88-94 Dash Restoration the Poor man's way!

[dbrannon79]

Hey Fellas, I have been looking at youtube on this model truck at simple fixes that can be done to easily restore a cracked up dash rather than spending a bunch of money replacing it. On the 93 I just bought, the dash is badly cracked, mainly on the top areas and where the glove box latch is. This idea came to me since the rest if the interior is in really good shape. door panels, headliner, and all look really good. I figured I would start coming up with some ideas to spruce up the dash.

After watching several videos on dash removals I have come to the conclusion that I should be able to strip the dash down to the photo below (18:20 mark on the linked video) where I can lay some woven fiberglass cloth and resin over the entire top section covering the cracked areas. before that, using super glue to put areas back into place like the latch so they can be held while the glass takes hold.

not sure what I can do with the defrost vents, maybe some hardware cloth glassed in. (still looking at ideas).

Anyway, what are yall's thoughts, ideas, and suggestions?

Here is where I got the idea from to use fiberglass on the dash. in this video, the guy uses short strand mat and doesn't pull the bezels off first. those two parts I would do different. First by pulling and stripping all the bezels off and pulling the cluster and cluster housing out to expose everything that possibly can be fixed.

 

[ak diesel driver]

Is the top photo yours?

 

[dbrannon79]

Is the top photo yours?

no, just a screenshot from the linked video. I have not had a chance take any photos of the dash yet. the dash is currently covered with a carpet glued to the top of the dash so the cracks are not visible, but the plastic around the latch on the glove box (dash side) had busted where the lid does not catch anymore.

There is no rush on this project, as I figured I would gather some ideas and a plan for when the weather warms up.

 

[Will L.]

If you aren’t sure, and there is already carpet on the dash…

 

[DieselCash]

Changing a dash on a 93 is not too hard. I replaced mine on the 93 I had before. I pulled it from a truck in the wrecking yard.
I think I made a post about it.

 

[3500GMC]

Careful how you store the main plastic dash piece, the defrost vent area is super fragile.

 

[dbrannon79]

on this truck, the defrost area is practically non existent! all I'm looking to do is make it a little better structurally to last a bit longer. the thought of using some fiberglass over what's still there and then ether getting a carpet cover or even one of those hard covers to hide the "repair" LOL iirc the hard plastic covers have the defrost vent slats in them where if the dash has them missing and broken out, that will hide it.

later down the road if I come across a better dash, I can invest and replace. I just recently replaced the one in my 95 after having the new used dash sitting in my garage for almost a year.

for me, if I can make the repair cheaply and then cover it up with something nice to hide it all, I'll be happy

 

[DieselCash]

There is dashes without cracks for sale on fake book market place down in Waco.