Fiberglassed My Entire Dash

[PJ McCoy]

Yes I did. The vynal was cracking all over and the foam was in rough shape. Before my POPS had a series of health issues. He said he would coach me through the process. He worked in a boat yard after his Navy Retirement. Well that didn't happen. He dictated the procedures from his hospital bed just in case he didn't make it. HE DID MAKE IT!! Thank God!! I still need that cancerous old fart! Lol, anyway, I proceeded the attack just keep my mind focused on something other than HIM.

I removed all the vynal. Then I coated the rough looking foam with the fiberglass gel coat.
Sanded the high spots and left the low spots. Looked like shit! Don't worry, DAD SAID IT WOULD. He told the truth.
Next, I coated the entire dash with long stranded fiberglass. But I mixed 1 part of gel with it. So 1 pint gel/1 pint stranded fiberglass. This thinned it out and it laid down great. Filled in all the low spots,
I put 2 coats and Sanders about a 1/3 off. It was taking a good shape. The long stranded glass flexed well after sanding.
Then filled with the cheaply plastic bonds. Because its high flexibility.
Finally I filled in with some feather weight.
Primed and sanded. Primed and guild coated. Sanded that off. Used a grey and while wet I could see a TON OF SMALL swirls. They were tiny and gave the paint a textured look. I was not happy. So much time and sanding etc,etc,etc. Then it hit me. Bed liner. I helped Hank out and we rattle Cannes his plastic fenders on the 4 wheeler. He cracked it and plastic welders them back. Looked awful. Anyway, after some prep work and a couple cans of the rattle can spray, It made is 4 wheeler look better and tougher. I called him and asked how it was holding up. He said great, and I give it Hell all the time. BINGO. I can his those swirls.
2 cans of Dollar General Rubber Spray, that's what Hank used simply because it was a beaten ATV. LOL.
DONE!!! PICS TO COME SHORTLY
PJ

 

[PJ McCoy]

BTW, My Car will never be a garage Queen! I like the BRUISER LOOK. Street Brawl'In type. I took some screen shots from a video I took just after spraying. I am attempting to load it to YOU TUBE. having some issues. My laptop won't load the pics of the long stranded fiberglass. I'll keep trying. That part is important.

 

[PJ McCoy]

So when this dries, I plan on using 1500 grit and then painting it. I feel like knocking off the tops will give it a more grained look and less sandy look. Kinda like a knockdown texture in my house, just a lot smaller.
PJ

 

[PJ McCoy]

Maybe the link will work

 

[Darius]

PJ,

You NAILED it! It looks remarkably like vinyl. Slick job and kudos for trying something different. It worked Big Time!

bro. "Impressed," d

 

[5one9]

Man that looks good. I’ve never ever heard of doing that before. You’re dad is a genius

 

[PJ McCoy]

Man that looks good. I’ve never ever heard of doing that before. You’re dad is a genius

Yes he is!!! ENGINE'NEWITY!!@ its finest. Lol.
My dad has not seen it yet. Hopefully he will by tonight. He gets tired from just thinking about taking a shit! His works not mine. Lol. He is proud of my car and me. I ask for anything more than that!
Thanks Again.

 

[PJ McCoy]

So the dash did dry with a couple puddle blobs you can see in the video. But the color black is nice. Nice even coat. I kinda want to leave it alone. That's my inner voice, but I want to see what it will look like sanded. For 5 bucks I think I will spray it on a cereal box and then sand and paint as a test. Now, If it will hold up? That's the million dollar question.

 

[PJ McCoy]

Dang, I should have posted this on my T/A build page.

 

[richie49]

PJ
That looks great from what I see. I doubt that I could do that now. All that sanding and care I dont think I can do anymore. Thank goodness my dash is metal and I did a repaint on it years ago. But it looks good. You have any before pics of the dash ?
Richard richie49

 

[PJ McCoy]

I let it cure for over a week to make sure the humidity here didn't effect it. It seems to have cured and is still flexible. I have sanded down the high spots, there. are a couple big spots I don't like on the glove box door and the side of the dash next to the glove box.
I used 180 very lightly to knock off the points. Followed by 220 then 400 sponge. These were also light wet sanding.

The texture is PERFECT!!! There are a few places were the black paint in the coating was light. But there is enough texture to give great results.
I am now going to paint and clear coat the dash. Then start assembly.
My heater Assembly/selector (thing with all the vacuum hoses,ac/heater) needs fixing. When I removed the dash, the color coded hoses were dry and brittle. They all broke. So I needs to fix that and connect the GM Heater relay,. Not sure what or how to do that. New pics coming soon.
PJ

 

[PJ McCoy]

Update: I moved on to my dash bezel. The upper part is steel that is riveted to an aluminum frame. The steel is surface rusted. So I drilled the rivets.
Sanded the steel. Wiped down with Orthodox phosphate. Let dry. Then sanded it again.
Primed with 3 coats. Wet sanded after 3 days. It was a few cool days here.
This week end I will paint and reassemble. Pictures coming soon.
PJ

 

[Nicolas]

Thanks for all the information - well documented