Kingtal0n

For the sake of others who wish to do this, I am reporting my results, and procedures.


I followed this guide, more or less,
http://www.nicoclub.com/archives/rep...cked-dash.html

Materials (In order: SEM Texture coat 39853, Bob smith CA glue THICK, SEM 15013 Landau Black, multi pack of sand paper
and Also (not shown) SEM Degreaser/Dewaxing spray (Probably could have just stuck with brake cleaner for this instead, but I used both successfully here)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/141782528668...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
http://www.ebay.com/itm/311052587816...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
http://www.ebay.com/itm/141784173475...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
http://www.ebay.com/itm/380375375008...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Also needed:
Tape, newspaper, gloves, razor blades, tools to remove dash

Total time: I had never removed a dash or heater core before from any car, ever. That said, it took me 6 hours to remove the dash, remove the heater core, realize I had the wrong heater core, Fix/paint the dash, and clean up the mess, and I left the fixed dash loose in the car for when I get the correct heater core. I estimate 2-3 hours left to re-install everything.




I had to do my heater core, and I figured I would fix the ugly cracks while I was in there.






First I dribbled the glue around the edges, smoothing with a razor blade, and shake some baking soda on it to cause it to stiffen while I smooth over it with the blade.





I realized the holes were too big to do it that way, I needed something to take up some space. So I cut a piece of plastic I had laying around to fit the hole.



Then started dry sanding with 220





Once I got it pretty smooth to the touch




I started the wet sanding with 220, then 320, then 400 grit wet paper.







Then dry it with my high tech lint free cloth (a sock) and mask it off
I wasn't sure how it would blend with the OEM color/texture so I figured I would spray the whole dash at once. (It turns out this was unnecessary, the texture coat blends VERY well with the OEM texture, you almost can't tell where one ends/the other begins, as long as you use LIGHT COATS and I mean SUPER light coats)




After degreasing/dewaxing the dash, and making sure it was dry,

Using VERY light coats, about 4-5 coats of the texture spray total (new light coat every 1-2 minutes), it looked pretty good already. Dries very fast. One spot got a little wrinkle in it and I touched it with a napkin, turning the whole area into a disgusting wrinkled mess. I had to re-sand and re-texture that spot, and was careful to spray VERY light coats to prevent that from happening again. It was fast because the stuff dies quickly.








ALmost no trace of the huge holes and cracks that once were. I did NOT sand the texture coating (seems like it would defeat the purpose) but I DID steel wool the paint after I painted the dash, to remove over spray. We usually use steel wool on primer for the same reason, before applying base coat, so I figured it would work here as well (it did work very nicely, giving the dash a very nice OEM feel to it, instead of that bumpy/rocky texture you get out of a paint can).





You can still see a line from this one particular crack, in the right light, But it doesnt show up from other angles, I didnt want to mess with it (pretty stoked it came out so good to this point). The black paint is barely noticable over the texture also (it would have been fine without paint maybe) but I wanted to make sure I used the paint just in case it would protect the texture coating.



Cant wait to get it back in the car. Can't do that yet though, waiting on the heater core.

__________________
5.3/4l80e/turbo 240sx playthrough:
https://tinyurl.com/turbo240

Frank_Jaeger

I've been contemplating v-cutting / filling the cracks in my S13 dash and coating with SEM texture spray...

But I have a lot of cracks. I mean a lot. I've never seen a dash in worse condition.

This looks like it turned out well so I'll give it a go. 2oz of glue isn't going to cut it for me. Do you know of anything else that might work that you can get in larger quantities more affordably?

What kind of heater core do you need?

alana95

I want to do my dash in my s14 too but I have a blow airbag, do not know how I would fix that. I was contemplating flocking as another route. Great job J looks good, hopefully we can get that fuel pump job done next lol.

Kingtal0n

That glue is cheap. Superglue is all over ebay cheap. The cheapest way to do this would be just focus on the sanding/glue/bakingsoda to get the dash smooth. I might even further try to smooth that slight line since I might be waiting on a core, this is where you can really put effort.

The spray and all that other stuff is just to make it try to look untouched OEM again, I saved for months for each individual overpriced can so I could be sure to do a quick dash resto and slap a new core in the same day, 8 hours for two birds, gangsta driveway 240 style with the minimized downtime. I would have had this great looking dash installed and driving the car with the new core already if not for the mix up. Instead of using all of that expensive cans of special spray, just use a regular can of black paint that works on flexible dash fabric (im not real technical with paint, its a dark mystery to me). It wont pass as easily as an OEM texture but at least no cracks and smooth surface will look great. Might look even better that way. or custom. You might even could engrave something into it just to make it obviously custom, a little silvia logo or something near the front. I didn't want to have the downtime to experiment with all of that (I would have had to buy another cracked dash and messed it up trying ideas, etc...) just wanted a fast easy resto so paid the exuberant price.

__________________
5.3/4l80e/turbo 240sx playthrough:
https://tinyurl.com/turbo240

Frank_Jaeger

They're selling their glue at $10 per 2oz with $3 shipping. I will be needing a lot of filler, so that exact glue is not really a viable option for me.

I'm okay with buying the SEM texture coat and cover coat. If I'm going to put in the work I want it to look good.

Also that raised area you have is due to the lifted vinyl. If you cut the vinyl back until it's secure, you won't have the issue. It's more to fill but looks better. Try wide V cuts if you start over.

EDIT: I watched a video recently where instead of v-cutting the cracks, they used a dremel with a sanding barrel bit to open them up instead. Much easier I would think.

Kingtal0n

oh I see, yes I definitely agree that there is a lip or edge involved that isn't easy or even possible to sand, it was the only real trouble area. I should have realized I could cut it back to where it was level. If I cannot get a core tomorrow in the morning I might just do that.

I just mean super glue in general seems cheap. I only got that big one because i didn't want a bunch of little bottles. And they said it would "sand like plastic" which kind of sounded good to me. Sure beats buying a dash for $400~ I still have over half a bottle of everything, I might just try to fix another one I find soon.

__________________
5.3/4l80e/turbo 240sx playthrough:
https://tinyurl.com/turbo240

rawgarage

Mehhhhhh

Lots of work for the results...

Kingtal0n

So. Does anyone know where to buy a heater core? The one on ebay OSC 98819 they sell does NOT fit. Napa cant find it. No store has one. Rockauto even doesnt have it. I am out of luck?

__________________
5.3/4l80e/turbo 240sx playthrough:
https://tinyurl.com/turbo240

SidewaysS13ka

I just threw two heater cores out for scrap lol sorry dude.

__________________
Leaks,Creeks,Squeaks, and other random problems. Yup you own a 240.

Frank_Jaeger

I have an S13 box w/ heater core.

Kingtal0n

Thank you everyone offering me help! I am very greatful

I just want to put a brand new core into the car if possible. Seeing how they are discontinued from NIssan and the only Ones I could find are $200+ I will try to find some solution for less $$ and report back...

I didnt want to muck up this topic with heater core discussion, however now that I see the two topics are kind of tied together it might be a good idea for those doing the same things.

Carnage pictures!!!







On the bright side, now I have an extra couple days to clean like crazy. There is dust in all those hard to reach places, never to be seen again (never pulling this thing out again)

__________________
5.3/4l80e/turbo 240sx playthrough:
https://tinyurl.com/turbo240

fatduece

Great thread! My dash is bad too.

dbeiler

You won't find a new heater core anywhere. You can either grab one from someone's partout (and count down the days to imminent failure) or pay $300 for a custom fit, repairable copper core like I did.

Kingtal0n

tonight at 6pm I decided to try the dremel idea. I dont have any dremel bits, but I did have a drillbit that fit, so I used it to cut a valley exactly along the visible remains of the cracks (there were 2 that really stood out).

Sanded it a little, cleaned it, filled with glue, razor blade smooth (I feel this is the key to minimal sanding), make sure you wipe off the blade constantly to keep it flat so the surface you leave behind is also flat), apply baking soda, sand it smooth, I did these steps twice (clean, glue, flat, bicarb, sanding) I did 320 400 (didnt touch the 220). Just using my hand sanding it for maybe 20 minutes to get it smooth to the fingers. It started getting dark I think 7pm~ so this whole thing only took 1.5 hours or so. Then threw some paper over it and re-texture, and I am pretty sure I have obliterated all signs of any cracking. I couldnt get a picture because I dropped the camera and it split open, I've had it for 10+ years the same camera for everything and finally I drop it too like everything else. Its a good thing you cant drop a car in Florida easily.

__________________
5.3/4l80e/turbo 240sx playthrough:
https://tinyurl.com/turbo240

collegekid

Other Floridians be like

"is that a challenge bro?"



How do you think the glue will hold up long term as far as heat cycles and such?

Had money not been that big of an issue and you had like $500 would you have done it another way (besides paying someone else)?

Kingtal0n

Well, a next clean dash is $400~. thats what I was trying to save. I've never even seen one for sale around me, and when they are even close (new york once) I was always too late. Plus they were usually from 95's which I find are more easy to crack for some reason. I really didnt even care it was cracked (this car isn't about original-ness so much) but since I was taking it out to get to the heater core I figured what the heck, two birds.

I think the reason they crack is, they get dry, and the material loses flexibility/shrinks. So IMO the "stress" is relieved by the cracks, more or less. I am not worried about the super glue, have you tried this stuff? It literally burns and pulls the skin right off your finger after 1 second of contact. In fact, I never even gave it time to dry (because it didnt need any) within 1 minute after putting down the bicarb I was sanding merrily away at it, without even thinking. It reminds me of plastic. I also pushed my finger around the dash looking for "new cracks" and spreading the old ones as much as possible. If you look real careful you can see I had a ton of spider webbing that opened up. I feel like, for the most part, the damage is done and it will no longer be at risk. Of course I will update as long as I have it whether it does or not. This was my first dash pull/resto.

The HUGE HOLES in my dash were caused by the previous owner sticking down gauges (UGH). When we took them off, they peeled up the dash. It really sucked to look at all the time so this makes me feel alot better having those covered up. Im really glad I took the 3-4 hours to do this side job while changing the core.

__________________
5.3/4l80e/turbo 240sx playthrough:
https://tinyurl.com/turbo240

Kingtal0n

updates:

1. was able to get a brand new heater core from advance auto $65
2. While waiting for heater core to arrive, I decided to look at the old heater core realizing now that 240's have this whole heater core issue to deal with. I found where the leak was, it was easily repairable, after sanding/expoxy I provided a vacuum test (using the sensitive mouth tool) and determined it worthy for re-installation. I also, as a precaution, sanded/epoxy the entire core all the way around to prevent this issue from occurs in other divisions (not sure what they are called, rows I guess?) Unfortunetely no pics but you can imagine I worked the clear gorilla glue into all of the end caps so it looked pretty tough and solid. Furthermore it sealed up nicely with just a tiny dab, just a tiny little drip of the epoxy was enough to fix the leak at first.

3. I got my camera to work by pushing it closed really tightly where it was broken, the dial selector didnt work so the focus wasnt good but i took like 80 pics and focus was ok on a bunch of them






The above 6 pics are just with texture spray only, without paint, including the installed pics
The below pics are with painted or partially painted









The texture spray stuff looks fine. but it feels really rough, and shreds a towel, until it is painted. The installed dash pics have no paint, its just texture spray, I am waiting to see how it holds up in the heat, consider this a stress test begins. Yesterday it was so hot on the dash you could have cooked an egg, and I am not kidding, I think it would have turned slight white as the albumin denatured gently on what I presumed was a 130*F dashboard baking in the full Florida sun surrounded by concrete and sheet metal. I don't want to waste the egg though, so I just remembered I have a pyrometer laser and I can actually report how hot it gets in the near future with good accuracy.


goodbye

__________________
5.3/4l80e/turbo 240sx playthrough:
https://tinyurl.com/turbo240

240x_Dreams

I got one for a 91 hatch, with ka24DE if that matters.