body filler dash?

Im sorry to ask this, because im positive its been answered already, but theres some kind of satisfaction in asking the question yourself :\...
i have a 93 honda accord lx....I dont really know the technical term for the dash, but im pretty sure its vinyl..and its "soft"....as in its kind of squishy....so i was wondering if i just sanded it down like crazy, could i apply body-filler to get the "fiberglassed look"? i also wanted to know whats the best paint to use? do you need to clear coat?
thanks a lot, this forum answers a lot of my questions..

you can use body filler to build it up and fill in all the little cracks... works great... i think there is some special clear on the market against UV rays so it wont crack after it is painting.. check it out!

This has been asked before and yes you can do that BUT there are some things to know first.

Being that it is a soft dash, you'll have to lay a relatively thick layer on. Second, don't just use bondo for it, you'll need something with a lot more durability to deal with the plastic expanding and contracting underneath it. I would use at least duraglass underneath it first, but I prefer to lay down a layer of kitty hair first. then add bondo on top of that. Lastly, being that it is being laid over the vinyl dash, there is a good possibility from it to warp and/or crack particularly during curing and afterwards (albeit much smaller chances then)

Ganbatte ne!

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Never send your ducks to eagle school.
The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra.
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I think that bellsracer is right. I have glassed the dash of a mid 80s Chevy truck before that has that same type of vacuum formed vinyl over injected foam. I used a couple of layers of woven glass matt to reinforce the dash first. Glassing the corers and keeping the shape was no picnic. I was surprised to find that after a couple of days in the sun the dash buckled and cracked in the center like if someone took a hammer to it!. I remedied this by making the center (the most flexible part) thicker and consequently stronger. That worked. That was several years ago. Sorry I don’t have more pics but I stopped taking them after the first round of defeat. In the end it looked great and performed well but I don’t deal well with any amount of failure.




I have since learned about how much polyester resin shrinks and expands under various temperatures. I have pondered on how I would approach the same type of job I was asked to do it again, and I have settled on two different methods.

1. Use the type of filler that body shops use to repair soft bumper covers. This type of filler is epoxy based, flexible, and will bond directly to vinyl. This would give you a smooth but flexible surface. The draw back to this is that you are likely to end up with waves on larger surfaces that will stick out like a sore thumb when painted gloss. There is a reason why soft surfaces have a texture.

2. Use marine grade epoxy and do it pretty much the same way I did the first time. With glass matt. Epoxy expands and contracts 2% vs the 9% that polyester resin dose. Also Epoxy is effected by humidity much less than polyester.

I strongly suggest that you go to a wrecking yard and get some chunks of dash to experiment on.

Also check out www.tapplastics.com   for chemicals of all kinds and lots of info on fiberglass, carbon, epoxy, repairs, molds, etc. Dig deep there is a lot of info there.

If any one ells has some insight on this, I would also like to know. Please post.