dash overlay or dash pad?

[thachevythang]

Heres what im doing, I'm gonna cover all the panels in the interior with fabric to match my carpet, seats, and headliner. I'm wanting to cover the dash also. my current dash is cracked all kinds. anybody have advice on covering the pad or should i use the overlay if im gonna cover it? I've seen both of em look good in that application and dont really wanna get into having to paint the old panels or get the cheap looking replacement door panels.

[Captkaos]

If you are covering everything and you are going to cover the dash, I wouldn't drop the coin on anything other than the material to cover it with.  I would fill the cracks to make it smooth, or lay a thin layer of foam material over it and cover it.

[thachevythang]

TRUE!!! I didnt even think of doing that! I have the carpeted dash cover on it now and it smooths it out so i could just keep it on and cover it with what material i do have!!! thanks for the tip

[mrboyy17]

just do this maybe like mine!

[thachevythang]

just do this maybe like mine!

looks clean how did you do that one?

[mrboyy17]

got a hard cap from the junkyard for 15 bucks.  took it to the stereo shop and had them use the same carpet they use when they make speaker boxes out of.  then i used some good adhesive and sprayed it on the old dash pad and the hard carpeted cap.  used about 5 or so clamps around the bends and edges and let it set overnight.  what you see is what you get.  this was a total crapshoot idea i had because my old dash was all cracked up and i got the hard cap at the junkyard for so cheap.  the guy at the stereo store didnt think it would work very good cuz of the shape so he only charged me 30 bucks but it turned out perfect.  i guess the only problem is that i could only get grey or black.  the hard cap fit perfectly over the old dash by the way.  so i could have just left it at that but it was ugly from the junk yard.  not a bad fix for under 50 bucks considering a new dash pad is anywhere from 300 to 500 bucks.  even used ones on ebay are running over 200.  I guess you could use your own carpet from some upholstery shop or something to get a different color though.  hope this helps
mark

[thachevythang]

I think it looks good!!! far cheaper than a new dash pad and the look I want anyway. I already have the material, but its not as thick as the speaker box carpet. some foam or the 1/8" thick sound heat shield should work out fine. Thanks for the input!!!