Ideas for Modded Dash and/or Door Panels?

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wallyblackburn
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Joined: Mon May 01, 2017 9:24 am

Ideas for Modded Dash and/or Door Panels?

Post by wallyblackburn »

Naturally, the dash pad and door panels on the '65 I just picked up are pretty rough. I'm going more towards restomod than keeping it original, but interior stuff is definitely my weak area.

Any cool ideas/examples out there for a modded dash or door panel? Preferably something that takes more metal (or even wood) skills than upholstery.

Thanks,
Wally
'65 Hardtop
wallyblackburn
Posts: 46
Joined: Mon May 01, 2017 9:24 am

Re: Ideas for Modded Dash and/or Door Panels?

Post by wallyblackburn »

Responding to my own post...

I was thinking of trying covering dash with new vinyl, but that curvy beast didn't seem like a good candidate for a first-time interior repair, so I went with fiberglas for the dash. Not perfect, but a helluva lot better than it was:

Image

Image

Image

Thanks,
Wally
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sseebart
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Re: Ideas for Modded Dash and/or Door Panels?

Post by sseebart »

Nice! I'm super impressed.
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XMas 64
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Re: Ideas for Modded Dash and/or Door Panels?

Post by XMas 64 »

indeed, nicely done!
1964 Whimbledon White Thunderbird Coupe VIN 4Y83Z116724
stubbie
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Re: Ideas for Modded Dash and/or Door Panels?

Post by stubbie »

Good idea Wally. Wish I had thought of that myself. You've done a nice job. The only way of getting the vinyl back on the dash successfully is by vacuum I would imagine. I was thinking of doing this with my old door trims.
Joe Johnston
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Re: Ideas for Modded Dash and/or Door Panels?

Post by Joe Johnston »

Looks very nice! For ideas on the door panels and perhaps console too, do some Googling for pictures or videos for custom speaker enclosure builds for more ideas and adapt their techniques. Some of this work is really great looking and they use simple materials for outstanding results. Basically there is no limit to the creativity that can be done.
PLEASE invest a few bucks and buy all the shop manuals for your car. Definitely will save you much time and be an education.

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57 Inca Gold-Colonial White
63SR Silver Mink
stubbie
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Re: Ideas for Modded Dash and/or Door Panels?

Post by stubbie »

Wally did you remove all of the vinyl and glass straight over the foam or did you leave the vinyl in place and glass over that?
wallyblackburn
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Re: Ideas for Modded Dash and/or Door Panels?

Post by wallyblackburn »

stubbie wrote: Thu Jun 29, 2017 10:51 pm Wally did you remove all of the vinyl and glass straight over the foam or did you leave the vinyl in place and glass over that?
I glassed over everything. I filled the big void with spray foam. Not really sure how durable it is going to be. When I started, I was looking at it as a semi-temporary solution - now I'm not so sure. Only time will tell...
Herb66
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Re: Ideas for Modded Dash and/or Door Panels?

Post by Herb66 »

Did you use chopped Fiberglas, or resin like the west system?

H
1966 Tbird convertible
1964 corvette roadster
1971 triumph tr-6
1971 VW superbeetle convertible
stubbie
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Re: Ideas for Modded Dash and/or Door Panels?

Post by stubbie »

You would want to use the glass. Resin by itself would be a waste of time. It would just crack and break off with changes in temperature.
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