Anybody recover a Dart dash pad?

[1MeanA]

I had a number of splits, cracks, and dents in my '68 dash. It was probably the original dash. I didn't want to spend the kind of money the aftermarket folks demand, so I went the route of repairing what was broken. It might not hold up after I'm finished and it sits out in the sun for a while. But, for now, it looks OK.
I cut out the bad spots with a razor knife and filled the holes with bondo. After sanding and shaping the bondo, I sprayed it with a rattle can of "hammered finish" paint to duplicate the texture of the old vinyl. Then, I painted the whole thing with satin black. Like I said, I don't know how its going to stand up to the sun, but its a low budget job, and it'll look pretty fair if done with patience and care.

I'm with you on not spending a thousand bucks on a pro repair or $600 on a repro. I repaired my dash pad with one the Permatex vinyl repair kit and painted it with SEM spray paint. Unfortunately brittle dash pads just crack again if you touch them.

 

[charliec]

I'm with you on not spending a thousand bucks on a pro repair or $600 on a repro. I repaired my dash pad with one the Permatex vinyl repair kit and painted it with SEM spray paint. Unfortunately brittle dash pads just crack again if you touch them.

I'm sure that will be a challenge. I managed to reinstall the assembled dash in the car without damaging the pad, so that was a small miracle in itself. Now, if I can keep the grandkids from pounding on it for who-knows-what reason, I will feel doubly accomplished. It'll look good for a while, and I can be proud of my work...past that...hell, the car is almost 60 years old. I'm 76, and I've got quite of few cracks/scratches/dents/dings myself.

 

[1MeanA]

I finally got back to this. I bondo’d and sanded the cracks. The ends are not finished and will not be perfect but they are not highly visible.