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  1. #1

    Default Dashpad Restoration Thread

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    The dumber-than-the-average-bear PO of my car converted the interior from tan to black. But rather than vinyl dying the dashpad, he used some kind of epoxy from hell to stick a black cap to the dash pad. The cap looks like garbage, and makes my overpriced 3.5" dash speakers sound dull. It's time for it to exit the stage via an epic dive into an impending smokey burnout performed on the same patch of concrete that which it will soon rest upon.

    My car is currently sitting in the garage at home in a pile thanks to a heater core. So I took the Dashpad back to college with me to recondition it this week. I have most of the epoxy finally scraped off, and I'll be lightly sanding and prepping to put down color at some point very soon. More pictures coming soon.

  2. #2

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    Last night I scraped off the rest of the glue, did some light sanding, and backed it up with steel wool. Looks as ready for color as it will be minus some soapy water to remove oils. Unfortunately today and tomorrow consist of storms, and 90% humidity. Hopefully the weather will cooperate this weekend long enough for me to shoot a few coats of vinyl dye...

  3. #3
    FEP Senior Member
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    That's a shame they went away from the tan. It's a hard color to come by. Looks like your pad is in good shape though.
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    http://www.youtube.com/basinmotorsports

    '86 Hatchback V6 / Auto Restomod (For Sale)

  4. #4

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    Quote Originally Posted by Basin Motorsports View Post
    That's a shame they went away from the tan. It's a hard color to come by. Looks like your pad is in good shape though.

    I would tend to agree in some ways. The car rolled off the assembly line medium canyon red with a tan top/ interior. The reality is, if the car had been this color combination when I found it on craigslist, I probably would not have even gone to look at it. Black with a tan interior would be nice, but the only remaining tan pieces in the car were the dash, the trim around the windshield, and the seatbelts. I have the original tan cloth seats, but my black '93 leather seats are far nicer, and I figured a black interior would be hard to fight in this instance.

  5. #5

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    Here's the dash after a spray down with $4 Walmart vinyl dye.

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    Dash pad dry, and sitting on the back end of erratic50's '86 car.

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    Here it is installed in the car. (Also visible, new black sun visors. The ones I had previously were shot, the one on the drivers side being held together by a garage door opener)

    Bonus:

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    Hurst Competition Plus shifter on top of my T5Z.
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  6. #6

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    Ended up with an extra attachment at the bottom, leaving everything out of order, but here's the shifter all back together: Name:  IMG_9085.jpg
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    Future plans are to dye the trim around the windshield, and recondition my halo headrests and reinstall them on the car. New seatbelts will have to happen sometime as well.

  7. #7
    FEP Super Member erratic50's Avatar
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    Looks great! One thing about minor cracks, etc, silicone works pretty well to fill in cracks. Pull a paper towel away and it will create texture. It can be blended across the area by dabbing as it dries.

    Not perfect, but after knocking down the high spots and filling in the low, this keeps the places where things meet up from blowing out right away.

    Hutst bezel is a nice addition to the shifter and handle. Nice part about these shifters is when they work correctly third is nearly impossible to miss.

    One word of caution for changing shifters-- be sure to seal the shifter to the T5 with a little RTV because otherwise fluid can (will) leak around the shifter at the flange


    That poor old 86's hatch needs to find a scrap bin...... absolutely rotten with rust.

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