Covering a Dash with Styrospray 1000

[orangie]

I tried using marine grade vinyl to recover the dash and just wasn't happy with the results so I started searching the internet and found this stuff, Styrospray 1000.  A guy on Youtube was using it to make a billboard for Absolute Vodka so I thought I would give it a try.  It comes in two parts and you mix it about 50/50.  I would lean just a bit more on the "Part A" to make it little more viscous and flow better as you are trying to smooth it.  I used a foam brush, but you only have about half an hour to work with the stuff and the dash is a pretty big area to try and smooth out in that time frame.  I would prefer an airless sprayer, but not getting it as smooth just means more sanding.  It's about as difficult to sand as marine grade bondo.  It takes more effort than standard bondo.  

 

- First strip the vinyl off the dash.  A heat gun will make your life a whole lot easier.

 

 

 

- fill in the cracks with low expansion foam and get it as smooth as you can.  Mine was warped and bulging in some areas and I had to shape the foam a bit.

 

 

- mix and coat the dash.  If you put the mixed solution in a squirt bottle, you work with it all day before it dries up.  It take several coats and the dash has to be rotated at different angle since it tends to run off when the surface gets to vertical.

 

 

 

 

 

Stay tuned for more sanding and we'll see how flat I can get this or make a total mess of it.  I've never used this before so it's a science experiment.

 

 

 

[]2eDeYe]

Cool use of new materials. Looking forward to seeing how well it turns out. :)

[red13]

I to ripped all the platic off mine, but i used a bondo fiber glass mix to coat it, u should look at my build and see the endresult. And yours looks good

[Elkie]

I got one of those dash caps for Christmas, installed it, was terrible. Hope this works out well.

[red13]

here was my dash when i got done

[windowless66]

"Styrospray 1000" You know its good when it has 1000 in its name.

[Charlie69]

This looks messy enough for me to try.  LOL

[125 CSL]

How stiff is that styro1000? Kind of looks like it could be used as a mold for carbon fiber.

[orangie]

I had some run off that dried on the table and it's just a little stiffer than wood glue by itself.  It can flex without breaking.  That's why I didn't go with a plastic filler.  They don't flex so much and similar piece of bondo would have cracked.  It's not real expensive.  I paid 30 bucks for about two quarts.  That's probably enough to cove two or three dashes.  There's cheaper stuff to use then this stuff for making a mold.  Why not just use Plaster of Paris if you just want a mold. 

[red13]

the bondo fiber glass resin i mixed was still soft enough if u apply a thin coat.  once the rhinoling went on it still plyable

[Scgreen620]

Can't wait for the end result .. I tried putting new Vinyl on mine I suck...;(

[orangie]

Well things aren't always as straight forward as you would hope.  The coating if fine, but the dash is warped.   I built a little damn around the outer edge and turned it upside down.  Then I poured the resin in.  It's  still trying right now, but you can see how warped the dash is.

 

 

 

[sebpv]

How about cutting a Tee incision above the glove box, pulling the arches down and secure them in place?

 

[orangie]

I suppose I could have tried that, but it's too late.  I poured the resin.  It's starting to look good, but it takes forever to cure when you lay it down that thick.

[orangie]

By the way.  Anybody know how to get the glove box knob off?

[krayziemike001]

By the way. Anybody know how to get the glove box knob off?

They pry off, the black piece you turn is just a cover. They can be a real slut to do

[orangie]

Well, I painted the dash a couple hours ago and I like the way it came out.  It could have used a better sanding, but flat white is difficult to see any flaws.  A black primer would have been better and wet sanded, but most of my flaws are on the bottom side, besides if perfect was what I was going for I would have gotten another dash.  Mine is warped, but this is no concours restoration either.  Only time will tell how durable the plasticoat paint will last.

 

[ownTer]

Looking good!

[distributorguy]

Great work!  I can tell you Plasticoat will hold up well.  I used it on the chrome grille of my wife's car over a year ago.  Its difficult to get ANYTHING to stick to chrome.  It still looks like I just sprayed it, 30,000 miles later, and that takes a lot more abuse than a dashboard.  

[Elkie]

Looks pretty damn good imo. was just thinking about this a couple days ago, glad it worked out.