anyone tried carbon fiber film on cracked dashboard ?
i ordered a fiber film to wrap my interior trims. I will try a part of it on my cracked board..
anyone tried this stunt before ?

 

Isn't the CF vinyl have a glossy sheen to it? If so, you're going to be blinded when the sun hits it.

Also, you'll most likely be able to see the crack even when the vinyl is installed because there's nothing under the vinyl supporting it.

 

Not only that, since the dash is vinyl, no adhesive is going to stick to it, even if you clean it with alcohol. Unless you sand it then apply it.

 

It might look fine, but I would be worried about the passengers side airbag.

 

No. Do not want.


And how would it affedt the air bag?

 

hmm .. airbag shouldnt be a problem, since we have some cloth rugs available on ebay that we can lay on cracked dashboard.
anyone used those covers? how they look?

 

You know the airbag pops through the passengers side of the dashboard right? If you cover it with vinyl film, that is sure to cause problems. Instead of being hit by an air-bag, your passenger would be hit by a large sheet of vinyl film. The dashboard is designed to split open during deployment, the film is not.

 

the cloth rug has a slit in near the airbag to pop up in case of deployment. I was seriously considering getting this, they have it in suede too...just want to be able to see which one is the one that looks best.

 

It's not very promising that they don't show an actual picture of the product being used...

 

OP take some pics if you decide to go through with it.

 

oh dear... i have not bought my sunshade yet. good luck op

 

I doubt it would stick to the dash very well, and also your risking passenger saftey since the pass. airbag blows through the dash and rips it so if you put a film over it your going to have to score it or something to help the airbag get through.

I've said this before, and once again an awesome setup with the dash would be to get it pulled out and covered with alcantara with breakaway stitching around the dash!

 

means, i shouldn't bother .. but that cracked dashboard is the only ugly thing about my car .. i wanna get rid of it.. cheap... I have no idea how those 40$ cloth would look like. i found no pics no where.. anyone who actually used such product can share some thoughts ?

 

Someone posted a thread where he filled the cracks with black caulking. If you cant afford a replacement that might be an option.

 

It was me.

PS...doesn't work well. I mean, it's not AS noticeable...but it's still there. I'd like to see how the suede cover would look.

And another thing...the sun shade will not stop this from happening unfortunately. I've watched the cracks expand and contract depending on the temperature...it is that that eventually causes the cracks. The cool at night and heat during the day. When it's super hot in the car...the dash actually expands to the point of it closing the gaps completely, believe it or not.

Worse in FL climate...my car sat under a carport for the first 5 years...and has had an expensive sunshade or garage since I've owned it and I still have a crack. Neighbor's friend left his 05 TL in his driveway...saw it last night and MAN, HIS cracks were really bad.

 

Leatherique makes a crack filler that can be used with vinyl. Unfortunately, I don't have any experience using it but if you're desperate enough, it might be worth a try.

 

that is terrible.

i guess i will have to use more 303 on my dash

 

Dang...don't want to burst your bubble...but forgot to mention that I was deathly fearful of having the dash crack. I was religious about putting up the sun shade and applying 303 every time I cleaned the car. No joke. I think since it's from the temp changes the only option would be to leave the windows cracked to keep the temp down inside, the cracks start from bottom to top. I wonder if adding the 303 made the top more supple and likely to crack. Who knows...

CS, I wish you were local and could be paid to help take out the dash and wrap it properly. That option would probably look AMAZING...can wrap all the pillars with it too!

 

It's really not a matter of the sun, my TL was garaged for most of it's life and also had a sunshade with tons of 303 applied and it started cracking by the center speaker and the gauge cluster. It wasn't bad at all but still a crack non-the-less.

In all honesty, I'd help cover up the dash and remove some of the stuff but truth be said, pulling the whole dash out is a challenge and a half! Acura book time is about 18 hrs for the whole deal and requires a TON of stuff be removed.

 

this is terrible news, heat index is expected to go above 105 where i live in a few days

 

Yes sir...that's what I determined also...my car has been protected, garaged, sunshaded, awning and STILL cracked...it's the expanding and contracting of the material over time in a hot climate. I can actually see the crack change depending on the ambient temperature.

anyway, i agree...I am NOT going to even think about tackling the dash. It's just not in the cards...I'm either going to deal with it...or buy that suede carpet thing.

 

...It's been above 100 degrees for over 30 straight days now here in OK.


I just realized today that my dash has a 2-3" crack up near the windshield, on the drivers side. Pisses me off that Acura won't do anything about this and/or the sunken airbag look. Guess I'll order some 303 soon

 

Yeah, best thing to do is keep it protected as much as possible...but I'm convinced that it's inevitably going to happen. I am eventually going to give the carpet thing a try.

 

I've already come to grips with the fact that if my dashboard cracks, I'm buying a dash cover for it...

 

Well I was thinking about it and you may NOT have to remove the dash at all to cover it in alcantara!

With a bit of good measuring you can get the alcantara stitched the way you need it, Esp the Air-Bag section, and take out the radio, air vents, etc (pretty easy job actually) and start off at the windshield with upholstery glue and basically glue it to the dash. You could tuck it under the windshield and get it situated, and then slowly start pulling and gluing! Then when you get to the front edge (where the radio and stuff goes, simply glue and tuck under the dash! Then all you do is put the factory hardware back on (gauge trim, vents, radio, metal piece and you are DONE!

If anything once a person gets the right design, they can have a company make and sell them for a DIY or a kit that you take to a shop!

 

^^^See, now THAT I would dig...that would look amazing. And about radio and vent removal...I can get my entire center console out in under 5 minutes at this point, so that doesn't frighten me. I am just not good at sewing and have never had to measure etc for stitching. This would look great! Can even do the rear deck the same way...even cut out a square in the corners to access the Tein knobs and then cover it.

 

I think the stitching, (esp the airbag stuff) and planning is best left up to someone who does it for a living to get an awesome looking dash with some good looking stitching in the right places.

I think it'd be easy to do is for an upholstery shop, and even easier if they had a dash that was outside of the car to make a template/cover and simply glue it onto the affected dash that's inside the car!

I mean something like this would be amazing!
NSX with Alcantara Interior, I'd just like the dash with Silver/Blue Stitching for a base or 04-06 and red for a TL-S!



Porsche:


And if people are iffy, once a shop gets a template made they can do leather with the break-away stitching or any other material they want!

 

That's not iffy, that looks spectacular...I'd like to take a nap in something like that.

 

looks outrageously expensive job lol..

 

I'm inches from pulling the trigger on this. What do you all think of THIS link? Fifty bucks, looks pretty straightforward too. Supposedly precut for all things on the dash. I would opt for the suede in black to attemp to NOT draw your eye to it. I wrote to Acuracare to see what they say about it, I'm obviously WAY out of warranty!

PS...looked today and my cracks are getting longer, so this mat would cover it all up and I'll call it a day.

http://www.global-accessories.com/pr...tpassed&ACTION=

 

Acutally, I've bought from these people before and would likely trust their website more for a quality product. I'd just have to decide between the perforated Suede or normal Suede. Wish I could see it in person. I'll see what Acura care says first...I'm hoping they at least goodwill my failing bluetooth unit. I can live with the dash cover. This one has amazing review btw!

http://www.autoanything.com/dash-mat...0A2049036.aspx

 

look up dash topper. i saw some pics of a 2nd gen RL with it on DIYMA. it looked pretty good.

 

Good Advice, I think the tweeter on Acura is off on the weekends so I'll keep you all posted on Monday. I would be happy if they just replaced my bluetooth...I would easily get a dash cover and forget about that issue.