Dash covering.
Padded vinyl dash.
I used the supplied materials on the dash and it turned out pretty well.
I have been driving around with the bare fiberglass dash with all of the gauges installed for a long time now. When looking at other builds, I noticed that a lot of people cover the dash early on in their build. I held off because I wanted to make sure I didn’t mess it up when working on the body and other stuff. Also, I was a little unsure of how to attach the materials to the dash.
When reading a number of posts on ClubCobra, it was pretty clear that most people used spray adhesive to glue the covering on the dash, so off I go to the local upholstery supply house to ask their advise and get the needed glue. They sold me a spray adhesive that is designed for headliners and various other general purpose use. I bought the high heat version because the guy behind the counter suggested it because it would be on the dash.
I began by removing all of the gauges and switches while making sure to mark the wiring well.
Following the directions on the can, I sprayed the pad and the dash and waited about 2 minutes for both to become tacky. I then pressed the pad on the dash and it was pretty well stuck. I then took a exacto knife and cut the padding out for the holes in the dash. I tried to wrap the padding around the edges to provide padding for the edge. It was fairly difficult to get it to hold, but it did finally hold after clamping it for about 30 minutes.
I then sprayed the padding and the vinyl like before, waited 2 minutes, then pressed on the vinyl to the pad. Now I had to glue the edges on the back side after wrapping it around the edges. I used various methods to “clamp” the edges down while it setup.
I was somewhat worried that the gauges would not fit if I folded the vinyl in and glued it to the back of the dash because the holes I had cut were pretty tight. I slit the locations for the gauges and glued them the back of the dash and the gauges fit with some extra pressure. This helped in holding the front down and made a clean look. I guess the vinyl compresses pretty good.
It turned out pretty well.
