ok, i have a sweet raven dash, no cracks, sittin on a shelf waiting to be installed. claude took great care while removing it from the donor so as not to crack it.
there isnt much in the looks department of my car, but the dash it currently has looks like the sahara desert....i want to make sure this new one stays w/o cracks, both during installation and in the future. i need tips on rejuvenating and preserving the vinyl.
found a couple mentions in other threads
can anybody prove or disprove either of these methods? any other suggestions?
I have been wondering about this too. I have a perfect dash and one the front speakers is blown. I am scared to try to replace it for fear of cracking the dash pad.
other stuff i found thru google:
pledge furniture polish - i actually used to use this when i had a decent interior to care about on a previous vehicle. was recommended by the vinyl shop the replaced a friends half top
kiwi shoe polish(paste)
something from SEM, but all i find on thier site is prep and paint stuff
A guy at one of my old jobs put vaseline on his 80's corvette dash and swore by it.
You could move to Nova Scotia (or Newfoundland), where the sun rarely shines bright enough and it rarely gets hot enough to damage vinyl ;) Seriously, of all the fox 'Birds I've owned only one ever had a cracked dash, and it was the porno red one. For some reason red fares worse in sunlight than any other colour...
The Vaseline idea comes from the Leatherique "tips" booklet, on the next to last page (http://www.leatherique.com/Leatherique%20bookletREV5.pdf).
"Unlike leather, which is a natural organic product, vinyl and other imitations are of chemical composition which often contain petroleum by-products. Impregnated with plasticizers, they generally remain supple for quite a long time. After long periods of time, older vinyls and plastics can be softened with the application of Vaseline Petroleum Jelly. This method works well on vinyl dashes. Just massage the Petroleum Jelly onto the vinyl, allow it to steam in car parked in a sunny spot with the windows up, then buff with a soft cloth."
I have used both GOJO and Vaseline on my dash. After many applications, the GOJO seemed to work pretty well. On the other hand, I found Vaseline to be far more effective.
Shiny Side Up!
Bill
Bill,
After you buff the Vaseline off, what it the appearance like? I would be concerned that Vaseline would leave the dash with an overly shiny look to it and personally I can't stand the "Armor All" greasy look.
Brent
I would agree with the petroleum jelly on a petroleum product. I have used it on my weather stripping and rubber seals on my car for years. it's the only perfect looking part of my car. also my 1/4 window rubber. Mine still looks brand new. I never thought to use it on the dash though..... I will now.
Do you happen to have any pictures of the dash right after the vaseline rub down.
add me to the curious list about the sheen after a vaseline treatment
looks like i might hafta steal the vaseline from the medicine cabinet. :hick:
After you buff it out, the dash has a nice, soft, natural vinyl look to it. You have to wipe the excess petroleum jelly off, then buff it out, but it looks great when done. I am definitely NOT a fan of the greasy, nasty, slimy, cheap stripper in baby oil look like you get with Armor All.
Shiny Side Up!
Bill
at least not for a dashboard :rollin: