Budget interior modifications
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Budget interior modifications - 10/28/2005 11:46:14 PM
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carlsbadlt1
Posts: 21
Joined: 10/9/2005
Status: offline
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I just finished what I think to be two great budget interior mods and thought I would share the idea. Of course this post will be no good without pics, so I will get some good high res pics up tomorrow.
FIRST, I bought my 95Z with a totally cracked up dash pad. After looking around and deciding that fixing the oil leak and replacing the water pump and opti was more important than a new dash... I decided to fix it myself.
I took the dash out in three peices and laid them across my work bench upside down. I used some heavy duty tape (grey duct tape)to hold it together while I mixed some fiberglass reinforced bondo. I used a moderately thick coat of this on the underside of the dash pad making sure that everything was lined up properly. After it dried in about two hours, I flipped it over and laid a very thin coat of regular bondo over the entire top. This eliminated any crack marks.
I had all of these supplies in my garage, but if you had to buy them it wouldnt cost more than $15. I then went to my local fabric store and bought 2 yards of black heacy duty felt and a can of spray adhesive. I sprayed the entire top of the dash pad and attached the felt at the front (windhsield side). This allowed me to pull it very tight over the rest of the pad and get the contours perfect. I then wrapped all of the edges and cut off the access on the back.
While I was putting it back in I realized the the grey/black cloth that was used on the doors arm rest area was kinda weathered. So I took the left over fabric that I had, a razor knife, a screw driver and a credit card to "fix it" I used the screw driver to gently pull up the rubber lip on the top while I used the credit card to evenly push the fabric under it. There is plenty of room and pressure there that I didnt even have to use the adhesive. I then stretched the fabric over the rest of the cloth pad and tucked it under by using the screw driver to gently pull the pad up while using the credit card to evenly tuck the fabric under. I then trimmed the edges and pushed the remainder under.
The edges came out absolutely perfect and each side took me less than 15 minutes. NOW, the cloth matches the rest of the top portion of the door and the dash pad.
As I said, if anyone is interested, I will post pics tomorrow...
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