fiberglass dash repair / modification

I've been tired of of looking at the cracked dash in my old 4runner for awhile now. So yesterday I pulled the dash out and took the clinometer off so I could sell it (never really use it anyway). In the process of searching for a way to fix my cracked dash pad I read this thread, which opened up my eyes to the possibility of just fiberglassing the thing over. Then I did a bit more searching and found several threads like this one which is only slightly more involved and gives the possibility of adding on to the existing dash.

So far I heat formed and trimmed an a-pillar pod to fit over part of the near-useless pocket that's on top of the dash



I was thinking about building up the sides of the pocket to make objects less likely to slide out while driving, but I'm not really sure I'd use it anyway. So, opinion time - should I just eliminate the pocket and run the 'glass over top of it or try to build up the sides a bit and give it a lip so it can serve some useful purpose? Any other ideas or thoughts for the dash? If you were looking to add "something" to the dash, for immediate use or for future expandability, what would it be? I need to wait for the rain to clear, so I have a bit of time to brainstorm before I can start fiberglassing.

things i wish my dash had: good place for aux switches, 120v ac outlet hooked to an inverter. i have a peice of the foam shelf lining/non skid on my dash to set things like the camera and netbook when driving.

you sell your clinometer already?

I say go for it, its not all that difficult, and it lets you make it exactly how you want. Just don't rush it and put a ton of thought into how you orientate everything.

herm said:

things i wish my dash had: good place for aux switches, 120v ac outlet hooked to an inverter.

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That gives me a really good idea - I think there's just enough space behind the dash for my little inverter. I'm gonna look into that when I get ready to put the dash back on, thanks

PirateMcGee said:

you sell your clinometer already?

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I think there's one person who is a "possibly maybe" - you wanna call 2nd dibs?

Jnich77 said:

I say go for it, its not all that difficult, and it lets you make it exactly how you want. Just don't rush it and put a ton of thought into how you orientate everything.

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hopefully it'll be finished today I think it's turning out good so far. I decided to do it mostly as a repair with some minor customizing.

Picked up some resin and fiberglass cloth for ~$20


Took the dremel to the a-pillar pod and then heat molded to it to fit the dash. Here it is glued in place with some precision bent "all thread" to build up the lip a bit


dash all wrapped up like a mummy. This was a bit of a pain as the cloth kept coming apart and I'd get long threads stuck to my hands. I used a few dabs of glue in key spots to hold it in place on the dash.


The first coat's done. I let this dry sanding it to prep for a 2nd layer


The fiberglass got sanded down with some 80 grit in a block, vent openings were cut out with a sharp razor and I knocked down the high spots in the first layer. Then I built up the edge around the pocket with some bondo just as it started to rain . . .


. . . so I let the bondo set for a bit and then went out to put on another layer. Unfortunately, the cloth in my second layer was kinda loose and started to sag, fold, and wrinkle when I applied the resin. I also mixed the resin too hot and it started to gel and harden before I could get it smoothed out. At least it'll only take some sandpaper and small patches to repair.

corax said:

That gives me a really good idea - I think there's just enough space behind the dash for my little inverter. I'm gonna look into that when I get ready to put the dash back on, thanks



I think there's one person who is a "possibly maybe" - you wanna call 2nd dibs?



hopefully it'll be finished today I think it's turning out good so far. I decided to do it mostly as a repair with some minor customizing.

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not the style I'm looking for, thanks though!

PirateMcGee said:

not the style I'm looking for, thanks though!

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Since he's passing...
Your altimeter is in meters right? How high does it read? :sombrero:

red87runnerATX said:

Since he's passing...
Your altimeter is in meters right? How high does it read? :sombrero:

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the fixed part of the dial reads in millibars, the inner part rotates with the adjust knob to zero out your current altitude and reads to 4,000 meters. This isn't mine (found on the web), but the face of it looks the same

After mixing the resin for the second layer too hot, I had a bunch of bubbles and folds in the dash where I couldn't get it to stick before it set. Somewhere in the midst of this, I asked Corey (Slacker) from Toyota Fiberglass for some advice and got this reply:

your best bet is not to use glue .. but have the dash on some good stands that position it properly . When you wet out the cloth , it will "sag" down , so remember that , and if you cant do it all at once , then don't .. let the first part cure , then move your project over and do the other piece .. you can do the layers all in pieces to get the best final outcome .. hope that makes sense.

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It kinda sounds like I didn't really need to wrap it in one piece and just made the project more difficult for myself . . . live and learn

So I used a sharp razor to cut out the bubbles and folds. I cut up some of the scrap cloth that I had left over into "patches" that I could use to fill the craters that were left. I also mixed the resin much cooler this time, in fact it took nearly 5 hrs to fully cure this time around instead of the usual 1-2 hrs. While I was at it I added another layer to the bottom and sides of the dash pocket and wrapped a layer over the gauge pod. The remaining resin got brushed over the front and top of the dash with a little bit used to "seal" the edges around the vent openings

This morning (as soon as it stopped raining) I cut the frayed ends of fabric off and started sanding down all the patches. Here it is after the first coat of primer. I'm not done sanding and smoothing, but this will let me see where I need to work on yet. If I was flocking the dash it'd be done the way it sits since the flocking will cover bad sanding, but I'm painting it with Rustoleum Hammered finish so more sanding is in order.

Looks good. What are you going to finish it with?
Paint?
Something like RhinoLiner might give it a little flexible feel...

Originally I was thinking I might just reglue the pad to the metal backing where it was cracked and peeling up. That way I could fill and sand everything level to have it rhinolined, but funds are tight and I didn't know how well the coating would stick to the dash. At this age the dash was stiff enough that there wasn't any real padding to it, so I'm just gonna try to color match Rustoleum Hammered finish with a bit of clearcoat. If I can't get it close enough, then I'll paint the top part of the instrument cluster cover to match the pad

I don't know how easy you found that bondo glass and resin to use, but I used it for half a project and then ended up buying mat and resin from a fiberglasser here in town. Night and day difference. The stuff from the fiberglass guys was amazingly easy to work with. The resin mixed well and wasn't sticky or gooey.

It was also a lot cheaper (for some larger quantities however).

Sorry I didn't catch that soon enough to give you a heads up if the resin was a pain. Good looking dash though!

That's good to know, thanks for the tip. I didn't think the stuff I had was difficult - no harder than using body filler, except it's applied with a brush. Then again, this is my first fiberglass project and I never used any other brand. So when you say "local fiberglasser" do you mean a body shop that does fiberglass or a boat repair place?

This is a great thread as my son's rig has a dash and center console that is falling apart...
I worked with fiberglass in the early 90's a bit but had forgot all about it...
Great thread and thanks!
Now finish it up so I can learn more