68 4-door "Sleeper"
This isn't the greatest picture in the world. It doesn't show the damage very well. The 43 year old foam on the dash is cracked and has big dips in it. You can see all the way to the metal in parts. I am going to re-foam the dash.
I looked around and did searches for how to re-foam a dash and came up with nothing. Once again, I am going into unchartered territory. I used a die grinder with a 50 grit roloc disk to shape the existing foam and remove the crusty dried out foam. I bought some SEM urethane foam.... It was expensive as HELL!!!
Here is the dash after squirting the foam. It foams up quick. Also, it looks like crap/
I needed to trim the new foam, so I used an electric knife. It works great!!!
The SEM foam wasn't enough to do the job and I wasn't about to spend another $45 on another pack of foam. I searched the internet for "flexible two part urethane foam" and I found www.monstermakers.com and bought some. It is WAY cheaper than the SEM foam. Also, the SEM foam didn't bond well to the existing foam.
Here is the dash pad after I poured the foam on. This stuff foams up FAST, too.
This is another blurry picture, but I got it looking good. I trimmed it with an electric knife and finished it with a die grinder with a 50 grit roloc disk.
I used some brown craft paper to make a pattern. (I forgot to take a picture of that process), and I bought some black leather grain vinyl somewhere online. This is a picture of the backside of the vinyl with my paper patterns on it. I cut out the vinyl. I got out my wife's sewing machine, but I don't have any black thread. I will get some tomorrow.
On another note, I bought some seats out of a 2005 Cadillac Deville. I like them because the seatbelt is built INTO the seat. Also, it is electric.
The seat has a lot of wiring. It is a heated AND air-conditioned seat with a side curtain airbag, air pillows for lumbar support, and "is-the-seatbelt-fastened" sensors. I did a lot of testing to find just the right wires to get the seat to do what I needed it to do. I want it to move forward and backward, adjust the tilt of the back, and adjust the height. Once I figured that out, I was done (although, heated seats WOULD be nice) All I had to do was hook up 3 wires and I was done.
The problem, though, is that the "hump" for the bench seat tilts the bucket seats back too much. So, I am cutting out the "hump" and I will have to weld in some new metal to get the proper tilt on the seats.
This isn't the greatest picture in the world. It doesn't show the damage very well. The 43 year old foam on the dash is cracked and has big dips in it. You can see all the way to the metal in parts. I am going to re-foam the dash.
I looked around and did searches for how to re-foam a dash and came up with nothing. Once again, I am going into unchartered territory. I used a die grinder with a 50 grit roloc disk to shape the existing foam and remove the crusty dried out foam. I bought some SEM urethane foam.... It was expensive as HELL!!!
Here is the dash after squirting the foam. It foams up quick. Also, it looks like crap/
I needed to trim the new foam, so I used an electric knife. It works great!!!
The SEM foam wasn't enough to do the job and I wasn't about to spend another $45 on another pack of foam. I searched the internet for "flexible two part urethane foam" and I found www.monstermakers.com and bought some. It is WAY cheaper than the SEM foam. Also, the SEM foam didn't bond well to the existing foam.
Here is the dash pad after I poured the foam on. This stuff foams up FAST, too.
This is another blurry picture, but I got it looking good. I trimmed it with an electric knife and finished it with a die grinder with a 50 grit roloc disk.
I used some brown craft paper to make a pattern. (I forgot to take a picture of that process), and I bought some black leather grain vinyl somewhere online. This is a picture of the backside of the vinyl with my paper patterns on it. I cut out the vinyl. I got out my wife's sewing machine, but I don't have any black thread. I will get some tomorrow.
On another note, I bought some seats out of a 2005 Cadillac Deville. I like them because the seatbelt is built INTO the seat. Also, it is electric.
The seat has a lot of wiring. It is a heated AND air-conditioned seat with a side curtain airbag, air pillows for lumbar support, and "is-the-seatbelt-fastened" sensors. I did a lot of testing to find just the right wires to get the seat to do what I needed it to do. I want it to move forward and backward, adjust the tilt of the back, and adjust the height. Once I figured that out, I was done (although, heated seats WOULD be nice) All I had to do was hook up 3 wires and I was done.
The problem, though, is that the "hump" for the bench seat tilts the bucket seats back too much. So, I am cutting out the "hump" and I will have to weld in some new metal to get the proper tilt on the seats.
