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Super Beetle dash repair?
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Dwayne1m
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 29, 2012 2:39 pm    Post subject: Super Beetle dash repair? Reply with quote

My '74 Super Beetle has 2 rather long cracks in the dash. I've seen Eastwood has a gizmo that claims to be able to weld plastic. Anyone familiar with this or any way to fix a cracked dash that looks good? Replacement dash is about $450...if it can be found from what I'm told.

Thanks.
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danlewister
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 29, 2012 3:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I ended up just buying a new cover I glued on top and it turned out pretty well. I forget exactly what I paid for it, but it was much less than $ 450. It shouldn't be too hard to find one, either. I bought mine from a local parts shop, but you can get one from most major air-cooled parts suppliers.
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TjdTaylor
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 29, 2012 3:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

dont bother with the plastic welding, dash is a different material and will also look like crap. I would either get a dashmat or a dash cover from wcm
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https://shop.westcoastmetric.com/viewProduct.php?productID=133-180&from_search=1
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Jamies74sb wrote:
I can't see myself cutting up my super beetle . Maybe a oval or 61 or so with the small windows
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TjdTaylor
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 29, 2012 3:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

nice Daniel..... you beat me to it Sad
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Jamies74sb wrote:
I can't see myself cutting up my super beetle . Maybe a oval or 61 or so with the small windows
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Jamies74sb
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 29, 2012 3:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I used black silicone but it still shows the cracks cuz they are poped up . I don't care how the covers look on them they look fake .
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TjdTaylor
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 29, 2012 4:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Jamies74sb wrote:
I used black silicone but it still shows the cracks cuz they are poped up . I don't care how the covers look on them they look fake .


they look better than a shitty siliconed dashboard
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Jamies74sb wrote:
I can't see myself cutting up my super beetle . Maybe a oval or 61 or so with the small windows
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thechief86
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 29, 2012 4:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

TjdTaylor wrote:
they look better than a shitty siliconed dashboard

hahahahaha that is a fact! i will be ordering the cover meself, as the price is right, and it looks much better than a shitty siliconed dashboard.
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Dwayne1m
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 29, 2012 5:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've seen the dash covers online but I haven't seen one in person. Do they fit and look good and are they noticeable? In other words do they look/fit cheap? I would like to do a total restore on this car but I have a '61 ragtop to finish first.
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airgrabber
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 29, 2012 6:02 pm    Post subject: Dash Cap Reply with quote

I have put the dash cap on mine and I am happy with it. It looks great if done correctly..
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BugMan114
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 29, 2012 8:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

there's a guy on the classifieds selling a complete replacement dash for supers (its not stock, like a custom fiberglass dash). and its the whole dash, not like the one glass action sells where u have to put it over your existing dash.
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Why the hell do they call it a gland nut. its obviously a big fat bolt!!!
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BugMan114
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 29, 2012 8:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

here it is:

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1127235
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1972 Super Beetle: Daily Driver
1971 Std. Beetle w/ 1929 Mercedes Benz Gazelle kit
1960 Baja Bug
1969 Baja Bug
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Sand Rail- FUBAR

Aircooled Airheads

Why the hell do they call it a gland nut. its obviously a big fat bolt!!!
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sb001
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 29, 2012 8:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Dwayne1m wrote:
I've seen the dash covers online but I haven't seen one in person. Do they fit and look good and are they noticeable? In other words do they look/fit cheap? I would like to do a total restore on this car but I have a '61 ragtop to finish first.


There are several types of replacement dash pads out there, all of differing quality. There is a thread around here somewhere about a guy who ordered one from cip1 (I think) claiming it was just like the original and he got it in and it was junk. Did not look like the original grain material or anything. I had the same thing happen to me. Mine was also too small- I could not get it to reach around and bolt on top no matter what. Generally the more you spend the better your chances are of getting one that looks and fits like the original. I think the Wolfsburg West dashes are highly thought of around here if u are going for the original look as I am. Or you could buy one of those horrid fiberglass ones mentioned above. Wink
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BugMan114
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 29, 2012 9:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

purists Rolling Eyes i mean really, its a super, it aint worth shit, and it never will be as long as there are splits and ovals on earth, so might as well have some fun with them Laughing . lol, just kidding. I love my 2 supers (not like that wierdo who literally loved his bug on that strange sex TV show, lol), but with the lack of good quality stock stuff available, your pretty much forced to go aftermarket. i don't think anyone makes a reproduction stock super dash. mine was cracked all to hell. made one myself out of fiberglass. first time with fiberglass, so it didn't come out to well. then made one out of aluminum. also looked terrible. then saw that ad and will be ordering one as soon as i'm ready (frame off custom resto).
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1974 Super Beetle: Custom resto in progress
1972 Super Beetle: Daily Driver
1971 Std. Beetle w/ 1929 Mercedes Benz Gazelle kit
1960 Baja Bug
1969 Baja Bug
Sand Rail- Homemade
Sand Rail- FUBAR

Aircooled Airheads

Why the hell do they call it a gland nut. its obviously a big fat bolt!!!
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Joel
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 29, 2012 10:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

sb001 wrote:
There are several types of replacement dash pads out there, all of differing quality. There is a thread around here somewhere about a guy who ordered one from cip1 (I think) claiming it was just like the original and he got it in and it was junk. Did not look like the original grain material or anything. I had the same thing happen to me. Mine was also too small- I could not get it to reach around and bolt on top no matter what. Generally the more you spend the better your chances are of getting one that looks and fits like the original. I think the Wolfsburg West dashes are highly thought of around here if u are going for the original look as I am. Or you could buy one of those horrid fiberglass ones mentioned above. Wink


You're thinking of flat screen super dashes, thread is about curved screens dashes, completely different thing.
Cos there is actually sweet FA options out there for replacement dashes, WCM used to do them but now the only quick option is those nasty dash caps.

I gotta agree with some of the others though, those dash caps look like ass the fit and finish of them is shocking, I wouldn't say much better than a cracked stocker.
I've yet to see one that looks decent.

Also there are plenty of dashboard restoration places out there, a few here in Aus get them looking as perfect as a new one.

Anyway best solution I reckon is a dash carpet it gets rid of the glare/reflection an uncovered dash throws up on the windscreen, protects against future cracking and covers any cracks up.
Cost me a whole $5 worth of carpet....

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19-VW-74
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 30, 2012 1:34 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

BOOM.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=462251

Dash overlays can look good if executed properly. It's all in the prep.
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Joel
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 30, 2012 2:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

If you can finish off around the speedo and the sides abit more neatly it would get rid of that cheap fix up feel.

There's talk of reproduction cheap ABS plastic dashes like modern cars have coming out of China soon.
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Dwayne1m
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 30, 2012 5:24 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm not fixing it for restore value. It is rare that you get your money back on any car that is restored (just my opinion). I'm doing this for me and I want it to looks its best. I love black bugs and this is my first black one and I want to do it right...for me.
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TjdTaylor
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 30, 2012 4:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Dwayne1m wrote:
I'm not fixing it for restore value. It is rare that you get your money back on any car that is restored (just my opinion). I'm doing this for me and I want it to looks its best. I love black bugs and this is my first black one and I want to do it right...for me.


you will never get your money back on a restoration (unless the resto costs you like 50 bucks)
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Jamies74sb wrote:
I can't see myself cutting up my super beetle . Maybe a oval or 61 or so with the small windows
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Dwayne1m
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 30, 2012 4:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I agree about not getting your money back on a restoration. I had a race car for 22 years and lost mega bucks on that, but I knew that going in. With a restoration I feel you'll lose money but not near as much as owning a race car.
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bgprest
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 31, 2012 7:21 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I researched and found a good way to fix small cracks... using a combination of super glue and baking soda. Super glue is an acid and baking soda is a base so it acts like a catylist and together they form kind of a super glue filler. What I did was to carefully sprinkle baking soda into the crack (using a magnifying glass and a tooth pick). Once I filled the crack, I then put some super glue into a hypodermic syringe so I could squeeze out very small drops. With the magnifying glass, I dropped tiny beads of superglue onto the crack and the baking soda did a great job of soaking it right up (capillary action) so I didn't end up with any glue on the surface. After it cured, which is basically immediately, I used a very fine paint brush to paint the crack black (since the super glue / backing soda combination dries kind of a beige color). Anyway, I was very impressed with the results. The spot looks like a faint old scar on your skin rather than a crack now and it sealed the crack from gettting bigger or curling.

I recommend trying this for small cracks. I don't think it would work very well if the crack has already curled up though. You need to catch the cracks when they are fairly new and uncurled.
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