Trimming New dash Pad During Installation

[AlpineII]

About to put in a new dash pad on my Seres III. I know the wax-paper/contact cement process. I am curious what is generally trimmed at the front of the pad.

Does it get trimed right at the windshield as the edge is convered by the windshield to body seal?

Does it get trimmed a little longer? Is it trimmed so the edge is haflway between the inside of the windshield frame and front egde of the windshield frame?

Do you trimk aroumnd he tabon hte inside centre of t
he windwhield frame?

 

[mikephillips]

It should run right up to the edge of the cowl under the frame, meaning that the windshield frame needs to come off to do it properly. Around the edges you shound see any body color so the dash pad gets trimmed, slits cut, etc as necessary to fold arount the edges. Then on the underside there should be several trim pieces to civer the edges, two alloy ones covered with black fabric on the A post tops next to the dash and one or more fiber board ones in the center where you have to lay on your back to see them. All those are pop rivet installed.

Check the cowl under the pad in the corners, particularly under the windshield frame. If the body's never been restored it's not unusualy to find the paint failed and rust there. Best time to fix that is when a new dash pad is being installed.

 

[AlpineII]

Body is now all in epoxy primer so I can't really see any lines in that area. But I think I undertsand and can trim accordingly.

Those trim pieces under the dash are long gone as they were on my Series II. On it I figured out a way to re-create a single end-to-end piece that I covered with smooth pebble finish vinyl to match the door panels. I'll just have to do that again to get that under-dash pad covered. I used screws to put it back on. Here's what the opne-piece looked like jujst before installing. Note there are loose edges that fold under ehwn screwing ti in place.

 

[Ken Ellis]

Now is a good time to review your tonneau cover options, too...

Ken

 

[mikephillips]

Forgot to mention, do plenty of dry fitting before hitting the glue. I've found that in some cases you need to trim the hard foam that's inside the dashpad to acheive a good fit. Check the factory cut holes for the vents to be sure they line up with the ones in the cowl. And as clarification of where it ends, the dashpad should run right up to where the cowl curls down, that's where the frame to body weatherstrip sits on the outside of the frame assembly.

 

[howard]

I remember doing this a couple of years ago, and it was suggested I use sandpaper to trim some of the foam back to get a good fit. IT WORKED GREAT. Also used the sandpaper on the dashpad portion that sat directly under the windscreen frame. IIRC there was some foam in that area that would've prevented it from laying flat and fitting properly.

This was one of the most fulfilling projects I was able to do on my car's interior. Probably because I didn't screw it up!

 

[65beam]

dash pad

i use very little glue when installing a crash pad. i use a bead of black silicone in the area where the windshield sets on the pad. i also use it on the corners and several other areas across the bulk head area. i use glue to hold the tabs under the top of the dash area and fasten the cardboard over that. this makes the crash pad removable in the future. it is also held down by the defroster vents and since my tonneau studs were originally in the same position as a series 5, they also hold the pad. i installed it this way on the series 4 back in 1996 and when i took the car apart recently,i ran a hack saw blade from the front to loosen the silicone and it lifted right off. it's going to be reused later.

 

[SRQJeff]

I recently installed a new dash pad, and I agree that it's necessary to remove about half an inch of foam from the edge that goes under the windshield frame. Otherwise, the seal won't touch the body--at least not tightly enough. But forget the sandpaper. A Dremel tool with a small sanding wheel will do the trick and take only a few minutes. Even if you make a minor screw-up and sand away a tiny bit of the vinyl, don't worry. The seal will cover it. Also, I did not use any cement on the foamy part, and it's fine. I also agree that you should not use cement anywhere except on the bare vinyl part that goes under the dash.

 

[Green67Alpine]

Forgot to mention, do plenty of dry fitting before hitting the glue.

This is VERY important, I fitted mine dry about 30+ times making slight adjustments to the foam and vinyl each time!

It came out pretty good in the end.

Tom j