d510addict Posted June 20, 2011 Report Share Posted June 20, 2011 I am attempting to restore my dash pad on my 521, I have cut away rotted material filled with expanding foam that was worked around to get alot of the air out and am just about to do the final sanding to make the surface smooth. But alas I do not really know how to stretch/glue the cover material to the dash. I'm looking for someone around Portland/Milwaukie that can help or show or give me some pointers to make this look decent, I just don't want to wing it and make it look bad. Well here is what i've done so far to my dash in an attempt to restore it. My dash orginally had tons of cracks and rotted foam to I cut out the foam on either side of the bad stuff to make about 1 inch wide gouges in the pad all the way down to the metal. I then sanded everything down to get the metal part nice and glue free. Followed by a few good washes and then let it dry for a few days. Then I got good stuff pond and rock expansion foam sprayed it onto some cardboard and worked it around for a few minutes trying to get the majority of the air out of it ( Do this part on a cool day and it should be worked around for close to 5 minutes to make the end product as dense as possible), I didn't end up working it long enough so I was left with more air bubbles than I wanted but here is the first round of application (after drying). I then used a cheese grater to rough in the stuff as it expanded a ton still, and followed that up with 80 grit sand paper. Like I said it was still too airy and it broke up a lot so I mixed the goop up quite a bit more than the first time (still not enough though but it was like 70 deg and foam was setting up too fast). After the same sanding process I ended up with this... It doesn't look pretty but I hope to cover this with a very thin foam followed by some reconstituted leather with a grain similar to that of the dash face. (I wonder what a layer of fiber glass or carbon fiber cloth would look like instead of fake leather) FYI my sanding method was not ideal at all. This stuff sands alright for what it is but finer grit (maybe 120) on a DA would be do a much better job than the 80 grit hand sanding that I did. I think the key to this is to work with the foam on a very cool day with low humidity. That way you have time to work most of the air out of the mixture and the foam will be more dense. If yall have any tips to improve the quality and or process please share!! Quote Link to comment
RATDAT3 Posted June 20, 2011 Report Share Posted June 20, 2011 Bring it by my shop and I will help you with it. TMG custom shop----503-740-7456, Todd Quote Link to comment
d510addict Posted June 21, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 21, 2011 While I appreciate the offer the only thing is I have no monies so all I can really do is barter. Quote Link to comment
Shagy Posted June 28, 2011 Report Share Posted June 28, 2011 photos of your steps!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment
RATDAT3 Posted June 29, 2011 Report Share Posted June 29, 2011 No money needed for me to show you how to do it. Just bring me lunch? Call me any time 503-740-7456 Todd 1 Quote Link to comment
d510addict Posted July 9, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 9, 2011 Bumping this Quote Link to comment
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