Hi, everyone!
First of all, I apologize if anyone has been intimidated away from
recovering his/her dash after reading the article on the VTR Web site.
In fact, this project is *very* easy to complete with professional
looking results. It's just that the dash is one of the more noticeable
features of your car, and a DPO-type recovering job will not only annoy
you, but also whoever ends up with your baby down the line. So, I
figured I'd cover absolutely everything someone undertaking this project
might run into.
That said, a few of points need to be made or repeated in reference to
some of the recent postings regarding this project...
-Prep is everything! If you don't do a good job of filling in the
cracks or removing the high spots, they *will* show through the new
covering.
-Although I'm sure someone out there can find a dash that has had such a
rough life that it can't be recovered using the methods described in my
article, you can do a lot with very little. All that is required is
more patience in the prep (there's that word, again!).
-I recommended using epoxy (as opposed to contact cement) to hold the
covering in concave areas and at the edges for two reasons: 1) epoxy
gives you the chance to fiddle with things to get the fabric down just
where you want it, and 2) many common contact adhesives will loose their
bonds when exposed to high humidity conditions over time (that's why
your Formica (tm) countertop eventually delaminates, even though the
bond between the substrate and the covering isn't under any stress to
speak of).
So, go for it! It isn't difficult or expensive, and you can't really
screw up anything, irreversibly.
BTW, thanks to everyone on this list for your invaluable assistance with
current and future "eccentricities" that Malibu Barbie's Dream Car
exhibits/will exhibit, and especially, to Ken Streeter for his diligent
work on the VTR site.
-Schuyler
--
Schuyler E. Grace
'73 Spitfire 1500 - FM1183U
schuyler@bellsouth.net
schuyler.grace@atl.frb.org
http://members.tripod.com/~schuyler/
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