interior pro’s
Printed From: the12volt.com
Forum Name: Fiberglass, Fabrication, and Interiors
Forum Discription: Fiberglass Kick Panels, Subwoofer Enclosures, Plexiglas, Fabrics, Materials, Finishes, etc.
URL: https://www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_posts.asp?tid=117445
Printed Date: April 29, 2024 at 4:03 AM
Topic: interior pro’s
Posted By: customturds
Subject: interior pro’s
Date Posted: November 03, 2009 at 12:52 PM
Hi guys/gays I'm new to the site and must say what a great place this is, lots of info---Good job people!!! I now have a question for all the interior people out there and hope some of you can help me out. I am retro-fitting a dash from one car to another and must cut it to shorten the unit, I have done this and it is just strapped into place and looks great. The problem now is how do I put the two parts together and make it look OEM, the dash is out of a newer car and has vinyl outside and a foam like material inside. My thoughts were to insert some coat hanger type material into the foam center and push the two halfs together then fleece and resin the unit together, them remove it from the car and fibreglass the dash for strength on the outside from corner to corner and underneath, smooth it and have it re-covered with vinyl????????????????? Will this work?? My one concern is, will the fibreglassing stick to the factory vinyl material??? Will the factory inner foam flex alot and cause the fibreglass to crack and fall apart causing the dash to cave at the two halfs? Please help Thank you
Replies:
Posted By: Melted Fabric
Date Posted: November 03, 2009 at 6:19 PM
Do you have a photo of the objects in question?
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I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.
When you do not know what you are doing and what you are doing is the best -- that is inspiration.
Posted By: customturds
Date Posted: November 03, 2009 at 7:12 PM
Sorry I do not, I need to get a new camera.
Posted By: Melted Fabric
Date Posted: November 03, 2009 at 7:38 PM
oh, I am just having trouble visualing your problem.
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I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.
When you do not know what you are doing and what you are doing is the best -- that is inspiration.
Posted By: customturds
Date Posted: November 03, 2009 at 10:39 PM
What do you mean? Maybe I didn't explain it right? Or are you saying what I planed will work?
Posted By: ckeeler
Date Posted: November 03, 2009 at 11:12 PM
customturds wrote:
Hi guys/gays I'm new to the site and must say what a great place this is, lots of info---Good job people!!! I now have a question for all the interior people out there and hope some of you can help me out. I am retro-fitting a dash from one car to another and must cut it to shorten the unit, I have done this and it is just strapped into place and looks great. The problem now is how do I put the two parts together and make it look OEM, the dash is out of a newer car and has vinyl outside and a foam like material inside. My thoughts were to insert some coat hanger type material into the foam center and push the two halfs together then fleece and resin the unit together, them remove it from the car and fibreglass the dash for strength on the outside from corner to corner and underneath, smooth it and have it re-covered with vinyl????????????????? Will this work?? My one concern is, will the fibreglassing stick to the factory vinyl material??? Will the factory inner foam flex alot and cause the fibreglass to crack and fall apart causing the dash to cave at the two halfs? Please help Thank you
fiberglass will not stick to the vinyl surface and will be a big disaster IMO if you try it that way. my suggestion is to try the procedure you describe, but first remove the vinyl surface then and fiberglass the foam. then you can re-vinyl once you are done with all the finish work. not really the way i would do it, but if you are on a time constraint it will work.
Posted By: customturds
Date Posted: November 03, 2009 at 11:44 PM
Please do explain what you would rather do, I would like to learn the right way.
Posted By: Melted Fabric
Date Posted: November 03, 2009 at 11:45 PM
Ok, after re-reading your initial questions, I think I have an idea of where you wish to go.
As far as "bridging" the two pieces together, wherever you plan to "tape" the two objects together utilizing fiberglass, the fiberglass is going to need a good surface to bind to with the resin. It is not a good idea to bind it to a flexible soft surface unless you are going to completely engulf the whole dash in fiberglass.
Go onto YouTube, and search for Fiberglassing
Well, first let me ask, have you fiberglassed before?
-------------
I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.
When you do not know what you are doing and what you are doing is the best -- that is inspiration.
Posted By: customturds
Date Posted: November 04, 2009 at 12:32 AM
Melted Fabric wrote:
Ok, after re-reading your initial questions, I think I have an idea of where you wish to go.
As far as "bridging" the two pieces together, wherever you plan to "tape" the two objects together utilizing fiberglass, the fiberglass is going to need a good surface to bind to with the resin. It is not a good idea to bind it to a flexible soft surface unless you are going to completely engulf the whole dash in fiberglass.
Go onto YouTube, and search for Fiberglassing
Well, first let me ask, have you fiberglassed before?
I understand I will have to engulf the WHOLE dash and I'm ok with that, it'll just get re-covered with vinyl again after I'm done. I kind of thought I would have to remove the vinyl from the dash and will but its molded on pretty good so I'm not sure how to do that--any ideas??? I have NOT done this type of work with fibreglass before, just some minor body repairs with it.
Posted By: ckeeler
Date Posted: November 04, 2009 at 12:49 AM
customturds wrote:
Please do explain what you would rather do, I would like to learn the right way.
what i would do? i would venture to say that even even in my crappy little part of the country, i have built more than most people ever have when it comes to this stuff, and i have fab work from 5 surrounding states (which includes marine work as well) and i dont even live in a big city man, so im glad you ask  . what i would do is this: fiberglass WILL NOT stick very well to that OE dash surface, so.....use it to your advantage. connect the two pieces together from underneath in any fashion you can think as best as you can even if it is crude, at this point it doesn't matter. next silicon the seam together with clear silicone and trim off the excess once its dry. make sure there is no way fiber glass resin can flow down the seam (smear a thin layer of silicon over the seam using your finger and let it completely dry if need be). next wipe down the OE vinyl surface with alcohol and let it dry. now you need to completely cover the dash (seam and all) with wax, layer and layer at a time until you have 10-12 layers of wax. once that is done, glass over the whole dash with about two layers of matting. when cured you can pull the dash out. you will now have a crude "mold". clean the mold. by cleaning i mean, remove any wax stuck to it, or silicone at where the seam was and sand the inside of the entire thing with 300 or finer grit depending on how long you want to spend doing all the footwork ( the longer the better). once sanded, wipe it all out with alcohol and begin waxing like before. this time wax twice as much, maybe 15-25 layers( the more the better). once the wax is cured, lay matting and resin inside your mold at least 3 layers thick. when cured seperate the mold from your new dash! hold on though! because the mold was a quick and crude one, the dash will not be perfect and ready to vinyl. you will need some sanding to be done to the "casted" part and there will be some areas that need a little body filler here and there. once you get it where your are happy, then you are ready for vinyl. because you are not painting and using vinyl, you can be much less precise in the surface finish. the shape is more what you will want to concentrate on. vinyl will show alot of imperfections so make sure everything is just right (although you dont need to worry about it being perfect for paint), and you will be happy with your new fiberglass (not fiberglass covered) dash. that is the way i would do it.
Posted By: customturds
Date Posted: November 04, 2009 at 1:08 AM
Hey ckeeler, thanks that is a great way to make some dashes work I'm sure and will keep that in mind but I don't think it'll work for this one. Because this is a "dash unit" and not a pad for say I don't think that will work for me. I HAVE TO be able to re-use this unit somehow. By "dash unit" I mean it has the glove box, heater controls, cluster, stereo, part of the console, all are part of this unit so to do it like you said ckeeler I don't see it happening. But again thank you, I'm sure I'll be able to use that method on another.
Posted By: ckeeler
Date Posted: November 04, 2009 at 1:27 AM
customturds wrote:
it has the glove box, heater controls, cluster, stereo, part of the console
yea, so....... there should be no problem with all of that. if you still cannot figure out how to do it the way i described, post pics of what you have so far, and ill hold your hand through the entire process  . god why did i reply to this post?
Posted By: Melted Fabric
Date Posted: November 04, 2009 at 1:42 AM
At this point, it will be a bit hard to help since we cannot see what it is you are working with. I liked cheeler's approach of going the moldmaking route, but still, we are assuming some things when providing a solution, we still do not know exactly what setup you are working with.
If you do not have a camera, at least find pictures of the car you are working on, and the dash from the other car model, that you are integrating into your target vehicle...
I will be of better help once I have the visuals, otherwise, myself and or others will, in the end be a bit frustrated.
It would be like trying to tell you how to cut someone's hair over the phone...we have to see what you see
Hope that helps  ------------- I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.
When you do not know what you are doing and what you are doing is the best -- that is inspiration.
Posted By: customturds
Date Posted: November 04, 2009 at 2:04 AM
I will figure out a way to get you guys some sort of pictures, I'll see what I can do. Thanks guys.
Posted By: squires500
Date Posted: November 05, 2009 at 7:24 AM
depending how new you could try some very crude work, strapping the two halve together id say by cutting out groves in the flesh of the dash and resining and screwing in some bars then going to an interior repair place and having the dash welded together. then re wrapping in vinyl. but this is very very crude, and depending on where you live will most likely split down the middle later in life.
if i was to personally do this i would build a custom dash of my own i find it easier and your going to all the effort why not have something very different.
wanting the stock look take out all the dash "components" and go ckeeler's route with a moulding and you can even mold most of the mounts for the dash components
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