Not me. I've tried DIY vinyl repair with one of those kits. Total disaster. I since found a local professional leather and vinyl guy and have had him do a few car restoration projects for me over the last ten years or so (even a leather sofa). But when I showed him a cracked Supra dash, he said no way. He explained that when the vinyl is still soft and pliable and the crack is due to abuse or crash damage, he can often fix it or he has decent luck with backed vinyls like on a seat or door panel that has a woven backing material to glue together. But when a molded foam and vinyl part like a dash pad is all dried out, he said that he can't get his materials to stick and the crack will reappear almost instantly because it expands and contracts with sun exposure vs the old hardened vinyl. I started to reply earlier but didn't want to discourage. I'm hoping our OP finds a solution as there are a lot more Supras remaining than there are uncracked dash pads and often the vinyl trim is all that separates a viable restoration candidate from the scrap heap.
Best solution for repairing dashboard cracks and how to finish?
I've been researching what I need to do to finish repairing my dashboard, and with all of the different ideas i've read about I'm really not sure what the best solution will be for my '82 celica supra dash. I'm trying to figure out what the best material will be for filling the cracks and what the best process for finishing will be.
So far it seems like the two most popular methods for filling the dash cracks are some type of silicone filling or a type of flexible epoxy filling. I'm thinking the flexible epoxy is probably going to be the better choice, but maybe i'm wrong? Or is there a different filler material that would work even better on these old supra dashboards? Is there any specific brands that you recommend? Something local possibly?
The other decision i'm stuck on is what to do for texturing and finishing the dash? Both painting and frocking the dashboards seems to produce a decent end result, however I don't have any experience with either of these processes for interior restoration. Can anyone give me any advice for either of these? Do they both usually produce a nice result, or is one method normally better than the other? Is there any other way to finish the dash so it will look good?
Please let me know what you guys think. I appreciate any and all input.
So far it seems like the two most popular methods for filling the dash cracks are some type of silicone filling or a type of flexible epoxy filling. I'm thinking the flexible epoxy is probably going to be the better choice, but maybe i'm wrong? Or is there a different filler material that would work even better on these old supra dashboards? Is there any specific brands that you recommend? Something local possibly?
The other decision i'm stuck on is what to do for texturing and finishing the dash? Both painting and frocking the dashboards seems to produce a decent end result, however I don't have any experience with either of these processes for interior restoration. Can anyone give me any advice for either of these? Do they both usually produce a nice result, or is one method normally better than the other? Is there any other way to finish the dash so it will look good?
Please let me know what you guys think. I appreciate any and all input.
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