Car Care
Dash Pad Restoration
How to bring vinyl and foam back to its former glory
Created by Jim McGowanMost people are familiar with the cracked-dash crisis caused by an older-generation formulation of a popular car-care product. People who prided themselves in their vehicles' appearances were disappointed to discover that this leather-vinyl-rubber spray didn't allow the vinyl to "breathe," and temperature fluctuations caused dash skins treated with this product to crack.
Other vehicles suffer different dash dilemmas. For example, late '60s and early '70s GM cars had one-piece pads that incorporated the instrument cluster. The vinyl top surface dries, cracks and deteriorates with age, and the passenger-facing front readily follows. Removing these dashes makes the car look like a map of the USA with Texas missing. Wires and stuff are everywhere! From 1969 to '72, the Pontiac Tempest, Le Mans and GTO used this sort of dash.
Resto Options
Options for interior vinyl repair are limited. Some folk spend lots of money to find and re-dye a good original pad, only to have it crack like the one they've replaced. Want to do it right? Have the dash chemically restored. This way it will take another three decades of abuse before it once again needs resurrection (fatalistic but efficient).
You can UPS your original pad core to a dash restorer or buy a core from them. After the restoration is complete, in the correct grain vinyl and interior color, they will send it back ready to install. The process of dash removal is documented here on a '70 GTO (which had a big one-piece dash shared by its 1969-72 siblings, the Tempest and Le Mans). The process requires basic hand tools and wrenches.
The arm rest pads on this '70 GTO convertible also had seen better days, so they were treated to a restoration process as well. Almost any vinyl-covered part you can remove from the car can be restored, including door panels and headrests, bringing your vehicle one step closer to looking like new again.
Step 1
This process on a '70 GTO starts at the glovebox. Remove the Phillips screws in the glovebox liner, then the ones that secure the door. In A/C-equipped vehicles, drop the under-dash ducting by removing three large Phillips head screws. Detach the ducting to each side vent and center duct and remove it.
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Step 2
Next, remove the three screws that secure the metal trim panel under the steering column. Then remove the two nuts holding up the steering column and drop the steering wheel down to the seat. No wiring has to be disconnected from the column.
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Step 3
Remove the Phillips screws above each gauge pod. Working through the glovebox hole, locate and remove three nuts that secure studs along the top underside of the pad. Disconnect the speedometer cable by reaching through the U-shaped steering-column gap and pushing the pressure clip.
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Step 4
Like the radio, the headlight switch is secured with a threaded ring removed from the front, but to get the switch out, you must first remove the pull handle. Reach under the dash and feel around the switch's flat metal side for the little button that must be depressed while slowly pulling the arm out. Depress and pull gently until the shaft disengages and comes free.
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Step 5
Remove two bolts from the lower corners of the pad and two more on either side of the steering-column gap. The speedo cable snaps into the back of the cluster and MUST be disconnected prior to pulling the pad forward. Make sure all connections (clock lights, primary harness, ashtray light, cigarette lighter, fuse-box harness and convertible controls) have been undone and the radio and heater controls have been removed in one piece. If your car has A/C, remove the screw holding the large plastic duct to the vent prior to removing the controls.
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Step 6
Leave all wiring under the dash. The dash pad can now be removed from the car and stripped of instruments, vents and miscellany before shipment.
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Step 7
Here's the instrument cluster from the backside. The center vent/duct is for A/C cars only. Note the speedo-housing clip, which secures the cable to the cluster. The rectangular slot to the top left of the speedo housing is the main wiring harness receptacle.
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Step 8
The speedo-cable fitting in the cluster was lubricated with graphite powder, as was the cable itself. This prevents noise and keeps everything turning smoothly.
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Step 9
This is the stripped dash pad, ready to ship. Note the 10 attachment points: three Phillips screws above the cluster, three nuts above the glovebox and four 9/16-inch bolts along the bottom.
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Step 10
This is an early '70 GTO (made in 1969). This stamp is on the foam at the back lower corner of the pad under a side vent and indicates the pad was made in 1969. The instrument-cluster stamp indicates that it was manufactured on December 5, 1969. This GTO was built the third week of December '69, so this is probably the original cluster.
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Step 11
The instrument cluster is easy to remove from the dash pad. We took the cluster apart and cleaned the faces of the gauges and polished the original lens with a fine polish. At this point, we installed a quartz movement in the original Borg clock.
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Step 12
Once all the ducting was removed, it was washed and the inside areas scrubbed with a soft brush. Years of dust and mung accumulate in these air passages, but it only takes a few minutes to thoroughly clean them.
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Step 13
The restoration process is started by grinding away the old vinyl. If necessary, the pad will be cleaned down to the metal frame and completely built up again with new materials.
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Step 14
A surface of thin material is now cut and glued to the pad. This provides a working base for the restoration.
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Step 15
Start hand-shaping by gluing a layer of high-density closed-cell foam to the base material. Restoring a large pad like this is labor-intensive.
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Step 16
Another layer of material is now installed over the foam and again hand-shaped. This process actually makes the pad a lot tougher than the original version. With state-of-the-art materials, it should also last a lot longer. The second layer of base material is used to cover the entire pad prior to the final layer of thick foam. Each basic contour is preserved just like the overall original dimensions of the pad. This guarantees a perfect fit back into the vehicle.
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Step 17
The final layer of foam has been installed and is now carefully hand-shaped and sanded. Most dash restorers can create a concours-quality restoration.
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Step 18
With the hand-shaping finished, a coat of industrial-strength adhesive is sprayed on the foam and allowed to set up.
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Step 19
The prepared dash pad is now installed on the thermo-vacuum forming machine. Notice how the vent area contours are perfect. Like a paint job, the prep work is the most important step. A sheet of heated vinyl melts over the dash as the vacuum machine sucks it tightly over the part with the vinyl conforming to every angle of the pad.
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Step 20
After the vinyl has cooled, the pad is trimmed from the machine and sent to the finishing department, where the final trimming and edge gluing is performed.
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Step 21
The restored pad is now permanently dyed the correct factory color in the same way the originals were dyed. Once dry, this dye is almost impervious to damage. Be sure to ask for the original color charts to perfectly match your interior color.
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Step 22
The proof is in the pudding. The restored pad is back at home and looking good! It dropped right back into position. The job will be complete after installing the lower ducting and glovebox parts.
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