fiberglass? bare with me

[madatgravity]

alright, well i been thinken of doin something to my dash, but the thing is, i dont have time to pull it and paint it or pull it and fiberglass it and sand, prep, prime, paint or whatever you do , i was looken at dash covers but even those are kinda ugly cuz their made from...carpet...okay heres my question, would it be possible to get one of those dash covers, and then fiberglass the carpet dash cover someway and then have some sort of fiberglass dash cover...this is just an idea i dont even know if its possible or even been tried before and to be honest i didnt really search it, but if it were possible then i would be interested in learning fiberglass (i am anyway), so give me some opinions, thoughts, feedback, later
(sorry bout the long post i tend to bable)

-MaG

 

[ddavisaf]

alright, well i been thinken of doin something to my dash, but the thing is, i dont have time to pull it and paint it or pull it and fiberglass it and sand, prep, prime, paint or whatever you do , i was looken at dash covers but even those are kinda ugly cuz their made from...carpet...okay heres my question, would it be possible to get one of those dash covers, and then fiberglass the carpet dash cover someway and then have some sort of fiberglass dash cover...this is just an idea i dont even know if its possible or even been tried before and to be honest i didnt really search it, but if it were possible then i would be interested in learning fiberglass (i am anyway), so give me some opinions, thoughts, feedback, later
(sorry bout the long post i tend to bable)

-MaG

What you'd probably want to do instead would be to buy a dash from a parts car. Take that dash and make a couple molds of it and fiberglass away. You'll get plenty of practice without having to take your dash out.

 

[madatgravity]

thats a pretty good idea, but see heres the thing, when i do get teh final product that i wanna put in my car, IE lets pretend i get a nice full fiberglass dash, id still have too take out my old dash to put the new one in....see what im sayen, im really tryen to avoid taken the dash out altogether, but maybe taking the entire dash out is the only way to customize it? im just curious if to see what people think about the idea of getting the dash cover and doin a fiberglass mold of that?? thanks again, later

-MaG

 

[devlish]

if you leave the dash in the vehicle the whole time, you'll end up with a half-azzed job. take it out and do it right. also, you'll avoid dripping resin all over your interior

 

[n0c7]

if you leave the dash in the vehicle the whole time, you'll end up with a half-azzed job. take it out and do it right. also, you'll avoid dripping resin all over your interior

^^^ What he said. Even if you manage to do a half decent job(which you won't around the edges) you'll spend more time and effort trying to clean up the mess you made all over the place when you could have used a 1/3 of that time to take the dash out and put it back.

 

[mkspriggs]

it only takes about 30 min to an hour to pull it then the same to put it back,i just pulled mine out and i am getting ready to paint my fiberglass then i should be putting it back in really quick,so do like they said buy a dash do what you want and put it in,as long as you have a few hours its no problem

 

[devlish]

you'll have a LOT of time into this project the way it is... don't compromise the outcome by skimping on an extra hour or two not removing the dashboard from the car

just some advice from someone who's been there... done that. don't skimp if its a big project anyways, it's not worth redoing it again in the end.

 

[madatgravity]

well i think if i pull it id rather just paint it, heres the thing though i just dont wanna pull it and then have any problems putting it back in, i looked for a tech article on pulling it, but i didnt find any, i would appreciate the help greatly, thanks again

-MaG

 

[zachakagoat]

I like the idea of going to a salvage yard, buying a dash, and then making a dashcover from that. Instead of a full dash just make certain interlocking pieces that are made of fiberglass.

 

[tryagain]

well i think if i pull it id rather just paint it, heres the thing though i just dont wanna pull it and then have any problems putting it back in, i looked for a tech article on pulling it, but i didnt find any, i would appreciate the help greatly, thanks again

-MaG

you shouldn't have any problems with it going back in because u should only be using skim coats of resin or bondo whichever u choose to use, so u won't be chaning the dimensions of the dash too much causing fitment issues. and i'm you're going to want to stay away from just painting it becuase the surface of the dash isn't a good surface for paint to adhere to. anyways if u have any more questions just ask. and removing the dash is really the best way to go. be careful if you're goin white for the dash because the glare off of the lower part of the windshield is almost unbareable.

 

[HighPsi92GST]

i looked for a tech article on pulling it

No you didnt


http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=188723

 

[xtreme98eclipse]

I was just seaching around and they have a full fiberglass top dash piece. But you lose the the a/c vents to two holes for gauges... It think it was 265$ plus shipping.. It comes ready to paint.. Yea it is some money but if you got the money or do not wanna take the time it helps..

 

[Thomas91169]

id go for getting a spare dash and using that to make a mold out of.

then you can either fit the finished mold right over the stock dash, or remove the stock dash and put the fiberglass one in.

i was thinking about doing a custom interior in the spyder to go along with my custom rear seat enclosure, but decided against it. a little too much work for me. im good at glassing and finishing, but a full dash and door custom kit is stretching my abilities. ill wait till im better at that sort of thing.