Nissan 240SX Forums banner
Cancel
Create thread New Garage Forums

Time to start my Glassed Dash...

Jump to Latest
8.9K views 56 replies 23 participants last post by  MEXICANRACER03  
B
#1 ·
Ok so I just picked up my sr20 swapped s13 about a month ago. I traded a mini truck I built for the car and after getting it home a lot of issues popped up so now this has went from a nice track car to a complete project!! I had to pull the turbo, exhaust, bumper, fenders, dash, door panels, console, and hatch all to either be replaced or fixed for one reason or another!! This topic I will post my progress on fiberglassing my dash and i'm accepting all opinions on what I should do for placement of gauges, colors for the dash, and shaping it as I go along the process.

I would lay the first layer of matt down tonight but I'm out of karosen and its 36 degrees in my shop so it's not happening. PLUS I am debating on what i want to do with my gauges ( 3 2" gauges). I want to keep all the vents in the dash because I plan on driving the car all year if possible.

It took all of a day to get the dash out and chip away at the vinyl that was dry rotted and brittle... I tried 8 different tools and the best one I found was a flat blade 2" wide that was used for dry wall mud.

In some of my pictures you will see the vinyl took away some of the foam under it! I'm wondering if it would be better to use some kind of liquid foam to lay back over it and shape or just glass, fill, and sand to shape? I'm affraid the liquid foam would react to the resign and not work.

Also the cracks around the cluster are deep. I'm wondering if it would be better to use filler then glass over it to insure strength?



Image

Image

After a long day of chipping away!!!
Image

Image

Image

Image

In these photos you can see where the foam is torn, the shape is missing, or pits have began....:12dunno:crazyrant:12dunno

 
H
#3 ·
Nice start - the only way actually - LOL.

When I glassed mine, I just glassed over the cracks, after filling with resin and then added more glass to the low spots where the foam pulled up.
As for your gauges, why not get the proper size pvc pipe and run the across and into the top of the dash just above the central vent. That way you can keep the vent and add a shapely gauge housing that blends into the dash surface. I am not sure if you can picture what I mean, if not I can try a quick photoshop to describe it.

Goodluck man and keep us posted . . .
 
B
#4 ·
yeah I watched your glass dash progress, and I was thinking about doing my guages the way you are talking about. I've also seen the other guy on here how he made a spot for gauges that looks like his cluster, except I dont know how he is going to mount his gauges or if he is going to use a different gauges besides the round 2" ones. I want to combine both idea, make a design that looks like my cluster but recesses the guages about 1/2" inside and mount them flush. If you can understand what I mean?!

That will allow me to smooth it out a lot easier than having to deal with the cracks and what not between the pvc, which I already have....
 
#5 ·
im in the process of fiberglassing my dash as well

we are gonna paint it black with gold flake. were afraid that it will be too shiny to drive with, so we are going to make a cover for driving out of some fabric, like old volvo's have for their dashes.....


just a thought
 
M
#8 ·
if you want it to be worth the time and trouble, you'll spend more than a week, and be willing to be patient and not rush it.

Rome wasn't built in a day. take your time.
 
B
#17 ·
I would have used all chop matt but I was scared it would be to much build up... This is actually the first time I have ever used cloth and it would be GREAT for large flat surfaces but it doesnt lay over another peice very well and it it doesnt form curves AT all. As you can see I used chop mat on the gauges and the rest I usedthe cloth... Next time I think I will just stick to matt.....
 
B
#18 ·
I dont know how gay this would be but I thought about going to walmart or lowes and gettign some of they pre cut and shapped wooden letters and doing "nissan" or "Nismo" on the passanger side. I would just lay resign over them and they wouldnt require much sanding... I just have the dash ready for whatever and I can think OF ANYTHING to feel up that spot that says "IM SO BORING!!!"
 
B
#24 ·
For those who have thought about doing this, with out a doubt I would use matt... You can get matt in different thickness and getting the thinner matt for this job would do great. Yes it it messy but matt will form to the dash a lot better and get into the spots where the cloth doesnt...
 
Nissan 240SX Forums
posts
1.6M
members
94K
Since
2002
A forum community dedicated to Nissan 240SX owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about performance, builds, engine swaps, turbos, modifications, classifieds, troubleshooting, maintenance, and more!
Full Forum Listing
Explore Our Forums
S13 240SX (89-94) New Member Introductions General Tech