Hi Guys,

I recently picked up a rough but not rusty '82 4X4 with the intention of a full restoration on it. I want to drive it some to work out the mechanical bugs but thought I'd tackle the really bad dash. I recently restored an '86 IROC and did this with the dash too. Turned out great but this dash was going to be a challenge since the Camaro dash is almost completely flat.

So here goes...This is what I started with..

 

I used a Dremel to cut out all the cracks. Have to cut them far enough back to where the plastic isn't curled up. I also hogged out some of the old foam..





Wasn't going to use the dash speaker so I just found a scrap piece of metal in the garage and cut it to cover the hole.




I picked up a can of that expandable foam crack sealer at Lowe's



Shot that foam into the cut out cracks and let it set up over night.




Cut and sanded the foam to shape...

 

Then covered it in fiberglass cloth and three coats of resin...




Then sand the hell out of it without going through and try to get it smooth.

 

Still won't get it smooth enough so I covered it in a good coat of Bondo.



Then the sanding begins.. Lots of sanding until you get it nice and smooth...




Once it's smooth I hit it with some primer.





Once it's primed I hit it with the spray on truck bed liner sold by Harbor Freight. I used the same brand of primer to make sure it was compatible. Gives it a nice texture.





Now I can paint it any color I want once I decided what color scheme for my interior.

 

That is a pretty awesome technique dude! I will be bookmarking this for sure.

Both my arm rests are cracked and could use this treatment for sure.

 

Wow! Great results. I’m very impressed.

 

That came out great! Way nicer than mine. Granted, I rushed through mine in an afternoon though. Only advice I can offer is to paint it a very matte or flat finish to cut down on reflection, tried a few paints and they still shine more than vinyl. The texture you already did will help with that also - I also used a bedliner.

 

Wow! Awesome work, I am bookmarking this for the future.

 

Thanks guys. I'm pretty happy with it and figure I have about 12 hours in it...

 

I'm speechless...and doesn't happen very often! That's beyond outstanding!

I'll be ripping the dash cover off mine and doing this.

 

Turned out great! So where do I ship mine?

 

HaHa, I would but it takes so much time I think it would be too expensive for most guys...

I do have a hump or lump or whatever you want to call it that I noticed after it was too late. If you guys try this, don't push too hard while sanding the foam. I think that's what I did and the foam expanded again causing the hump. Take your time and sand it with light pressure so it doesn't re-expand on you...

 

Nice job on the dash! I built up one of the dash covers with material and that worked pretty good but wishing now I would have tried this technique!