tigersdad Posted September 1, 2011 Share Posted September 1, 2011 I'm looking at purchasing a 1955 Studebaker Speedster, seemimgly flawless, less for a cracked dash. Is there a technique for repairing this or does the whole dash have to be replaced? The crack is about 3" long. Thanks!J Kingston Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty_OToole Posted September 2, 2011 Share Posted September 2, 2011 I assume you are referring to a typical padded dash panel made of foam rubber covered with vinyl.In that case yes it can be fixed. The fix involves taking the dash pad off the car, repairing the cracked foam, covering the whole pad with "landau padding" (thin foam rubber upholstery material) then recovering with vinyl.An experienced auto upholstery shop can do this, or you can have a go yourself. It is not especially difficult. A heat gun helps in stretching the vinyl around corners. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty_OToole Posted September 2, 2011 Share Posted September 2, 2011 In some cases the crack can be repaired without removing the dash. Invisible vinyl mending. It is done my melting new material into the crack. But if the dash is that old it may be better to remove and recover it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigersdad Posted September 2, 2011 Author Share Posted September 2, 2011 Unfortunately, no, it's not a padded dash which, like you said, would be easy to fix. Appears to be the hard plastic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest elmo39 Posted September 3, 2011 Share Posted September 3, 2011 it should be repairable, there will be plenty of plastic welders around , as all modern cars are made mainly of plastic . the trick is to find some one that does plastic welding and can identify the type of plastic used as the plastic used back then was entirely different to what is used today. as an example this is some of the plastics used back in the 1980,s. . ABS (acrylic butadienstyrene) GRP/SMC glass reinforced polyester sheet (fibre glass) PA:polyamide(nylon(probably a version of whats on your dash)PBT:polybutylene teterphtalate PC:polycarbonate PP/EPDM:polypropropylene/ethylene propylene (modified rubber). PPO:polyphenlylene oxide PVC poly vinyl chloride each of these had a different repair and refinishing technique. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty_OToole Posted September 3, 2011 Share Posted September 3, 2011 It would help if we knew what the hell you were talking about. A plastic instrument panel is a different thing from a padded dash panel.Newman and Altman in South Bend used to have all kinds of NOS Stude parts. Don't know if they are still in business but I bet the Studebaker clubs would know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest elmo39 Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 it seems rusty doesnt understand what i was getting at , i was not talking about a padded dash i was merely stating what types of plastics were used on cars , and that the one in question should be repairable , and if he didn,t understand that , just google it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigersdad Posted September 4, 2011 Author Share Posted September 4, 2011 Thanks guys for the help. It is a Studebaker President, 1955, for sale on E-Bay. Beautiful car, but with a cracked dash, am going to hold off until I get more information about the dash and whether there is a replacement for it. I would hate to spend that amount of money for a car that has a dash that may, or may not, be repairable. Jay1957 Ford Fairlane 500 Sunliner Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty_OToole Posted September 10, 2011 Share Posted September 10, 2011 I was referring to tigersdad's posts, he says the car has a cracked dash, then again it doesn't, when I tell him how to fix it, so what does it have? Calling the Amazing Kreskin to psychically figure out what the questioner is talking about, it is too much bother for him to tell us or better yet, post a picture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest virgilmule Posted September 10, 2011 Share Posted September 10, 2011 Rusty - that's a bit harsh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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