Landau Black. Easy right ?
Not for my car ! I put two light coats on. Something Ive sprayed countless times. About 5 minutes after the second coat I went over to see how it looked. ALL of the black Color Coat crinkled. Never happened before. When I bought it I changed the lighter gray to the color of my dash with no issues. I guess the black isnt compatible with that lacquer based Color Coat. I had to find that out the hard way. LOL
Couldnt get it off. The gray was fine. Trying to strip the black off would screw up the gray. I got so pissed I put the bezel on the floor and stomped it like a roach. It went out in the trash.
I ordered another one yesterday.
While I was putting the dash in the black on the repop cluster bezel got scuffed in a couple of spots. I hit it with some 2000 and tried to polish it out but that made it look worse. So I taped off the gray, cleaned and prepped the black and the other night I resprayed it with Landau Black. Easy right ?
Not for my car ! I put two light coats on. Something Ive sprayed countless times. About 5 minutes after the second coat I went over to see how it looked. ALL of the black Color Coat crinkled. Never happened before. When I bought it I changed the lighter gray to the color of my dash with no issues. I guess the black isnt compatible with that lacquer based Color Coat. I had to find that out the hard way. LOL
Couldnt get it off. The gray was fine. Trying to strip the black off would screw up the gray. I got so pissed I put the bezel on the floor and stomped it like a roach. It went out in the trash.
I ordered another one yesterday.
Todays project is trying to fix the emergency brake release. I cut a piece of dash out of a Monte at the local yard I deal with. This way I have something to play with instead of using mine and screwing it up even more. I dont know what will work. A piece of thin aluminum glued to the back ? That might work but it might be to thick and the handle might not be able to snap in. The other option would be to use the plastic from the glove box door on the outside and open up the original hole so it wont interfere. Im just not sure if the cable will be long enough to hook into the brake release.
I know working on a hobby should be fun but this is getting to be a thorn in my side ! LOL
I know working on a hobby should be fun but this is getting to be a thorn in my side ! LOL
Spend most of yesterday trying to fix the hole where the emergency brake release mounts. It was a pain in the butt. First I made it out of a piece of 6061 aluminum but after it was done I realized it was a little too thin and the handle would rattle around.
Then I used the plastic from an extra glove box door that I had squirreled away. Cut it on a table saw, drilled and filed the hole for the brake release and mounted it to the dash. I couldnt use screws at the bottom because of the metal brace thats at the bottom of the dash on the inside so I used Marinetex epoxy. I left it dry overnight. I would've liked to use screws top and bottom but there wasnt any room to get my fingers in there to put nuts on the ends of the screws. I tried it on the junk piece of dash that I was playing with out of the car and it was really tough. I would have had to remove the dash AGAIN and I just didnt think it was worth it. I hope the epoxy and screw combination works. That handle is under a little bit of pressure so time will tell.
This is what the junk piece looks like from the back. Notice the metal brace. Not much room.
This is what my dash looked like before the repair. The back where the handle snaps in had a piece break off where the clip is. It also cracked the outside as shown.
This is what it looks like now. The hole for the handle is actually better than in the photo. I didnt trim the original hole to make it larger so some of that shows up in the photo.
Then I used the plastic from an extra glove box door that I had squirreled away. Cut it on a table saw, drilled and filed the hole for the brake release and mounted it to the dash. I couldnt use screws at the bottom because of the metal brace thats at the bottom of the dash on the inside so I used Marinetex epoxy. I left it dry overnight. I would've liked to use screws top and bottom but there wasnt any room to get my fingers in there to put nuts on the ends of the screws. I tried it on the junk piece of dash that I was playing with out of the car and it was really tough. I would have had to remove the dash AGAIN and I just didnt think it was worth it. I hope the epoxy and screw combination works. That handle is under a little bit of pressure so time will tell.
This is what the junk piece looks like from the back. Notice the metal brace. Not much room.
This is what my dash looked like before the repair. The back where the handle snaps in had a piece break off where the clip is. It also cracked the outside as shown.
This is what it looks like now. The hole for the handle is actually better than in the photo. I didnt trim the original hole to make it larger so some of that shows up in the photo.
That will work I don't think anyone would notice .... Next hurdle
Done. It looks like the epoxy will hold it tight to the dash. I hope.
The handle sticks out a little more but to be honest you cant really notice it.
The handle sticks out a little more but to be honest you cant really notice it.
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