Today was definitely the day for “Blue”. I worked on 3 different blue interiors today which is kinda unusual. It’s weird like that though. I’ll go for weeks and not have one blue interior and then Bam all at once I’ll get them all in one day. The last blue one I worked on today was a 1980 Mercedes 450sl. The dash was cracked from the defrost vent up, above the instrument cluster, then another crack on the side of the hump above the cluster. I wish I had pictures but just didn’t think, sorry.

Let me put it to you this way if we could have pulled the windshield we would have, it was not in a great spot. There’s only about 3 inches from the top of the dash to the windshield. When things get that tight it’s almost impossible to yield a perfect fix. You’ll have problems from not having enough room to sand or the worst is getting the job almost done and not having enough room to dye the area without dyeing the windshield too. But luckily this turned out a lot better then I had anticipated. I had just enough room to sand and just enough room to lay a good coat of dye, with the exception of down inside the lip of the vent, here I took a small sponge brush and brushed the dye on. You will find that when you brush dye on it will have a little different sheen to it then if it were to be sprayed on, so top coat with a clear when done to even this effect out.

When I started this dash repair the edges of the crack were curled up slightly and in one spot it was raised up about an inch. The way I usually would fix this would be to trim this off. But I thought I would try something first and see if it would work. I took a matching grain pad, basically for protection from the hot vinyl, and heated the curled and raised areas up then pressed the grain pad into the areas pushing them down and leveling them out. I just kept heating and molding the areas until I was satisfied. It worked really well. I was able to level the area out which gave me a level crack to fill.

I then sanded the cracks with a 120 grit sandpaper about an inch all the way around. This is prep for the next step which is something I’ve talked about before. It’s one of the best products I have found for repairing cracked dashes. It’s called Padded Dash Filler by Urethane Supply Company. Now these guys know a few things when it comes to plastics. I have never been disappointed with Urethane Supply Company’s products and the Padded Dash Filler is no different. It spreads like butter and sets up really fast… I like fast.

After I sanded the area around the cracks I prepped with my prepping solution and then mixed up me a batch of Padded Dash Filler. Now I use a little different catalyst then what they send, I think they give you the red stuff in the little tube (the catalyst). I use the blue stuff, it’s a little “hotter” then the red. But if your just starting out using the filler then use the red, it takes a little longer to set up but you can work with it a little longer. Mix up small amount at a time, I usually use a glob of filler about the size of a shooter marble with a pea size of catalyst. I mix it on a piece of 4″x4″ smooth tile, it’s small enough to hold and cleans up nicely with a razor blade so you can use it over and over again.

Basically your first coat of Padded Dash Filler will be a rough fill, meaning don’t worry about getting it perfect. I’ll sometimes lay about 3 to 4 coats before I happy. The whole idea is to get your repair as level and smooth as possible, the texture comes after wards. I will use a 120 grit to start out with then graduate to a 240 then 400 if needed. This Mercedes was a hard one too, I actually used the reflection from the windshield to see the back side of the dash when I was sanding, not real fun.

The texture on this one I used the Sem Texture Coat. It’s about the only way to get texture back into the repair area when using the filler. If I would of had more room I would have done my little trick with my grain pad. I was able to do it on the lower crack though. What I’m talking about is taking your grain pad and pressing the grain into the Sem Texture Coat. You can do this if you get the right amount of texture coat on and do it when the stuff is still soft. Try it out sometime it works pretty good, just wait until the texture coat flashes then press the grain pad into the texture coat “lightly”, and you have a matching grain.

Now dyeing the repaired area was a booger.. to say the least, after I covered the windshield I realized how much room I didn’t have to get my paint gun in. Thank God I use the paint gun I do, thisSharpe 7040 top trigger gun I use is small and has an adjustable cup so I was able to get it in where most guns I wouldn’t have had a chance. Like I said I was able to get almost all the area covered with the spray but I had to sponge brush a small area along the defrost vent.

I top coated the dash with a low gloss clear when I was done and I was pretty happy with the repair. I wish I could have gotten a better grain into the area though, but you couldn’t hardly tell because of where the repair was unless you got right up on it. My customer was happy so that was good.

I’m a perfectionist when it comes to my repairs, if I’m not happy with it then I know my customer won’t be. I never try to settle for just good enough. This one I had to settle a little though, I just physically couldn’t have made it better due to the amount of room I had to work with, grrr.

Cracked Dash Repair is one that can be frustrating but take your time and don’t rush things. The Padded Dash Filler does take a little bit to set up, and getting your texture just right takes a little practice. Well I hope my little experience today gave you some ideas in doing a repair on a cracked dash and if you need anything don’t forget to join my forum or just throw me a comment.

Later….Mike”TIG”

I got into a 2007 Chevy Avalanche today at one of my dealers to clean and repair the drivers seat. When I got done with the seat and was wiping up some dirt on the carpet, I happened to look up and directly under the steering column on the dash panel were 2 screw holes in the dash from a trailer brake that had been removed, I about choked. This truck didn’t have but maybe 30k miles on it and screws had already been put in the dash, I couldn’t believe it. There has got to be a better place to mount those things, but whats done was done and now I had to fix it.

This repair is not that hard to do, and can really make a difference in the appearance of an automobile. Automotive plastic no matter where it is in the vehicle can be repaired the same way, this repair works for all screw holes and small holes as well. Now the holes say the size of pencil eraser are about the biggest you can go with this one. The holes you see where a toggle switch has been are really too big for this fix.

First and foremost is getting rid of the burr’s and raised area left from the removal of the screw. Most of the time the holes have not been pre-drilled so there’s a raised portion around the holes and burrs left from the threads of the screw as it is screwed into the plastic. To remove this and make the holes level you will need to trim this off. The way I do this is with a brand new razor blade. I use a new one because you will need a very sharp edge to cut the plastic, and not your fingers. Take your razor blade and lay it flat up against the plastic piece and push it through the plastic that is raised up, making the screw hole level with the rest of the area.

Here’s the fix… Its a product you’ve seen on TV called Mighty Putty, you’ve probably seen it, it’s great! Just slice a small amount off knead it into a ball to get the two parts combined, tear a small amount off then push it into the screw hole. Now leave a little bit above the hole, don’t push it all the way through, basically a little glob on top. Grab your 240 grit sandpaper and sand lightly over the glob until it’s level, finishing with a finer grit like 400 or 600. You have to kinda work fast this stuff sets up pretty quick. Inspect the hole and see if it’s all filled in, if not pinch a little more off and push into the hole, sand and inspect. If it’s level and all filled in, your done filling and now it’s time to clean the area thoroughly with your prepping solution.

Sometimes depending on the size of the screw hole and where it’s at, you may need to texture the area a little. Now I use the heavy body water based spray grain for dashes and door panels. I do it the old fashioned way with a mouth atomizer, I have a little more control with it that way. If you have a smooth piece of plastic, then no need for the texture. Sometimes you may need to apply a surface primer to help fill in the small imperfections on the smooth plastics.

Lastly, apply your grip base then dye the area to match with your water based dyes and then topcoat with the appropriate sheen of topcoat.

When your done the screw holes in the plastic should be gone and look at the difference it makes on the appearance of the automobile, wow.

This fix is a great way to eliminate those unsightly screw holes in automotive plastic dashes and plastic trim panels. As far as that 2007 Chevy Avalanche it turned out pretty good, you could still see the areas just a little, the grain in those dashes are pretty hard to imitate, but it still looked better then two big holes sitting there staring at you on pretty much a new vehicle.

ITW #44229 2OZ Repair Epoxy Putty 2 OZ, Magnum Plastic/Marine & Fiberglass Repair Epoxy Putty, 15 Minute Set Time, 1,500 PSI Bond Strength , Adheres Above Or Below Waterline, Fresh Or Saltwater Application, Dries White, Will Not Shrink And Is Rustproof, Uses Include Plastic, Fiberglass, Plastic, PVC Pipe. *Manufacturer: ITW CONSUMER *Model number: 44229 *UPC Code: 078727442298 *Length: 2.88 *Width: 1.25 *Height: 7.88

Mighty Putty As Seen On TV Mighty putty bonds to almost any surface Easy to use epoxy resin will fix fill and seal almost anything Can be painted sanded machined tapped or drilled when fully cured Easy to use instructions included 3 tubes

I use Sems Sand Free for a couple of things and thats to break the edge of water-borne dyes that have been painted on various trim pieces throughout the inside of vehicles. What I mean by this is when the finish on most of the trim pieces begins to peel off ( like on the Chevy truck dashes ) the only way I have found, to make the paint feather out when you sand the edges of the peeled area to get it smooth is to use a little bit of Sand Free sprayed on sandpaper. If the edges aren’t smooth when the dye is sprayed onto the repair you see a ring where the area is that your trying to cover up. So heres what you do.

• Clean the area thoroughly with a degreaser to remove any silicone that will damage your adhesion of the dye.
• Using 400 grit sandpaper or even an 600 depending on whether it is a smooth or textured plastic, 400 for textured and 600 for smooth, tear off a strip of about 2.5 ” wide and fold it into 3rds.
• Now here’s the tricky part, spray the tip of the sandpaper with the Sand Free, now not to much, now quickly start to sand the area very lightly and you will see the dye start to kinda melt together, now lighten up as you sand. When the Sand Free begins to evaporate the dye will start to ball up a little and you will begin to dry sand the area. Stop and look at the repair. Are the edges starting to smooth out. Now keep in mind the temperature your working in will matter on the evaporation time, so be carefull not to go to far with the sanding. Keep applying the Sand Free to the paper and sanding gently, you will see the dye melting more and start to smooth out. Try never to spray the product directly onto the peeled area unless your looking for a larger repair area. I use Sand Free to remove dye sometimes from small pieces, but if you spray it onto a dash or a trim piece it will bubble the dye around it.

So, now the area should be smooth if you did it right. Just remember not to use to much chemical, and to sand say a half dollar size spot on a Chevy dash shouldn’t take but a few seconds. Not a lot of product and sand gently.

Now the area might be a little too smooth and when the dye is applied you see the area. Well sometimes you will if the area is too big or the dye your dyeing over was just too thick from the beginning. Some water based fillers have worked if the area needs to be really smooth. Or you can blow a little bit of texture onto the area with a mouth atomizer for textured surfaces like dashes, or in some instances I’ve just turned the air down on my spray gun to where just little droplets come out and textured that way. Apply a primer before you dye, I usually use a mixture of 50/50 of flex additive and sticky primer to give me good adhesion of the dye. Apply a coat or two of dye to see if the area will disappear, if not apply your texture, then dye again.

At this point you should be close to done. If your area that you dyed looks good, apply your final coat.

This technique has been used by myself many of times with a lot of success, but I have had some bad times with it too, and most of the time it’s been because I got to much chemical on the area I was sanding. There are limitations to a repair. The larger the area that has peeled the harder it will be to hide the repair. If you think the areas to big, then replacement is your only option. You will spend more time and money trying to fix something that probably would have cost you less if you bought a new piece. So you be the judge and don’t be afraid to just say you can’t do it.

So I hope this article helps you in your dash or plastic painted trim piece that is peeling. Leave me a comment or two about your experiences trying Sems Sand Free for Repairs I’m curious to see if it worked for you.