Dash face covering

[Robin]

Looking for some advice.

My 1972 restoration is going very slowly - I am ready to fit the gauges so I can finish off the wiring.

Issue I have is the with face of the dash - the area around the gauges/front of glove box etc. where it is usually painted black. Due to the RHD conversion this area is rough and has been cut and welded. It was covered in vinyl before the restoration.

I have had a go stretching and glueing vinyl to cover the whole area but this seems hard to get a good finish due to curves in multiple directions.

Does anyone have any ideas on a better way to cover this area? I have searched but no one seems to sell a cut section of vinyl to suit this - I thought they may be available for the later cars which did have this area covered.

Thanks.

[CamBiscuit]

Does it still have the alloy dash trim?

A photo might help if you can?

[Robin]

Does it still have the alloy dash trim?

A photo might help if you can?

I have new alloy trim and basket weave to go on. It is the base metal below this and around the gauges etc. that I need to make pretty. At the moment it is rough metal with some weld marked etc. New cars (SC's, 3.2's etc.) have this area covered with vinyl.

[Classic]

I'd be inclined to use some filler, blend it then shoot some satin black.

How bad is it?

[e72phil]

My thoughts too. How bad are the welds ? Vinyl covering will just look all wrong.

[Robin]

yea - I wish I had got that done when I had the body done - I did not really want to have to fill/sand/paint at this stage.

Maybe thats the way I will have to go. Was hoping for an easy coverup option.

[9er]

It should be pretty straightforward while everything is apart?
The cover up will always look like a cover up.

[Robin]

It should be pretty straightforward while everything is apart?
The cover up will always look like a cover up.

Yes I have been thinking about it - filler and paint it needs to be!

[Terminator]

Yes it does no shortcuts please

[Robin]

OK so I will fill and paint. Just a couple of quick questions.

Should it be matt, gloss or satin paint? What was original?

Also with the glove box, on mine it has been covered in vinyl. Is the top half of the glove box lid painted metal originally?

[Terminator]

No matt black paint like the dash.

Wurth matt black is what you want

There is a padded vinyl piece that sits at the back of the door and over the top lip of the glovebox its a specific part same style as dash, knee pads and door tops etc

I will take a pic for you and post

[Fishcop]

It's satin black, but over time/age it becomes matte to look at. I promise you it's not how it looked originally.

Go into a 'proper' automotive paint supplier - most can put 2pac into a can now for you. Ask for black/65% satin (65% of full gloss). Two 450g cans will do the job (and most places require a minimum purchase of 2 cans to make the mixing and packaging worth their effort).

[Fishcop]

Wurth is probably a good option too, but not full matte....

[Terminator]

Learn something every day

Better paint the whole area now otherwise going to look strange

[mrar]

These are all great products. I have had the full gloss on the outside of my ute windscreen surround for the last two or three years and it still holding out well against the elements!