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Cracked dash top. Repair? Cover? Replace....

5K views 11 replies 9 participants last post by  andy_k 
#1 ·
Hi All,

I have a cracked dash on my recently acquired '86 300E. The dash is cracked in a number of places due to sun exposure.

Any ideas of what to do?

Thanks,

Steve
 
#3 ·
Hi All,

I have a cracked dash on my recently acquired '86 300E. The dash is cracked in a number of places due to sun exposure.

Any ideas of what to do?

Thanks,

Steve
I bought the plastic cover, and that looks pretty good. Just do a really good job trimming around the speakers so it fits. The only problem is that the cover, as per the directions is not connected throughout. And therefore has these spots in the middle where the dash cover sits higher than the cover on the bottom. You can actually push on it and its obvious that its a cover. However in use I never touch the cover and it looks pretty good, like oem. It was much cheaper than trying to replace the dash which invovles lots of disassembly of the dash and if professionally done is horrendeously expensive to r/r, not to mention the cost of the dash. HTH
 
#4 ·
Cracking Up.....

Have seen some repairs done on dashes by Windshield Repair outfits. Can't comment on the life of the work but it looked "perfect".
May want to try this as a first (and least expensive) line of action. One h.... of a lot easier than pulling out the dash.
That would likely be an all day job for someone with lots of patience. Should rate a 4 or 5 on the Beer-O-Meter.
The problem I have found with anything more than a 3-beer project......they never seem to end.

Ian P.
 
#5 ·
Hi All,

I have a cracked dash on my recently acquired '86 300E. The dash is cracked in a number of places due to sun exposure.

Any ideas of what to do?

Thanks,

Steve
Yeah, move to the UK. It rains so much here your dash will get mold on it before it ever see's enough sun to crack

[:)][:)]
 
#6 ·
tee hee - the one on our W123 was cracked - we blamed the rising damp rather than the su...

tee hee - the one on our W123 was cracked - we blamed the rising damp rather than the sunshine.

Yes, it was an absolute pig of a job to replace and certainly rated 5 on the beer o meter.

Took all afternoon and well into the evening to sort out the annoying rattle we were left with.

Andy
 
#8 ·
Dash Protector

I had a 190E which started to crack since it was always parked outside, so what I did was bought a dash mat cover made of carpet on the top and a flexible 'plastic base'. Hasn't melted and temperatures here rise up to 40 degrees C (even more in a closed up car). Cost me AUD$50

Knowing this when I bought my E280, a dash mat was one of the first purchases I made.
 
#9 ·
DASH

Sd,

Look on Ebay usually they'll have a dash top to replace your cracked one. Here's a whole dash up on ebay..

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=40017&item=2425539185
 
#10 ·
I bought a new one and did all the servos and stuff at the same time

I had to buy a new one, it took for ever to get (they are plastic now instead of aluminum). Anyhow the dash cover might do the trick, but if you want to replace the whole thing IMHO I would not buy a used. You don't know how much it has been exposed to the sun and if it will start cracking soon.

Another option is to wait until your AC servos or evaporator is acting up and replace it then.

It is a lot of work to take the dash off, but not impossible.

Good luck
 
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