help with dash board

[suicideclipse]

any one have a suggestion on painting the dash board (hole thing), on a 97gst... I have seen many that have there dash as smooth and shiny as glass, and that's the look that im looking for. but we have that rubber like stuff on the dash, how can i sand that stuff. thanks for any help that you might be able to give, jason

 

[97GS-TSpyder]

its called bondo or fiberglass and a bunch of paint and some good clearcoat...took me about a week to my friends honda door panels and all the dash and trium everywhere

 

[suicideclipse]

that's what i was figuring, thats no prob, the car has been in the shop for over a year and a half (can't wait to start showing it off). now with the way that you did it, was there, or is there any problems with sun damage, cracking, or anything like that. the car is gunna be complete show, and before you guys start yelling rice, just wait till you see the mods to the engine well thanks for the help, jason

 

[sids]

dude, what color you getting it painted?

 

[suicideclipse]

i don't want to give out to many of the details (i know it sounds corney, but i just wunna keep it hush hush till it's done) the interior is gunna be a pearl white... jason

 

[97GS-TSpyder]

well i didn't have problems with sun or anythign like that...as far qas cracking just dont slam doors or abuse the car and you should be fine as long as you put a flex additive in the paint

 

[suicideclipse]

alright man, thanks, jason

 

[97GS-TSpyder]

if you needf anymore hel;p justr pm me
the guy that sponsors me does it at his shop he can tekll you more

 

[AP-Signworks]

Here's the problem w/ fiberglassing over the rubber/vinyl dashboard. It will crack. The dash is rather soft, so if you just fiberglass over it, there will be some give under the glass and if you drive your car at all, it will crack. It's happened to quite a few of my friends. Looks great, then you start noticing cracks in seams and stuff.

And one of the guys in my car club is having major problems w/ the glass in his car. His entire interior is fiberglass, doors, rear package shelf, dash, all panels, and so on. It's a Civic. Every time he leaves the car in the hot sun at a show or something, the fiberglass on the rear package shelf bubbles. Fiberglass does that under extreme heat, and in the sun that rear package shelf gets hot. He's having some troubles with his dash too. Same heat problem.

Originally posted by suicideclipse
any one have a suggestion on painting the dash board (hole thing), on a 97gst... I have seen many that have there dash as smooth and shiny as glass, and that's the look that im looking for. but we have that rubber like stuff on the dash, how can i sand that stuff. thanks for any help that you might be able to give, jason

 

[suicideclipse]

thanks man, you confirmed what i was thinking. so is there any way that we could get that rubber of there, it whould take me a while but i whould do it. jason

 

[97GS-TSpyder]

or you can just use bondo because it isnt as intolerable as glass...

 

[AP-Signworks]

Yeah, but it's not nearly as strong either. Bondo will crack way before glass will. Most body shops I know try to minimize use of the stuff. And when building stereos, most shops minimize it's use, only for smoothing and all that.

Originally posted by 97GS-TSpyder
or you can just use bondo because it isnt as intolerable as glass...

 

[Red Hot Eclipse]

I'm not 100% sure but isn't there a method where u can sand the interior pieces down until they are smooth then primer and paint it? I think silvermissle did something like that but like i said i'm not 100% sure.

 

[AP-Signworks]

A lot of people do that. It's great for plastic pieces. And you can do it to the vinyl pieces too, but the look is a little different than if you just sanded down the plastic. The paint looks different on it I guess. There's a shop local to me and they specialize in this stuff, so I see it all the time and they show me all the little nuances.

Originally posted by Red Hot Eclipse
I'm not 100% sure but isn't there a method where u can sand the interior pieces down until they are smooth then primer and paint it? I think silvermissle did something like that but like i said i'm not 100% sure.

 

[90LaserTurbo89k]

for the carpeted insert pieces on my door, the piece in the middle of it, i took it off, ripped the cloth off, and sanded the heck outta it, i didnt mess with sanding all the rest of the stuff down, cuz then it wont look factory, mine looks factory, for the most part, cept for the couple custom ideas i did. i always think if a car has it's interior painted, and it LOOKS stock, its 10 times better than a REALLY smoothe one. that may just be around here, i have went to a few car shows, one in chicago "import nights", and a couple local one's in columbus,ohio, and i didnt see many show cars winning with really smooth interior, usually it was stock feel, but with extravagent designs (which i know you will do, you just wont tell us... ) and with gauge setups and things of that sort.

thats just what i had always thought, if your opinion differs, more power to ya, but i was just answerin your help call.

 

[97GS-TSpyder]

the shop that sponsors me just did a system with 4 15s and all fiberglass......hes had it for about 3 months.....5000 watts......hasn't cracked....if you put a butt lad of resin on there over a fiberglass cloth it shouldn't brak or crack

 

[sids]

you can sand the vinyl down until its smooth and free from the leather like texture, but it'll be pretty hard to make it shiny like fiberglass because vinyl is a non reflective surface to start with, unlike the hard plastic trim, which sand down, give of a nice smooth sheen of light, I tried to accentuate the shine with a glossy clear coat, it did help somewhat

 

[suicideclipse]

thanks guys for all your help

90laserturbo.... hahaha, your right, i won't tell you. i will tell you that it isint gunna look stock by far

i think i am gunna leave this part of the project to someone that knows what there doing (not saying that you guys don't). with all the different things that you guys have brung up, it's made me relize that if i don't do this right the first time, that it's gunna be a pain in the azz. I like to avoid problems to the best of my abilitys. i just think that if i attemped this it's gunna be nothing but bad i'll just stick to all the panals and cloth areas, that i know i can handel.. thanks agian for all your help. jason