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Meet Red, my 81 Restomod Build

With the other pad on the way back to Amazon, I figured fixing my old one was worth a try. Morris has the Omix pad on sale for $210 this month if this doesn’t work out. I really would like to keep the fat ends though.

I cleaned out the cracks and filled them with some medium fast epoxy. It soaked in well, had to go over them several times to keep them full. Next comes sanding. 824C2ED5-CEAA-4C89-8C19-764E0791A631.jpegD6A11B4B-66A7-458B-9B07-6F2F523D3830.jpeg
 
After one coat of epoxy and some grinding, the dash pad is almost level on the edges of the cracks. Unfortunately I ran out of epoxy. To be continued…
4B008483-4064-426E-8C5C-E6CD11171B21.jpeg34E87824-E2B8-42ED-80D2-07F3D16D846F.jpegE73375BB-D812-4ED4-A780-21C5D93E7D9E.jpeg
 
Thanks for sharing...
I've researched this in the past but the only things I really found were sales pitches or poor quality results.
I especially like the idea of the board to keep the pad's shape. :thumbsup:
 
Thanks for sharing...
I've researched this in the past but the only things I really found were sales pitches or poor quality results.
I especially like the idea of the board to keep the pad's shape. :thumbsup:
Thanks! So far I have no idea how the finished product will be but I’m hopeful.
 
And, with a little bravery (drilling holes), a bit of mig wire and a red butt splice, the Speedhut speed sensor will be top center of the windshield frame, with no wires showing.

I started by drilling a couple of holes just big enough for the coax connector to pass through. Then I fished through a piece of thin mig wire. The next step was figuring out how to attach the wire to the coax connector. Turns out a red crimp connector will thread into the coax. View attachment 101055View attachment 101056Then, simply crimp the mig wire into the red butt splice and gently pull it through.View attachment 101057View attachment 101058I still have to build a little shelf for the sensor to sit on. But the hard part is done. Next job- bolt in the frame.
View attachment 101059
Nice work. That was my plan if I didn’t get good reception from having it in the wiper motor.
 
Well I ordered a Fairchild cowl seal from Quadratec. Crossing my fingers.
I’ve also found the Fairchild seals to be the best alternative to OEM. Not perfect but WAY better than the Crown / Omix crap.
 
Don't you have vent windows on your doors Randy?

Edit: note. Looking at your original pics, i guess you don't. I'm surprised you don't add them: seems like something you would do. Vent windows would be perfect for Oregon. 🙂..... I'll shut up now.
 
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Vent windows are hard to add to non vent window doors. Easier to grab another set with them already in them. Door guts are different between the two. I tried adding vents to a set of non vent doors Once.
 
Nope. No vent windows. Red came without them, and I’m sorta glad. I had vent windows on Copper and I never used them. They’re just another spot for a water leak. If it’s warm, I usually have the window down anyways.

While on the window topic, I’m still trying to decide if I want a sliding rear window. That’s another thing that I like the idea of, but rarely use.
 
On my old Land Cruiser pick up in Australia I had vent windows and the slider in the rear but no air conditioning. I found that on the open road it was perfect to have the vent windows open and the slider open because it remained quiet and not breezy but well ventilated. Then around town I opened the roll down windows.

In my Silverado now I have the rear slider and a sunroof (because nobody makes vent windows for this country anymore. The Land Cruiserstill has them in Australia). Even living in Florida I almost never use the air conditioning on the highway because with the sun roof open and the rear window open I get plenty of air blowing through. Now if I had vent windows, I would be laughing.

Honestly I haven't opened the vent windows on my scrambler in many years. Of course the doors have been hanging on my wall in Florida since I got here........
 
I just might have to do that. I like that they are 4 panel.

Got my VIN reinstalled with the correct rivets. Plus I polished the plate so it shines like chrome. Just because.4EE37AE1-4430-4911-8752-2142A4CB2A27.jpegAnd added a coat of vinyl cement to the dash pad. Got one of those kits that you goop on the colored plastic and use a hobby iron to imprint the texture. Going to try that tomorrow.image.jpgMy only “Hmmmm…” is the center will always have a bit of a peak. No way to get rid of that without major surgery. I doubt anyone but me will notice.image.jpgimage.jpg
 
You didn't get the vin plate platinum plated? WTH. I'm kinda disappointed here Randy.
Well, I ran out of Platinum last week. Although, I probably could have scraped some off of some .22 bullets- I think that’s what they’re coated with now, as much as they cost. 🙄
 
Well, I’m not super impressed with the dash repair. The kit comes with “imprint” paper, and heat cured “rubber” that you apply to the repaired areas to simulate the leather texture. The biggest issue is that the rubber isn’t really an adhesive, and it is very sensitive to leveling. You have to get the edges perfectly feathered before applying heat- not so easy working with a paste. Im thinking some speaker box carpet on the top, similar to a dash mat only permanent. And then paint the rest with SEM texture paint. CC4EDA74-DB91-45AF-A3D5-08A079C4724D.jpeg2DEDE016-FAA9-4596-9246-E274B26466FF.jpeg9D37770C-DA67-4614-888D-14A40FDE7596.jpegA29E8453-66D0-42BA-93A5-CB96E8B480A7.jpeg
 
Thoughts on recovering it with 4 way stretch vinyl? Not sure if the material can stretch enough to smooth out the corner wraps.

Some vinyl material has incredible stretching abilities.
 
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