Dash pad rebuild-teaser

I redid my dash pad this last weekend. I will hopefully post pictures and explanation tomorrow.

Next will be the steering wheel.

 

82 Cougar Dash pad Fix

So, here's what I did.

1. Removed the dash pad and broke out the remaining speaker grills, reinforced with old coathanger wire and smoothed out the crack fissures with a dremel with a barrel sander.


I also sanded the whole surface with 100 grit sand paper.


2. I filled the speaker holes with spray foam from the Home Depot and waited about 12 hours. And oops I think I used too much:


3. Using a hack saw blade I cut off the excess foam:

This step left a few gaping air holes in the foam. But, the foam with the wire support is very strong, surprisingly.

This view you can see the factory support in the center speaker hole:

4. I filled the holes and cracks with Bondo. I figured what the hey I can't make it worse:

5. After sanding and sanding and sanding I primered:

6. Painted with aerosol truck bed liner from Wal-Mart:

7. Painted with Navy blue plastic paint from Wal-Mart:


My whole idea was to do this on the cheap and still make it look decent. It is not perfect and I'm not totally satisfied but it's a 500% improvement over what was there. I spent $7 for the bedliner and had all the other materials on hand left over from other projects. Before it gets reinstalled there's still more to do. I have to pull the instrument cluster in order to replace all the bulbs, it's a little dim at full brightness. The small bulbs tend to yellow over the years and I may have a couple that are blown out. I still have to drill a bunch of small holes for the left and right speakers. The center speaker hole will remain filled as there's no speaker. I didn't make sense for the factory to have a hole without a speaker but I guess they all had the center hole.

I don't particularly like the feel of the texture of the bedliner but it looks pretty good. Now to reprotect it from the sun I'll make or purchase a dash cover. Go figure, fix the dash and cover it up! Oh well. The next project will be to fix the fissures in the steering wheel as I've had no luck finding a better one with the cruise control buttons in a salvage yard.

 

It's gotta be close, material-wise. it's a TBIRD Ranch!

Steering Wheel DIY:
http://www.tbirdranch.com/Strwheel.html

I took a different approach when I did mine. I had one of my wife's old vegetable strainers (chinese veggies), about $10. and cut the backside parts and epoxied them in. On the top side, I had some predrilled galvanized drainage tray sheetmetal (Home Depot item) that I cut into squares and epoxied them into a recess I made into the dash. Then I sprayed it all with the SEMS vinyl dye (Color Coat):

Here's some pics:

Top side RH:


Top side LH:


Top side center:


Back side LH:


Back Side Center:

 

This Wheel repair uses POR-15 too:
http://www.mustangmonthly.com/techa...mustang_steering_wheel_restoration/index.html

And From the Horse's Mouth!!!! A repair kit.

http://www.por15.com/prodinfo.asp?grp=SWRK&dept=11

Not related to yours, but mine is a Fairmont Softgrip (don't know what year)

http://www.autoweb.com.au/cms/A_6075/title_Steering-Wheel-ReBonding/article.html

 

Very nice job on the dash. I should have sent mine to you! Mine was a disaster. On the other hand all the dash tops except Cougar XR-7 are pretty much the same so there may still be some good ones left in the JY.

Your dash looks NEW!

For the steering wheel I'm going to use a paste type epoxy then sand and paint. I'm told not to use spray paint as the solvents are not compatible with the plastic. I've seen some great brush jobs on steering wheels. Mine has a clear plastic on the face with a wire running through it. I'll need something clear to fill that. The liquid epoxy tends to yellow when dry. I finger it out.

 

I'm trying to recall the type of plastic used in those - like Polystyrene, polycarbonate, etc. It makes a difference on the bonding of the fillers and finishing materials.

Here's a Falcon Wheel repair:
http://www.fedora.net/falconaut/tech/steering_wheel.html

And these AUSSIES even do the old candy-striped mottled wheels:
http://www.pearlcraft.com.au/welcome.htm

 

Mine is at least as bad as the Falcon wheel in the web site. Home Depot has a two part epoxy paste that I'll use. I will definately post before and after of mine.

I have the additional task of manufacturing the cruise control switch bezels too. The actually hold the switches in place and they are shot. I'm not sure on those yet but I'll figure it out.

 

Just can't keep a good man down!

When I get back on the road, I'll keep my eye out for any good ones. They're the same aren't they for the Fox wagons (LTD II, Marquis, FZ)?

 

Probably pretty close. I've found some with the switches on the lower spokes but mine are on the upper spokes. So there is a delta.

 

I know you posted a pic of it before so I'll check and keep an eye out.

 

OK, Found your steering wheel. I see what you mean (upper controls).

http://www.stationwagonforums.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2726&postcount=29

 

Yeah, those splined cruise-control wheels are different. Just as glad I don't have to worry about how to fix one anymore.

I like the deal with the dashpad - looks promising, even! Be interesting to see how it holds up.

 

I agree. Time will tell on longevity but I looked at it as I can't make it worse and a few hours of work didn't kill me. There's just not much here in the desert surviving the sun and those plastic covers that overlay the dash warp here. I'm still going to put a dash cover on it so, what the hey, it should last a while.

Also you don't know me well enough but, I cheap! Others like to call it frugal.

 

I like cheap! And I intend to give this method a try on one of my cracked dashpads. Like you say, it can't hurt if the thing's already worthless!

 

And then you find out there's specific products for this repair job: :banghead3:
http://mmb.maverick.to/showthread.php?t=41562

This person did a sticky on dash repair and mentioned and posted links to the vendors:

Its called Padded Dash Filler. Strange name huh?
http://www.eastwoodco.com/jump.jsp?itemID=21477&itemType=PRODUCT

http://www.yourautotrim.com/bocogrvi.html