1973 Torino Tribute Restoration

Yep, these old girls like to be stroked, but are they classy after.

That gray really brings out the panel pattern. Very nice.

 

Thanks Norm. Actually the color is blue with a gray-ish tint. (Dearborn Classics claims this is Ford Dark Blue for 70-79 models) I compared it to the blue molded plastic panels I managed to find at salvage yards and this paint has a slight silver hue tint to it. I still have to get some smaller staples to tighten up the vinyl on the door panels as it is loose in some spots. Hot glue, staple, hot glue, staple.

We have some pretty bad storms right now. I cleaned up the dash last night and scraped away the sun driedness off the dash where it was cracked. I spread the POR-15 putty and checked it this morning and it is rock hard. I know the good "Doctor" used rubber bumper epoxy and he said it worked great, but I already had the POR-15 stuff so I'm using that instead. I'll sand it down and prep it later today. I hope this rain goes away so I can get some stuff done. What a great "vacation" this has been.

 

At least you should know that the same storm is being shared up here. We could almost say we're pool partners. Put your rubber duck in the pond, already!

I used a two-part epoxy to fill the cracks in mine, and they covered up pretty good. One year later and still holding. Vinyl is a tricky material to finish up and repair after sun damage. Hope the POR-15 has a similar expansion/contraction/porosity or you'll be at it again. It'd be useful to compare the results with the Doc's after a year or so.

Tearmender is as close as I've used to real vinyl for those properties. But it doesn't paint over very well.

 

Big wagon, lots of work. One day Ill do mine up like your doing. Very impressive.

 

Thanks Guys! Well Norm, the POR-15 stuff worked, but NOT as well as I had hoped.... That Krylon "Wrinkle Finish" stuff wasn't much better either. It's ok, but I guess I'm just a perfectionist so I'm gonna look for something that looks "exact" NOT just close. Maybe after I sand that "texture" down maybe it'll look better. I bought a can of the "hammered" finish you suggested hoping it would look closer to what I'm looking for, but I 'll try that another day... Let me say I thought that my door panels looked excellent!!!

 

Better than excellent! Nice tough on the script too.

I was reading a piece on the chemicals that come out of car vinyl over time. Those are the ones that give it flexibility and soft textures. Polyoliphants. (AKA New Car Smell). That's why it's so difficult to repair. Take a run to an insurance agent or a better auto upholstery shop or a body supply shop and snoop around or ask them. Don't forget that the sun will start drying up the new finish yesterday. Good luck.

 

The Last Word on Painting Plastics, I think.

Here's a company that specializes in primers, treatments (prep and fillers) and finish coats. Their story starts with painting decoy ducks.

http://www.rmpaint.com/

Here's the US distributor (Other countries in the combo box on the bottom left side):
http://www.rmpaint.com/en_UK/contact/distributors/u_s_a.xml

Found them by accident, searching for a way to plasticize this Vacuum gauge guide and keep it in the car (sun, humidity, freezing temps, grease hands).


Technical Info is here:
http://www.rmpaint.com/en_UK/products/index.xml

 

Well let me tell yall this dash was a pain to fix. I started with opening up the crack it had and then filled it in with POR-15 putty adhesive, twice. I then used Bondo spot glaze to fill in the minor imperfections. Then I sprayed it the Bull Dog paint promoter, then the Rustoleum "hammered finish" (silver) paint. After the silver paint I could see more imperfections so I wet sanded the dash to straighten it out some being careful not to get the under side foam wet. Well I left it over night and figured I'll paint it today. Well I wiped the dash down and sprayed it again with the Bull Dog paint promoter. Well that caused some sort of reaction that made the "hammered finish" wrinkle on me so back to the wet sanding after it dried. After a few more minor fill in's with the glaze I painted it with the Blue vinyl paint.
Here are the results. Now I just hope it lasts....

 

Looks like it turned out pretty darn nice, gpd!

 

, nice job, it looks great!

 

Looks Mint! Now its up to Mother Nature (Sun, Heat, Humdidity).

You'd think the aftermarket would have developed products for DIYers after so many decades of padded dashes.

 

I'm liking this new Bing Search engine. I just used 'Repair Padded Dash' as a key phrase:

http://theinteriorguyllc.com/dash-repair/

http://theinteriorguyllc.com/cracked-dash-repair/

http://ezinearticles.com/?Dash-Repair---How-to-Fix-a-Cracked-Padded-Dash&id=1361270

Complete kits:
http://www.superiorrestoration.com/ProductInfo~productid~DRK.html

http://store.rightlook.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=414

And you're not gonna like this - Padded Dash filler:
http://www.urethanesupply.com/mm5/m...re_Code=URE&Product_Code=2050-9&Category_Code=

EDIT: They've got a step-by-step PDF DIY book too:
http://www.urethanesupply.com/pdf/thebook.pdf

EDIT TWO: That PDF covers all kinds of plastics in the car, with types of materials, methods, etc., etc.! Must Have!

EDIT THREE: Complete pictorial of the dashpad prep on an old Corvette dash (1958 to 1962):
http://rarecorvettes.com/RARE/PaddedDash.html

EDIT FOUR: Different apporach to materials used, this is on a classic Vintage Triumph site, using RTV silicone to fill cracks. Got my doubts about that part, but the rest of the DIY looks ok.
http://www.vtr.org/maintain/dash-recovering.shtml

Here's my search results:
http://www.bing.com/search?q=Repair+padded+dash&go=&form=QBLH&filt=all

Microshaft just released it last month, so you don't get all the EBAY-type ads first.

 

Geez those "complete kits" are a lil pricey! I think I'll stick to what I have and worse comes to worse I'll try and find another dash. :2_thumbs_up_-_anima

I found one locally for $75. Not bad at all, I may still get it just in case this one goes kuput!

 

I agree. You may just prove to have a better solution. A couple of those DIY articles had some good tips on 'veeing' the cracks before filling them. I could have used that info.

 

A buck short and too late, but I just found a couple Floorpan sites for future restos. This is gonna be a more frequent issue for our wagons. Maybe this should be a Sticky? You've done such a fine job on yours and there's a lot of great input and tips that your good work inspired...

http://www.classicsheetmetal.com/othermetalhome.html

https://www.fleetsafety.com/Pro-Gard-Police-Car-Floor-Pan-381

http://www.rustrepair.com/floor_pan.htm

http://www.showcars-bodyparts.com/catalogue.html