Dashboard Repair

Like most old cars, the dash on my '71 Porsche 914 is quite cracked and faded. When I bought it, there was a "dash topper" on the dash, which is basically a synthetic looking cloth material that was velcro-ed on to cover up the cracks and didn't look much better than the old dashboard.
I bought a dash/vinyl repair kit for it and tried to cover up the cracks. They give you a miniature iron and some sort of goop to apply. Maybe this requires a skill that I don't possess, but it ended up looking worse after the "repair."
I thought about buying a new dash, but I don't know if they are even for sale. I looked for old dashboards on ebay and found a few, but they are old and usually have a crack or two of their own and they are bit expensive anyway. Then I found a company that makes dash shells for Porsche 914's (and probably a lot of other cars) and decided to try that.
Basically, it's a thin plastic/vinyl shell that fits over your regular dashboard. I tested it out and after some initial wiggling, it fit like a glove, so I put the included glue on the back of it (goes around the outer edge, about a half inch in from the edge) and fit it back on the dash.

You need to put something on it to hold the glue in place until it dries. I used some 4 X 4's and duct tape. The instructions recommended bungy cords, but I didn't have any.
Anyway, I think it looks alright. Here is the finished product.



Not quite perfect, but a big improvement, I'd say. The purists might scoff, but I'm turning the car into an electric vehicle, so I'm not a purist.

Side Projects

As I wait for the electric engine and parts to arrive for my conversion, I am trying to do some other small projects on the Porsche. One of those was to repaint the engine compartment lid. It's a little tricky to paint, even removed from the car, because of the "PORSCHE" lettering on it. Originally I planned to remove the letters, spray paint it and then put them back on. However, when I tried to take the first one off (the letter "P", of course) it felt a bit difficult and fragile and I thought it might break off, becoming "ORSCHE," so I decided instead to tape the letters individually and just spray paint right over them instead. This required some attention to detail and some annoying fumbling with some masking tape. I got into a good groove, though, because of the CD that was playing. The band is called "Fat Freddy's Drop". They are a New Zealand based band, with various influences (reggae, hip hop, soul - kind of mellow) and quite popular there. Just before Lisa and I left New Zealand, we rented out a camper to see some of the far North Island. That was our only CD and we must have listened to it 30 times over those 2 weeks. I never got sick of it. It's also nice for adding a little romantic ambience in an otherwise cramped little camper van... If you can get their CD ("Based on a True Story"), grab it. Anyway, here is my tape job (I used that not-very-sticky blue tape - regular masking tape would probably be easier):



I used and wore out an exacto knife to do this, but I think it was worth it. Here's the end result:



The paint's still a bit wet in the picture. I'm quite happy with the result. It takes a few years off the apparent age of the car - better than botox. The gold lettering stands out much better now, as well. I used a semi-gloss black spray paint and I think it was just right.