wraping dash in vinyl

Does anyone have any pointers on the best way to wrap something as large as a dashboard? I am working on modifying the dashboard in a 1g DSM (Talon TSi), and when I am done, I would like to wrap in in vinyl and maintain an OEM-quality appearance. I am thinking of trying the heat-formable vinyl and heat-activated adhesive from selectproducts.com, but with the adhesive's activation temperature being only 150-f, I am concerned that having the black dash sitting out in the middle of the summer in a parking lot that the adhesive will release. I'm also concerned as to how I would go about padding the vinyl for an OEM feel, since I would think that any foam padding I used would encourage air pockets and prevent me from getting a smooth appearance.

One other question is for door skins. How would I go about finding the harder-surfaced un-padded vinyl commonly used to cover door skins?

Does anyone have any links to tutorials or some personal recommendations? Any help that anyone could offer would be most appreciated.

Thanks!

Vinyl can look awesome..or like crap..really depends how patient you are. The heat activated vinyl that stretches in all 4 directions would be the way to go..but it still may not want to lay down over those super complicated curves...get a good heat gun and get ready to spend several hours on it. And still you may get halfway through and find a spot that absolutely wont cover in one piece. And vinyl is plum near impossible to make a seamless joint. But good luck bro :)

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With a torch and a big enough hammer...it WILL friggin fit!!

When I glass the dash, I'll be removing most of the sharp and complex curves from it and going with a more graceful design than the nasty 1G DSM rubber interiors, so I'm pretty comfortable in terms of getting it to wrap nicely.

Since the vinyl pad portion will be in two parts separated by the insturment cluster, I shouldn't have too much trouble with getting the sheets to fit.

Thanks for the info.

For padding you could try using high density foam. You can get it at a trim shop or at any marine repair shop that repairs boat tops. Ive used it on dashs and door panels and it works awesome. It is fairly thin as well and has a good stretch to it. I have found that with a good 4-way stretch vinyl and the high density foam is as close to factory as you'll probably get.

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SWWEEET AND LLOOWWW

As for glue i only use helmaprene. I have never had any problems with it.

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SWWEEET AND LLOOWWW

loonybass wrote:

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As for glue i only use helmaprene. I have never had any problems with it.

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I like elmers good and sticky and once you get hungry you just eat it. 

hehe just kidding!

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Learning the trade one fiberglass creation at a time!