A couple of years ago or so I picked up a dash pad at a local pick n pull while on a parts run with TrekkerPaul. The dash pad was in slightly better shape than my cracked to crap dashpad but it was still in need of work.

Using Corax's Fiberglass Dash Thread as a guide i started this summer of 2014.

Other Dash Repair Threads or Posts:
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f88/.../#post52223013
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f96/...lacker-263649/
http://www.chevyk5blazer.com/forums/...cture-heavy%29
http://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/crac...repair.409790/

Using a donor dash frame made the work outside of the truck easier:

Cut out some fiberglass mesh that was left over from my bed bob project:

Layer the resin down:

I tried to use some foil in an effort to protect the dash frame to keep fiberglass from sticking but that was a lost cause.
Here it is with 3 layers of fiberglass, I filled the center dash pocket with resin. I sanded with with 80, 100, than 150 grit.


I wanted a texture to the dash pad so I used some Herculiner or Duraliner:




Harbor Freight has some cool little plastic prybars that work great for using on interior clips:

used them to pull out the old dash pad:


I used 4-5 coats of plastidip over the bedliner.
-I should have rolled the liner on, i used a brush and you can see the seams on the dash pad

little bit of random 1st Gen trivia, not sure what year i pulled this dash pad out of but it did not have as many retaining clips as the stock 81 dash pad:
new dash on left, old dash on right

-one thing to see in the above picture is the material that overlaps the main part of the dash, they are used to help old the dash in place by the front edge of the glove box and vent areas. I ended up with a lot of resin over run and had to try to peel it off with out damaging the material..kind of a PITA.
-if you use your current dash pad, try to save all the retaining clips, some of mine broke when I pulled the dash pad, also put masking tape or something over the metal slots where the retainer slide into to keep fiberglass from seeping into it.

Not perfect by any means but better than looking at the ragged out POS i had before.


-If you have a roll cage take that into account trying to get your dash pad back in. I got lucky that I was able to slide mine back 4-6" to get enough room to slide the new dash pad back in.
A stock replacement if you can find one might have enough flex to allow you to slide the pad back in. Fiberglass obviously made it very rigid.
-not sure what the overall cost was, i used left over materials from when I bobbed the bed and extended my rear hatch.
I probably had 7-10 hours on it. Hard to say though since i started the project last summer.

 

That's a good idea to fill the center detention level with rest of the pad. Makes it easier to lay the fiberglass. Thanks for sharing.

 

Great write up!! I have found great pads and then to have them crack at a later time and fiberglass can look great.

 

Very Cool Write up my Friend. Looks Good and Less Expensive than Replacing. Thanks For The Threads.