repairing cracks in dashpad

[flatblack]

went to find my dashpad that i saved from a truck a while back, sat in the rafters a couple years with not a crack in it, pulled it out today and it has about 5 or so small cracks in it, does anyone know if its possible to fix this before it gets out of hand? is there a repair kit thats any good or anything?

[m-mman]

Vynal is supposed to be flexable and it is, when it is new.
Heated up in the sun it expands, cool it down at night and it shrinks.
Hit a new dash with your hand and it dents and pops out.

As vynal ages it looses the chemicals that keep it soft. (vynal IS a petroleum prpduct after all) and it becomes brittle.

There really is not much you can do about existing or developing cracks.
Put protective and softening chemicals on it MIGHT help keep more cracks from developing but . . . ?
Unlike a steering wheel you cant fill the cracks with bondo or epoxy, cause the foam/vynal remains flexable.

When a dash is stored ideally it should be a place that maintains a constant moderate temperature AND ideally it should be in a plastic bag to keep it from drying out.

[flatblack]

thanks.... guess you live and learn, guess ill just have to get it re-covered. i stored it in the rafters just the way it is, when i pulled it down it must've had a quarter inch of dust on it...

[91Bear]

Vinyl

[fordman]

i have never really tried one of those vinyl repair kits. but i do have one here. the package comes with a tube of filler for the crack. and some coloring paste stuff. you fill the crack with the filler tube stuff let it dry overnight, and then use the colro stuff to match your color. and refill the crack in the morning. since the filler stuff shrinks or maybe your not suppose to fill it all the way up. after you put your color in there you use a heating iron thing in the package. and use the paper and design that is in there to heat it for one last fix to it.

[cdeal28078]

I know some on here don't like them but I used one of those $89 (at the time) CAPS on my dash and have been very happy with it. I do need to re-glue the center area but other than that it has been great. Especially since at the time the aftermarket wanted $500 for a (new) dash. A NOS was more than that!
I spent that money on other things.
clint

[kaptnkaos]

I've seen that kit like yer talkin' about Fordman... the results weren't very good...
it did look a little better than it did before the fix, but you could certainly tell that it was patched..
Perhaps if it were done before it actually popped open it might work better.

KaptnKA S

[george worley]

I didn't have very good results with the vinyl patch kit I bought. A waste of time and money.

[JMcTurnan]

Well, you take a da sander and sand down where the cracks have opened. Then take fiberglass filler and fill it like bondo. Then paint it with interior paint.