Best method to fix cracks on dash?

[jballard81]

Sanded it down some. 400 grit worked fine. Here it is after the first coat of bed-liner

It will still have more texture than from factory, but I can live with that

 

[RobbieD]

It will still have more texture than from factory, but I can live with that

Not only could I live with that, I really, really like how it turned out.

So what if texture doesn't perfectly match the factory finish? It looks damn good; it's different so it makes your truck unique. And you did it with your own brain and hands. Win-Win-Win in my book.

I mostly like keeping my trucks as stock as I can. Of the 5 RBVs I currently have, the ""newest" ones are 1994s; parts are drying up for these older trucks. You can't run down to the Ford dealer anymore and get a new stock dash for 50 bucks.

I think it turned out great. Grab a beer and pat yourself on the back. SALUT!

 

[jballard81]

Not only could I live with that, I really, really like how it turned out.

So what if texture doesn't perfectly match the factory finish? It looks damn good; it's different so it makes your truck unique. And you did it with your own brain and hands. Win-Win-Win in my book.

I mostly like keeping my trucks as stock as I can. Of the 5 RBVs I currently have, the ""newest" ones are 1994s; parts are drying up for these older trucks. You can't run down to the Ford dealer anymore and get a new stock dash for 50 bucks.

I think it turned out great. Grab a beer and pat yourself on the back. SALUT!

Thanks friend, much appreciated! The bed-liner says it takes 3 days to fully cure. I'm going to see if I can find the correct grey paint while I wait. I was just going to use the Krylon deep matte grey, but I think i saw somewhere that SEM makes an exact match?

Found the brochure for my 94 and the interior paint color is Opal grey.

 

[jballard81]

Anyone have any experience with LMR paint? This is supposed to be as close as possible to the Opal Grey that mine was originally.

https://lmr.com/item/MET-FV45B/bronco-interior-paint-opal-gray-94-96

 

[Brain75]

No experience with LMR, but I will say I just went down to Oreilly and got their Vinyl paint/dye - Duplicolor. Their "dessert sand" was NOT a match for my interior (light sandlewood), but their "medium beige" was closer than I can tell with my man eyes.

Duplicor "Desert Sand" vs factory "Lt Sandlewood" (ashtray):

The whole reason I bother posting (about a product you didn't ask about) is because so far it has survived abuse better than I figured a vinyl spray would and it was cheaper than all the other vinyl paint/dye. I didn't spend $$$ on adhesion promoter or sealant or or. I just cleaned the snot out of it using several steps just like you do for painting the exterior.

I don't have a side by side of the medium beige, and I would go take a pic of something except the last exterior clear coat just went on a few minutes ago - have to wait a while for pix.

I got several pieces out of the junkyard and none of em were tan so I had a bunch of interior to change the color on - center console, overhead console/map, bucket seat skirts...

 

[Brain75]

One thing that surprised me, the part of the ovehead center console facing outwards must have been sun damaged or something, one coat did not cover well, but the second (and correct color) covered all the sins up.

 

[jballard81]

No experience with LMR, but I will say I just went down to Oreilly and got their Vinyl paint/dye - Duplicolor. Their "dessert sand" was NOT a match for my interior (light sandlewood), but their "medium beige" was closer than I can tell with my man eyes.

Duplicor "Desert Sand" vs factory "Lt Sandlewood" (ashtray):
View attachment 119783

The whole reason I bother posting (about a product you didn't ask about) is because so far it has survived abuse better than I figured a vinyl spray would and it was cheaper than all the other vinyl paint/dye. I didn't spend $$$ on adhesion promoter or sealant or or. I just cleaned the snot out of it using several steps just like you do for painting the exterior.

I don't have a side by side of the medium beige, and I would go take a pic of something except the last exterior clear coat just went on a few minutes ago - have to wait a while for pix.

I got several pieces out of the junkyard and none of em were tan so I had a bunch of interior to change the color on - center console, overhead console/map, bucket seat skirts...

I've seen the dupli-color stuff at O'Reilly's. I actually really appreciate the post. When I was searching for Opal Grey I kept seeing the dupli-color vinyl spray (medium grey) as an option. I might give that a shot first (mainly bc I'm impatient and don't want to wait on shipping )

Did you clear coat your interior pieces?

 

[SenorNoob]

Looks better than factory to me. Also looks very much like the wheels that I coated with bedliner. Which I just realized I don't have a single picture of. How unlike me.

 

[Brain75]

...Did you clear coat your interior pieces?

Nope, the only clear I have is the super high gloss acrylic urethane exterior right now, didn't want the painted stuff to outshine the unpainted. After it dries down tonight I will take a pic of the A pillar meeting the B pillar, where the old (totally untreated beyond wash) meets the new... Maybe a woman can see the difference but not my aged eyes.

 

[jballard81]

Nope, the only clear I have is the super high gloss acrylic urethane exterior right now, didn't want the painted stuff to outshine the unpainted. After it dries down tonight I will take a pic of the A pillar meeting the B pillar, where the old (totally untreated beyond wash) meets the new... Maybe a woman can see the difference but not my aged eyes.

Thanks for confirming! I'm hoping the lessons I'm learning from this project will help as I move into the exterior work. My first time really getting into paint work.

 

[jballard81]

One thing that surprised me, the part of the ovehead center console facing outwards must have been sun damaged or something, one coat did not cover well, but the second (and correct color) covered all the sins up.
View attachment 119786

How did your paint turn out?

 

[Brain75]

 

[Brain75]

The real question is how well did the trim match (since we are in your thread about trim)
Driver's side A and B pillar trim.
A (right) is untouched other than ajax and water, B (left) is a crystal blue from a junkyard donor painted with the duplicor stuff.

same on passenger,
A (left) and "oh shit" handle are only cleaned with ajax & water, B (right) is crystal blue and painted.

Lighting in the shop is really really bad, both of these were taken with a 100w halogen "work light" hand held - so lots of shadow, harsh etc.
I do see that the 2nd photo looks like a shade difference, maybe the camera picks it up, but in person I can not see it.

 

[jballard81]

The real question is how well did the trim match (since we are in your thread about trim)
Driver's side A and B pillar trim.
A (right) is untouched other than ajax and water, B (left) is a crystal blue from a junkyard donor painted with the duplicor stuff.
View attachment 119823

same on passenger,
A (left) and "oh shit" handle are only cleaned with ajax & water, B (right) is crystal blue and painted.
View attachment 119825

Lighting in the shop is really really bad, both of these were taken with a 100w halogen "work light" hand held - so lots of shadow, harsh etc.
I do see that the 2nd photo looks like a shade difference, maybe the camera picks it up, but in person I can not see it.

I think your right. My eyes can't see a difference. I'm very impressed! Also the exterior looks damn good as well!

 

[Brain75]

It's not perfect by any means. I put 3 coats of blue and it went on well, I did 3 coats of clear and was a little paranoid about orange peel so I went "light wet". Waited till the next day, and it looked more frosted than like a new car does... re-read the TDS again and it says to put on a "medium wet to wet" coat. Well at that point it was tooo cold to paint, so waited till the next warm day (3 days later), re-cleaned, tack clothed and went medium wet... the whole vehicle is this tiny little itty bitty orange peel... I am hoping that will buff out with my paste and elbow grease, if it doesn't well it looks good from 10' and the little orange peel is uniform plus it is a TRUCK, not a trailer princess.