Datsun Dash Restoration Resource...say that fast 5 times!

[d.p]

My ash tray is metal in a 71 521. Someone sell me a metal dash from a 520.

[Angela]

Most just do a 520 metal dash swap in the 521.

 

Just picked up a metal 520 dash from the Eagle Rock meet. I'm planning to patch a couple screw holes that are in it, then have the lower half powder coated in the turquoise blue body color, then maybe black on the top dash piece. Not sure.

 

If anyone has done different color combos on this conversion, I'd love to see what you've done.

[thisismatt]

Don't make the top gloss is my only advice

[kelowg]

My 71,didnt have the large holes in metal under padding. But had metal tabs welded to it(foam anchoring tabs). Ground down spot welds to remove,painted and reinstalled no issue. Isnt as flat and smooth as 520 dash but looks decent. Just has the ugly stud heads for defrost ducts showing.

[edekalil]

The 510 I have all apart has a dashed cover I believe it's called. Looks very much stock, there is or seems to be a sign it has one because you can see in some spots around the edges that give it away that it's been covered. But it looks good rather than having a cracked up one.

[montanosvg30]

I sent my dash to JUST DASHES to have it restored. I feel it was money well spent.

 

Edited February 5, 2019 by montanosvg30

[FrankRizzo]

Can you give a price range of what that cost? They are in my backyard and it would be really easy to drop off instead of shipping.

.

[montanosvg30]

I paid $800.

[Draker]

Looks great!

[Duncan]

On 2/7/2019 at 7:58 AM, Draker said:

Looks great!

 

The dash pad they did for me looks great as well.  They are VERY spendy though, IMHO.

[Draker]

1 hour ago, Duncan said:

 

The dash pad they did for me looks great as well.  They are VERY spendy though, IMHO.

 

Yeah, they are for for sure. 

[FrankRizzo]

On 2/7/2019 at 5:47 AM, montanosvg30 said:

I paid $800.

thanks!

[edekalil]

I'm glad all my other cars have good dashes.

[4perrev]

Five times!!!! JK, nice

[pdp8]

So, I couldn't help noticing how bad my 210 dash is and it's really beyond restoration since the fundamental shape has changed.  It might come back looking great but unless I kept the car out of the heat it would be unlikely to last.  Even then, I could imagine spending $800 for *one* but with several cars that gets less interesting so my thoughts turned to reproduction.  I was tempted to make a fiberglass/silicone mold around my best dash, fix the mold, and then build a few dashes.

Does anybody know how the pebble texture was originally produced in the mold?  I'm wondering if the texture was actually part of the mold or if it was a chemical or heat effect of the manufacturing process.

 

Edited September 1, 2019 by pdp8

[MikeRL411]

The pebble texture was likely part of the mold.  You might experiment on scrap material and crackle finish paint similar to the old electronic panels.

[pdp8]

On 9/1/2019 at 11:14 AM, MikeRL411 said:

The pebble texture was likely part of the mold.  You might experiment on scrap material and crackle finish paint similar to the old electronic panels.

Part of the mold was my first thought but it's not likely someone cut those little pockets by hand, they would have had to have a mechanical or chemical method I'd think.

If I knew how it was done back in the day perhaps I could replicate it.