The following Dash Crack Repair tip was posted by a customer to the Porsche 944 email group. He kindly forwarded us the tip to share with other Color-Plus customers.
Check out our reference on Talk2DIY Automotive
Hello Fellow Dash Crack Sufferers,
After seeing all of the correspondence on the list about how to try and
fix dash cracks, and having gone through this frustration a few times before myself, let me explain my solution that has proven very successful.
There is a company called Color-Plus that has
some excellent products. Surflex is a water-based leather and vinyl paint
that alot of car restorers use,
and Flex-Fill is a crack filler for
leather. After being amazed with their Surflex paint
and using is
multiple times, I came up
w
ith the idea of trying their Flex-Fill product
in the dash cracks.
Basically, here is the procedure: Flex-Fill is
slightly more watery in texture than toothpaste,
for instance. I put some
in a small plastic syringe with a small tip on it, the kind that oral
surgeons give you to flush out after wisdom tooth extraction (ouch!), or
veterinarians give
you
for pet wound irrigations, etc. Gently squeeze the Flex-Fill into the dash cracks, or you can also
use your finger tip to
spread it into the cracks as well. (It's water-based, so clean-up is
easy.) Make sure that the Flex-Fill has filled up the crack completely, slightly over-filling is preferable,
especially since it seemed to shrink a little bit when it dried. When it's good and dry (a couple of hours),
use a razor blade to gently slice/scrape off the high points of the Flex-Fill, being gentle and meticulous
to not dig into the dash itself. Vacuum off the crumbs, and repeat the process as needed if you see any
more low points/gaps. After that part was complete, I also used a very fine-grit sandpaper to gently go
over the filled areas and smooth out any remaining razor marks or bumpy areas, thereby being able
to re-create the normal dash texture and smoothness. Don't sand too much or too hard,
you'll actually smooth out the normal dash texture too much! Finally, vacuum again, and then wipe
off the dash with a clean cloth dampened with a little bit of ammonia
(perfect as a paint prep solvent, for removing any leftover Armor All or whatever else).
Now you're ready to paint the dash with Surflex. (I would paint the whole dash, to insure uniformity of color.)
Use one of those cheap 1-inch, natural horsehair, SOFT paintbrushes like Home Depot has with the
wood handles (minimizes brush strokes), and paint in small sections, using a random, dabbling-type,
criss-cross motion of maybe half-inch passes. Let it dry, maybe for an hour or so, and repeat a second coat.
Once it's dry, you will be amazed at how good the dash looks!
This same process can be used on your leather seats, too! I have no affiliation with Color-Plus, I'm just a very happy customer!