I fixed my broken dash
#22
Little Red Things
Wjxavier,
Those little red things on the dash were there when i got the truck. They are LED's. When i took the dash apart, I traced out the wires going to them and they went to the remote door lock module. I never did see them light up so i just cut the wires off to save clutter. There is also a miniature push button Coming from the door lock module that's just hanging down. I didn't cut that off yet. Maybe someone will know what it could be for. If i push it in, I cant see anything happen.
Those little red things on the dash were there when i got the truck. They are LED's. When i took the dash apart, I traced out the wires going to them and they went to the remote door lock module. I never did see them light up so i just cut the wires off to save clutter. There is also a miniature push button Coming from the door lock module that's just hanging down. I didn't cut that off yet. Maybe someone will know what it could be for. If i push it in, I cant see anything happen.
#23
Craft Paper And Urethane
mantisman51,
Yes that is craft paper and urethane. The urethane is a water based urethane floor finish. Just a suggestion to anyone deciding to try it, Get some craft paper or brown grocery bags. Get a smaller container of the urethane and try it on a board, piece of sheet metal or plastic for practice. Once you get the feel of it , you will see how easy it is. You can see a bunch of video's on Youtube where people use it on floors and walls and such. Just do a search for Fake Leather floor or paper bag floor. I noticed that most of the people on the video's glue them down with Elmers Glue and just coat them with the urethane. The method that my daughter showed me is a little different. We let the pieces of paper soak real good to get the urethane completely soaked through the paper. It sticks better, it's easy to form around objects and into odd shaped places. I was going to do a floor with it a couple of years ago and got side tracked. At the time, I did a practice piece on an old piece of panelling.Its still laying out under the carport and that stuff will not come off. The dash really got tough. If I get tired of it some day, at least I have a sturdy dash to cover with a dash mat.
Yes that is craft paper and urethane. The urethane is a water based urethane floor finish. Just a suggestion to anyone deciding to try it, Get some craft paper or brown grocery bags. Get a smaller container of the urethane and try it on a board, piece of sheet metal or plastic for practice. Once you get the feel of it , you will see how easy it is. You can see a bunch of video's on Youtube where people use it on floors and walls and such. Just do a search for Fake Leather floor or paper bag floor. I noticed that most of the people on the video's glue them down with Elmers Glue and just coat them with the urethane. The method that my daughter showed me is a little different. We let the pieces of paper soak real good to get the urethane completely soaked through the paper. It sticks better, it's easy to form around objects and into odd shaped places. I was going to do a floor with it a couple of years ago and got side tracked. At the time, I did a practice piece on an old piece of panelling.Its still laying out under the carport and that stuff will not come off. The dash really got tough. If I get tired of it some day, at least I have a sturdy dash to cover with a dash mat.
#24
mantisman51,
Yes that is craft paper and urethane. The urethane is a water based urethane floor finish. Just a suggestion to anyone deciding to try it, Get some craft paper or brown grocery bags. Get a smaller container of the urethane and try it on a board, piece of sheet metal or plastic for practice. Once you get the feel of it , you will see how easy it is. You can see a bunch of video's on Youtube where people use it on floors and walls and such. Just do a search for Fake Leather floor or paper bag floor. I noticed that most of the people on the video's glue them down with Elmers Glue and just coat them with the urethane. The method that my daughter showed me is a little different. We let the pieces of paper soak real good to get the urethane completely soaked through the paper. It sticks better, it's easy to form around objects and into odd shaped places. I was going to do a floor with it a couple of years ago and got side tracked. At the time, I did a practice piece on an old piece of panelling.Its still laying out under the carport and that stuff will not come off. The dash really got tough. If I get tired of it some day, at least I have a sturdy dash to cover with a dash mat.
Yes that is craft paper and urethane. The urethane is a water based urethane floor finish. Just a suggestion to anyone deciding to try it, Get some craft paper or brown grocery bags. Get a smaller container of the urethane and try it on a board, piece of sheet metal or plastic for practice. Once you get the feel of it , you will see how easy it is. You can see a bunch of video's on Youtube where people use it on floors and walls and such. Just do a search for Fake Leather floor or paper bag floor. I noticed that most of the people on the video's glue them down with Elmers Glue and just coat them with the urethane. The method that my daughter showed me is a little different. We let the pieces of paper soak real good to get the urethane completely soaked through the paper. It sticks better, it's easy to form around objects and into odd shaped places. I was going to do a floor with it a couple of years ago and got side tracked. At the time, I did a practice piece on an old piece of panelling.Its still laying out under the carport and that stuff will not come off. The dash really got tough. If I get tired of it some day, at least I have a sturdy dash to cover with a dash mat.
I looked over the photos you posted and it looks great. Did you sand it to smooth it up or did it pretty much self level? I am thnking of trying that on a couple wooden cases that I have and see how they look.
#28
About Sanding
gdstock,
The only sanding that was done was after i got the dash glued together. I scraped off any excess glue that was sticking up out of the cracks. Just the big globs. Then i sanded the dash to rough it up a little. Then i wiped it down real good with acetone. Then I gave the dash a coat of urethane and let it dry before i started applying the paper. You can use your hands or a paint brush or both to smooth it out as you go. Make sure that the screws are out of the front of the dash first so you don't cover them up. The wet paper is easy to form down into the dimples where the screws go and it reinforces it also. I also took out the screws along the front of the dash. I wasn't sure how to get the plastic moulding off the sides of the windshield so i masked them off. I used a rubber kitchen spatula to push the paper down in front of the windshield. I pushed the paper down around the vents so it formed good. after it all dried, I Applied 4 coats of urethane to the whole dash . I used my elctric heater in the cab of the truck To make it dry fast, about a half hour between coats. Realy speeds things up. Then I used a sharp box knife to do the trimming. After you try it on a sample project, you wont hesitate to use this method. Other color'd paper looks good too.
The only sanding that was done was after i got the dash glued together. I scraped off any excess glue that was sticking up out of the cracks. Just the big globs. Then i sanded the dash to rough it up a little. Then i wiped it down real good with acetone. Then I gave the dash a coat of urethane and let it dry before i started applying the paper. You can use your hands or a paint brush or both to smooth it out as you go. Make sure that the screws are out of the front of the dash first so you don't cover them up. The wet paper is easy to form down into the dimples where the screws go and it reinforces it also. I also took out the screws along the front of the dash. I wasn't sure how to get the plastic moulding off the sides of the windshield so i masked them off. I used a rubber kitchen spatula to push the paper down in front of the windshield. I pushed the paper down around the vents so it formed good. after it all dried, I Applied 4 coats of urethane to the whole dash . I used my elctric heater in the cab of the truck To make it dry fast, about a half hour between coats. Realy speeds things up. Then I used a sharp box knife to do the trimming. After you try it on a sample project, you wont hesitate to use this method. Other color'd paper looks good too.