mightyram50.net

does every 1980 dodge d50 have cracked dashboards?

Neither does mine - but mines from an 85 and was repainted 18 years ago

Use a dash cap. There on ebay. d50 dash keyword

And see me for your genuine 1st gen weatherstrip requirments

I remember a couple of posts on the old site about using expanding foam to fill in the cracks, sanding it smooth and repainting with pretty good success.

Thanks for the heads up on the "foam"....that may work if the cracked area isn't too "hardened".

lush90 wrote:I remember a couple of posts on the old site about using expanding foam to fill in the cracks, sanding it smooth and repainting with pretty good success.

That's a redneck repair. Believe me 1 hot summer and its cracked again. The old foam will keep hardneing and the dash will continue to Warp! And you will screw yourself the chance of ever having it rebuilt properly. Once they are badly warped they won't come out right on a redo.

When they redo the dashes it has new foam and vinyl. $500 for a black dash sounds expensive but think about it, It will look awesome. And your glove box door will line up again. Also your truck will sell if you want to sell it. Most people are turned off by cracked dashes. So unless your truck is a beater fix it right. Money is tight for me too and I saved up for it. They even recolored the ashtray and glover box door so it all loooked fresh.

Mike

mikewarme wrote:

lush90 wrote:I remember a couple of posts on the old site about using expanding foam to fill in the cracks, sanding it smooth and repainting with pretty good success.

That's a redneck repair. Believe me 1 hot summer and its cracked again. The old foam will keep hardneing and the dash will continue to Warp! And you will screw yourself the chance of ever having it rebuilt properly. Once they are badly warped they won't come out right on a redo.

When they redo the dashes it has new foam and vinyl. $500 for a black dash sounds expensive but think about it, It will look awesome. And your glove box door will line up again. Also your truck will sell if you want to sell it. Most people are turned off by cracked dashes. So unless your truck is a beater fix it right. Money is tight for me too and I saved up for it. They even recolored the ashtray and glover box door so it all loooked fresh.

Mike

I was thinking of filling the cracks with foam, smoothing it, then either recovering it with vinyl, or using some roll on truck bedliner or something of that sort.

I am confident in my ability to make it look nice, but I'm worried about durability of the fix.
Wouldn't covering the foam with something more substantial than paint help with the cracking? What is under the foam/rubber on the dash? is there a plastic frame work? I was thinking maybe I could strip the foam rubber off the dash, use some upholstery batting, and cover it with vinyl/leatherette