Glalssing my dash

[JT_Production]

Well this is what I been working on for the last week;

I know I didn't peel the black plastic off the dash but I took bondo and filled all the cracks then took a roller and done 4 thin coats of fiberglass over the dash, its by no means fit to hold the cracks from happening again. I then decided today I would go to Walmart & pick up some felt. I picked up two yards of felt.

I've put far to much effort into the dash but I guess in the end it'll be worth it all.

I'm going to lay thin coats of Fiberglass tmrw, their are some areas I'm not sure if I should put the felt I'm not sure if I'll get the dash to fit if I do laywer up the fiberglass.

If anyone can give me some tips when fiberglassing that'll help me out rather then finding out in the end.


I'm also thinking of getting the dash done BMW jetblack with a clear coat, I also was thinking of going with a satin black.

I wanted to lay Black Gator skin over the dash but I couldn't find any plastic that was big enough to be able to do it.

[silpena]

First of all did sand down the dash at all? you should of scuffed it lightly to help it stick better and last longer.
second did u clean off the surface with wax/grease remover? i ask because the majority of its life it has been wiped with oils and such to grease it up like amor all and the oils will cause u issues down the road with adhesion and you paint not sticking to it. Other things can happen is the oils will come out when u paint it causing fish eyes or if u put something over it. The adheasive wont work.

After that i would tell to apply one layer of resin day by day so u dont over heat the dash and resin. that will warp it and cause u more work down the work. Your gonna need some 36 grit paper and grinding disks to sand it and rough it out.

wats felt? you mean fiber glass matting? you should have put that in with the first layer to strengthen its base.... make sure u roll out all of the air.

If u can buy some small hair fiber glass filler to help smooth it out becuase i am telling you now. You can sand down fiber glass perfectly for paint unless u use some heavy ass primer filler/surfacer. Think about it whats more coarse. The glass in the fiber glass or the grit and crap on ur sandpaper? You should either get some glaze, light wieght body filler to put a VERY think skim layer ontop of the fiber glass once u have it roughed out and perfect. I say very thin skim layer so it doesnt crack easily down the road.

you want some gator on ur dash? that be pimp!

[JT_Production]

Well I'm taking my time, my car doesn't leave till Saturday to the paint booth. I have a week to get this done. I'm off from college for a week so I'm going to do as much work as I can with out putting much stress on the dash as you stated about heating it up to make it warp.



I've prepped these dashes two months ago, they've been cleaned & sanded from 320 grit all the way up to 600 grit.

I'm using 80 grit to shape it up quickly as soon as the high spots aren't so high I work with 120, 150 grit. I do it all by hand with different shape sanding blocks. It takes more time but in the end the effort is well worth the finished product.

My only questions / concerns fall back onto where should focus on slimming the fiberglass down on, I want to make sure the dash fits into the car. What should I watch out for.

[silpena]

oh ok then well then just trime down the edges like a lip so it fits in. Your not gonna be able to see it.

[JT_Production]

When you say cut down what do you mean?


I had some ideas, not all sure if its good or not but I'll run it by to see what others might have to say.

This is what I'm thinking of doing since I broke my AC vents that go up on top of your dash right by your window. (Everyones breaks soon or later, lol) I was thinking of making a vent built into the dash. How ever I won't have as many vents like the stock one would come with since you have to pop the vents out to get to some screws.

I have two dashes one thats in the car and one that I am working on. I'm trying to figure out in my head if making the vents built into the dash is a good idea or not...

Any how my idea as far as making it fit into the car is this; for the side panels just rather then cutting it off just make it slowly fade from the felt thats on the dash to maybe a T-shirt thats stretched. It won't be nearly as thick and I can sand 'em down to make 'em blend together.

[projectRDM]

I'm confused. Are you planning on recovering it, or painting it?

Paint = fail. The gloss will reflect everything and make your car damn impossible to drive in any light conditions at all. Horrible idea. If you're recovering it, looks like you're on the right path. Although I think red is a little janky. But again, I don't actually know what you're trying to accomplish.

[fueled by hate]

most likely the sun will fade that felt in just a couple of months.

[opponheimer]

get a spell checker dude

[JT_Production]

The felt is used like the fiberglass sheets, the felt is only thicker.

As far as the dash, I have two dashes one will be used for shows and one will be the DD dash. Which will be the satin black dash.

[JT_Production]

Updates:



I have one coat on so far I'm going to go out in the garage in a little and put another coat on. Its been about 6 hours since I last applied the first coat.

Also I finished prepping the engine bay today. The car is being picked up tomorrow & won't be back till Monday of next week from the paint booth.

[s13dan]

a dash for shows and one for DD?really?

[JT_Production]

Yeah, two dashes.

[JT_Production]

How many coats do I apply before I start to sand?

[kingkilburn]

If you are referring to the resin I would think as much as it will absorb. You don't want any air pockets plus it gives you more to work with when you get to sanding.

[JT_Production]

I began sanding the dash today, I used 80grit for most of the dash, I then took out 120 grit to try to figure where I had the low spots. I've used bondo in the areas that I needed..

Question: Should I use bondo on the spots that I have the air pockets to make it all level or should I just use more resin to fill the air pocket holes.

[kingkilburn]

It depends on what filler you are working with and how deep the low spots are. The filler container should have a guide for how thick you can safely use it. Other wise you would want some kitty hair or more resin.

Post some pics up if you have any. That will clarify things.

[silpena]

use the body filler to fill in the air pocket holes. Dont use resisn since ur making more useless work.

Make sure to put pressure hard on the body filler to get it in there. Also blow out all of the dust in the holes and wipe it down with wax/ greese remover. The body filler wont stick to dust and crap in there.

Another tip when you mix the filler. Over lap the filler when mixing. NO swirls. That just gets air stuck into the filler so you keep ending with air pockets. Hope that helps! glazing putty would be ideal but work with what you got.

[JT_Production]

I'm sanding the dash now, I'm going to hose it off after I'm done.

[BC S14]

Humm. I bet you used to own a honda.

[s13tilldeath*]

^^^haha i was thinking the same thing....

[JT_Production]

I've never owned a Honda, don't come trashing my thread.

[JT_Production]

I've sanded the dash smooth, I've began using bondo to fill the dips. I have about 30 hours left since I still have to fix up some of the felt that buckled up & the vent areas.

[toointoxicated62]

Originally Posted by girl's n sil's

Humm. I bet you used to own a honda.

what was the point of that post? how is glassing your dash have to do with used to own a honda?

to OP nice work its getting there

[JT_Production]

Thanks,

I was busy for a good part of today but I got some work done today on the dash. I'm new at the fiber glass / auto body work world so all this is new. I'm learning along the way what not to do.

I began to fill the air bubbles today with some bondo. I picked up the can of the red autobody bondo. I'd rate the production a high 4 1/2 - 5.5 I used a lot of the bondo when I first started to fill the bubbles. The second time around after picking up some professional bondo body filler from advance its the yellow can, it worked much better. The color of the gook is lime green!

Here are some photos, I have ALOT more work a head of me. I've got to sand the vents and fix them up so they look flush, I have some low spots where the middle AC vent is. I have some felt that lifted up near the bottom right corners. I've got the top nearly done the sides will be a booger to fix.

PICTURES!!

[FRoSt415]

This is where u start useing glazing putty and sand with 220 and higher. lay a coat of glazing putty over the dash the sand it down with a flexible sanding block and then raise the grit as neccessary and lay other coat of putty as needed for low spots.

[JT_Production]

Glazing Puddy? is this the same as body filler??

[Style]

glaze putty is used to fill in small small holes/imperfections. get Dolphin glaze from any paint store. that stuff is awesome, its self leveling and easy to sand.

[JT_Production]

I've decided to cover my dash in swade, I wanna' do it in gator or snake but I can't find either...

What should I cover my doors? Fiberglass the doors & have it done in glossy black?

[Big_E-Dog]

CARBON FIBER!!!!! would look hella sick!

[toointoxicated62]

Originally Posted by JT_Production

I've decided to cover my dash in swade, I wanna' do it in gator or snake but I can't find either...

What should I cover my doors? Fiberglass the doors & have it done in glossy black?

I would do it in the same fabric that you do the dash, maybe put inserts of gator or snake if you want it in there so bad?