This past week I had time to remove, repair and recover the dashpad in my wife's 77 Maverick. After removing the tape I found the vinyl cover was completely missing under it. I filled the area with a marine epoxy and sanded it to the original shape. I covered it with the original grain and color vinyl. It was more work installing it than fixing it. The end result looks original. Fred
I do quite a few dash pad repairs. Mostly early Econolines, Darts and Falcons. The cost would depend on the condition of the pad and the vinyl used. Colors like blue, tan and black in the correct Corinthian grain vinyl are readily available through my normal suppliers and are resonably priced. Some of the colors are only available through specialty suppliers and the price of the materials can be as high as $120.00, two yards of vinyl are required due to the lentgh of the pad, although only a small strip is actually used. A pad that has only a few small cracks with no peieces missing in a common color would probably cost around $100.00 to repair and recover. Something that has pieces missing would require more time and work and run about $40.00 more, not all are repairable. However I wouldn't redo a real bad one. The one on my 65 Econoline pickup was only the metal and studs when I started it. I replaced the foam entirely, then recovered it. It looks stock but the time involved would make it too expensive. I did it to try a new method of shaping the foam which I use for other purposes. If anyone wants one recovered contact me at fredcarello@yahoo.com and send a photo of what you have and the color you want and I'll be happy to help out. Fred
I'd love to get the one in my 74 redone in Saddle ... it isn't cracked but severely UV discolored ... but with the A/C and all it's just too much of a PITA to take out!
People are selling 30 year-old dash-pads that are not cracked for $100 or more. The biggest problem with that is you could spend $100 for it today, and next week it could decide to crack. I'd much rather spend the money for a new (or recovered) pad that I know will last awhile. I know that "Just Dashes" charges $400 (which is outrageous for something so small), but I still think that $100 is too much for a used pad. If the one I have now ever cracks, I'll probably either have it recovered or just a dash cap for it. Sounds like you have the ability to provide a service that a lot of people here would like to have...
I would like a custom color is that available??? I want it to be done in a blue. Not sure final color though.
