How to repair ra23/28 dash ...and others with suede

[rally celica]

Thought i might do a thread on how to suede a dash and hide the nasty cracks , this example is on my ra23 rally car dash , also did one for one of my ra40s

Tools required

• suede ( from spotlight)
  
• spray glue ( brought mine from super cheap)
  
• A dash
  
• plastic applicator
  
• scissors

cost
spray glue = $5 to $10
suede = cost $10 foe enough to do 2 dashes
effort/skill = priceless






First off
Work out where to place the dash on your suede and fold it around.





Work out the edges.




Then spray glue onto the dash and the suede , let it get tacky then stick them together and smooth out , trying to avoid creases.

[rally celica]

Slowly work your way around the dash avoiding creases .








Now the hard part !!

Bending the suede around the curve !! takes alot of effort and patience .








Perfect !


Now my dash has been cut around the roll cage so the with the end i just folded it around and stapled it .







Now you have a nice suede dash that looks good and works well !

Well worth the effort and looks rally spec

[rally celica]

hope this helps someone out..

[brucey]

Nice job. Do you think vinyl would be harder to work with; going around curves and getting the creases out?

[rally celica]

hi

no idea .. i assume it would be the same and still bend around the curves

cheers seb

[SilverRA23]

i reckon vinyl would be harder, but nothing a gentle (very gentle) heat gun action couldnt assist with

i reckon the biggest challenge is actually filling the cracks first before you cover. i think this is done with that space foam filler.

[ToyTA22]

brucey. vinyl is harder to use but , a trimmers trick is to use a good hair dryer or hot air gun on low heat or short bursts on high heat around curved areas whilst pulling into shape. I used to be a motor trimmer about twenty years ago and enjoyed doing restorations on classic vehicles. Unluckily i had a bad marrige and had to sell my tools to get out of debt.

[rally celica]

Filling in cracks is the easy part ... You can use filler foam , body filler or as I used fiberglass . Worked out fine

[parrot]

I did a Datsun 1200 coupe in vinyl and it came up very well, but that didn't have any complex curves. With that, I also put a layer of 3 or 4mm foam which disguised the cracks convincingly.

[brucey]

I had a look into it and there's a vacuum technique to cover a dash with vinyl. Here's a link to a youtube clip for a Celica dash:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLNqlKaPby8

http://www.1stgencelica.com/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=15254

Looks like a bit of work involved, but can turn out pretty good.