Anyone with a cracked dashpad ??

[67MercM100]

My dashpad is toast. But then again, it's 42+ years old and lived in the windshield of a truck in southern California for years.

I bought one of those plastic covers from NPD (or maybe it was LMC). Anyone ever installed one of those? It comes with adhesive. I was "hoping" I could just 'shave down' the curled up cracked spots and glue the new one down. Any chance that'll work?

[brandon.k]

My dashpad is toast. But then again, it's 42+ years old and lived in the windshield of a truck in southern California for years.

I bought one of those plastic covers from NPD (or maybe it was LMC). Anyone ever installed one of those? It comes with adhesive. I was "hoping" I could just 'shave down' the curled up cracked spots and glue the new one down. Any chance that'll work?

Thats how it is supposed to be done. Ive put 3 of these on my dads 72 Mustang. Even those crack after a few years. We learned from all this, that the limited warranty is 3 replacements. After the 3rd one cracks, your on your own. It may just be from the odd shape of the dash. All 3 of them cracked in the same place. Im still thinking about ordering one for my pickup.

[austin]

im trying this methhod tommarow but im not going to remove my dash

[triggerbilly]

That's cool,
Keep the pics coming !I really wanted to try it but my dash was too far gone !!

[68FORDJBM]

I was lucky and my truck came with an extra dash board in pretty good shape, but I may finish it with the materials described in the link. Have you tried it to see how it works? I'd like mine to go in with that brand new look if possible.

[red403]

Has anyone gone dash padless with just the bare metel. My dash pad is gone so bad this won't be a option and I was wondering what it would look like without it. I will replace it with a good one if it doesn't look good without one but I would like to see some without it.

[austin]

Has anyone gone dash padless with just the bare metel. My dash pad is gone so bad this won't be a option and I was wondering what it would look like without it. I will replace it with a good one if it doesn't look good without one but I would like to see some without it.

ive seen two bumps without dash pads they look alright but a nice cap looks alot better

[ForingaMex]

Peronaly, I like the plain look without the dashpad. It would just be a lot of work to weld up all of the mounting holes. (or whatever method you would use) Did the 67-69 come without a dashpad? I have never had one but I was considering buying 67 or 68 and it had a smooth dash. No holes exept the heater/defrost holes and the speaker grille.
Jake

[austin]

well im still working on my dash i must say it sort of sucks because you cant really get epoxy into the small cracks but it works great on the large one

also during prep i didnt sand the high spots out i used a soldering iron to melt them down it worked alot better than sanding

[red403]

ForingaMex....my 67 does have the dash pad on top and it is to far gone for repairing that is one reason I am thinking of going padless. The new cab I have for it is from a 72 and is already stripped so no better time than now to weld and fill holes before stuff gets changed over. I think the only holes I will not fill is the heater holes even though the truck won't be driven in winter I do live in Alberta. I would still like to see some pictures of it though.

[stephen44]

ForingaMex....my 67 does have the dash pad on top and it is to far gone for repairing that is one reason I am thinking of going padless. The new cab I have for it is from a 72 and is already stripped so no better time than now to weld and fill holes before stuff gets changed over. I think the only holes I will not fill is the heater holes even though the truck won't be driven in winter I do live in Alberta. I would still like to see some pictures of it though.

what are your intentions for grills to cover the heater and radio vents ? - I am having to do the same for the same reasons on my 67 - the dash was more or less MIA - when i got it

- Stephen

[cdeal28078]

I guess I am one of the few that have used the plastic covers and been relatively happy with it. Mine has been on about 10 years now and I don't even remember where I bought it. I has come loose a couple of time and is loose now but it does not bother me any. Nobody has EVER looked in my truck and said "OH, you have one of those plastic dash covers"
To be honest you will have to shine a light in and lean over to see the seam where the cover meets the original dash cover.
Cannot beat it for the $89 or so I paid for it versus the $500 or so they wanted for a new one at the time.
Clint

[JMcTurnan]

I only read the first post, But I have done a process close to that on a king cab 78 ford, I fiberglassed the dash pad cracks. Sanded it down, than a slight wet sand. Then repainted it, it looked like new, but sometimes you want the dash texture. Which i just lightly put another coat of fiber glass on, and tab it with a slightly wet rag to get the texture. Don't have pics sorry, it was my friends old dash.

[shaggys_bump]

I bought one from LMC but havent installed it yet, Trying to get all my ducks in a row before i start the resto project, dont want to run into a money drought halfway through. But the quality of the pad is pretty good, it has a little bit of excess plastic where the fusion seam is that will have to be shaved off.

[JMcTurnan]

The pads are easy to install, the cover is best to install while it is out of the truck. When you do it in the truck it is hard to get the front middle to stay down. If you take it out you can use bungee cord, or other stuff to hold the front down, and it will last i mean "forever".