partsflyin
Adventurer
What a great idea!! looking great!!
fiberglass dash repair / modification
- Thread starter corax
- Start date
corax
Explorer
I test fit the dash and found that certain areas had to be trimmed for it to fit properly - all of the trim work was done with a sharp utility knife which made things easier.
The screw holes and edges here . . .
. . . sit on here. See the plastic slot under the screw tab that the dash slides into? I had to sand the fiberglass just a hair thinner than it was to get it to slide in properly
the fiberglass that I originally had wrapped around was cut along this line so the dash will sit on the forward shelf properly
I also had to cut small notches for these clips . . .
. . . . which slide into the dash here
so now that I know the dash fits with the fiberglass on it, it gets one very thin coat of bondo to fill any pin holes or irregularities before final sanding and paint
The screw holes and edges here . . .
. . . sit on here. See the plastic slot under the screw tab that the dash slides into? I had to sand the fiberglass just a hair thinner than it was to get it to slide in properly
the fiberglass that I originally had wrapped around was cut along this line so the dash will sit on the forward shelf properly
I also had to cut small notches for these clips . . .
. . . . which slide into the dash here
so now that I know the dash fits with the fiberglass on it, it gets one very thin coat of bondo to fill any pin holes or irregularities before final sanding and paint
corax
Explorer
On the 1st gen 4runner, the hardest thing about yanking the dash is taking out the far side passenger vent to get to one of the mounting bolts. One of the quick things I did to make dash removal later easier is break off the locking tab on the dash vents, spring tension from the clip will keep it in place anyway.
3 coats of Rustoleum Hammered and I slid it back into place. It's a bit glossier than I wanted, so I'm gonna live with it for now and I might respray it with dark grey interior paint later - otherwise, the color match came out pretty good
View from the driver's seat
Passenger's side
Since the vents sit recessed in the dash a bit I want to wait 2-3 days for the paint to completely cure before I put them in to avoid scratching the paint.
3 coats of Rustoleum Hammered and I slid it back into place. It's a bit glossier than I wanted, so I'm gonna live with it for now and I might respray it with dark grey interior paint later - otherwise, the color match came out pretty good
View from the driver's seat
Passenger's side
Since the vents sit recessed in the dash a bit I want to wait 2-3 days for the paint to completely cure before I put them in to avoid scratching the paint.
corax
Explorer
Finished pics and I'm done messin' with it. I used some generic dark grey vinyl interior spray paint to knock the glare off. It's a near perfect color match and fits in well even though there's no texture to it.
just gotta touch up the corner of the vent openings where the paint got scraped off pushing the vents in
just gotta touch up the corner of the vent openings where the paint got scraped off pushing the vents in
I know that I'm a little late to the party, but the possibilities are endless when working with fibreglass. Just check out some of the high end car stereo stores. Mounting your two way radio on top of the dash comes to mind.
Great job and thanks for the pics so others can see what can be done with a little thought and effort.
Great job and thanks for the pics so others can see what can be done with a little thought and effort.
corax
Explorer
There's plenty of dead space behind the dash so I was briefly thinking of making a hole and recessing my Yaesu into the dash, but then I realized it would have been out of my reach on the passenger side - I still have in mind a few ideas on how to use the space behind there though
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