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Should I paint the dash on my 1969 Karmann Ghia?
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Oysterpirate
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 08, 2016 11:34 am    Post subject: Should I paint the dash on my 1969 Karmann Ghia? Reply with quote

Hello,

I have a 1969 Karmann Ghia that I am restoring. I have noticed some people taking off the plastic wood cover on the dash and just painting it the color of their car. I thought this looked pretty slick but wasn't sure how to worked out. Does it affect the stock value of the car? I assume I could always just glue on a new dash if I changed my mind. Any opinions?

Thanks.
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sactojesse
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 08, 2016 11:55 am    Post subject: Re: Should I paint the dash on my 1969 Karmann Ghia? Reply with quote

I did it to my former 1969 ghia coupe back in 1990-91. The dash is already painted underneath the woodgrain plastic dash face, but mine had dried glue residue. Also, there are holes and indentations that will need to be filled if you want the smooth look. I prefer the painted dash look to the original faux woodgrain, but it won't be original. As you mentioned, you can always glue a plastic woodgrain dash over it if you change your mind later.
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CiderGuy
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 08, 2016 1:10 pm    Post subject: Re: Should I paint the dash on my 1969 Karmann Ghia? Reply with quote

Oysterpirate wrote:
Hello,

I have a 1969 Karmann Ghia that I am restoring. I have noticed some people taking off the plastic wood cover on the dash and just painting it the color of their car. I thought this looked pretty slick but wasn't sure how to worked out. Does it affect the stock value of the car? I assume I could always just glue on a new dash if I changed my mind. Any opinions?

Thanks.

Getting the dried glue off for me has been a bitch, but I do plan on painting the dash on my 70 convertible. I personally think the fake wood grain cheapens the look of the car.
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selwood
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 08, 2016 1:58 pm    Post subject: Re: Should I paint the dash on my 1969 Karmann Ghia? Reply with quote

I painted mine because it looked better with the slight mods done to the car. Took a lot of prep work (stripping/sanding) to get it right, but it was worth it.

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c21darrel
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 08, 2016 3:16 pm    Post subject: Re: Should I paint the dash on my 1969 Karmann Ghia? Reply with quote

I painted mine too. Smile It will be a lot of work filling all the holes in a 69 to prep for paint. Dont expect an afternoon of stripping and paint by evening. Crying or Very sad

Love the tach selwood^^^ hard to find a 52mm tach!

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Tim Donahoe
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 08, 2016 11:02 pm    Post subject: Re: Should I paint the dash on my 1969 Karmann Ghia? Reply with quote

In 1969, I bought my first car--a 1969 Karmann Ghia. The only thing that bugged me about the car was the faux wood grain dash face. It looked chincy. To hell with keeping it stock. Paint it.

Tim
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NOVA Airhead
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 09, 2016 8:22 am    Post subject: Re: Should I paint the dash on my 1969 Karmann Ghia? Reply with quote

I think the painted look is better if you fill in all of the holes, etc. I had a car where the PO painted the dash but did not fill in the holes. In that case the wood grain looked better.
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bhartwell59
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 09, 2016 8:41 am    Post subject: Re: Should I paint the dash on my 1969 Karmann Ghia? Reply with quote

NOVA Airhead wrote:
I think the painted look is better if you fill in all of the holes, etc. I had a car where the PO painted the dash but did not fill in the holes. In that case the wood grain looked better.


Hmm... I was thinking about pulling the black pebble grain and going painted dash. But dealing with the holes might be more than I bargained for, however, I guess Bondo is your friend in this case.
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c21darrel
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 09, 2016 12:14 pm    Post subject: Re: Should I paint the dash on my 1969 Karmann Ghia? Reply with quote

This is what it looks like after you remove the faux wood. A dash cap will cover a lot of the upper oval holes. The lower stuff all needs attention before paint.
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J1
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 10, 2016 12:43 am    Post subject: Re: Should I paint the dash on my 1969 Karmann Ghia? Reply with quote

I've been wanting to paint too since it's the part you see the most! But the preferred technique would be....?

Just cut sheetmetal to fit each hole, weld, grind, filler? Or are there more efficient tricks like welding one long strip from the back and using more filler than one might admit?
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c21darrel
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 10, 2016 12:19 pm    Post subject: Re: Should I paint the dash on my 1969 Karmann Ghia? Reply with quote

Quote:
Just cut sheetmetal to fit each hole, weld, grind, filler? Or are there more efficient tricks like welding one long strip from the back and using more filler than one might admit?


If you plan on no dash cap, cut patches, weld, grind, fill...
If you plan on using a dash cap you might get away with doing just the lower part of the dash (yay, the easy part). Test fit your cap and see if it covers all the top oval holes and go from there. Captain obvious right Smile
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kiwighia68
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 10, 2016 4:21 pm    Post subject: Re: Should I paint the dash on my 1969 Karmann Ghia? Reply with quote

NOVA Airhead wrote:
I think the painted look is better if you fill in all of the holes, etc...


I followed the advice you give here. Woodgrain is not available for RHD, but just as well, since a poor quality woodgrain dash could never compete with a good painted dash (with the holes filled in).
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jarnarcos
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PostPosted: Sun Sep 20, 2020 6:13 am    Post subject: Re: Should I paint the dash on my 1969 Karmann Ghia? Reply with quote

How about getting thin sheet of plexiglass or acrylic. Trim to fit, drill out the holes for the speedo clock and controls and then paint the back surface...the one that is in contact with the dash. Anybody tried/heard of this?
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KGCoupe
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PostPosted: Sun Sep 20, 2020 1:28 pm    Post subject: Re: Should I paint the dash on my 1969 Karmann Ghia? Reply with quote

Several members here have been very successful in improving the look of their dash by applying 3M's DI-NOC product on the dash face.

I think everyone that has done it so far has used a woodgrain pattern of some sort, and there are quite a few to choose from that are much nicer and more realistic looking than what VW originally used.

However, I believe the DI-NOC is also available in a myriad of solid colors as well.
Although it's highly unlikely that you'll find a perfect color match, perhaps you could find a solid color that compliments or contrasts the color of your Ghia.

You could even do something completely different and try something like the stainless steel or carbon fiber look DI-NOC.
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Frelly
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 21, 2021 12:50 am    Post subject: Re: Should I paint the dash on my 1969 Karmann Ghia? Reply with quote

c21darrel wrote:
I painted mine too. Smile It will be a lot of work filling all the holes in a 69 to prep for paint. Dont expect an afternoon of stripping and paint by evening. Crying or Very sad

Love the tach selwood^^^ hard to find a 52mm tach!

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.



What are the red and green circles above your gauges? We have a painted 67 dash and have two holes in that location we need to be creative with. Thank you.
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c21darrel
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 21, 2021 11:23 am    Post subject: Re: Should I paint the dash on my 1969 Karmann Ghia? Reply with quote

Frelly wrote:
c21darrel wrote:
I painted mine too. Smile It will be a lot of work filling all the holes in a 69 to prep for paint. Dont expect an afternoon of stripping and paint by evening. Crying or Very sad

Love the tach selwood^^^ hard to find a 52mm tach!

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.



What are the red and green circles above your gauges? We have a painted 67 dash and have two holes in that location we need to be creative with. Thank you.


The green is hooked to my Oberg oil filter, lets you know if screen is blocked. Inside a reusable Oberg filter.
Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


The orange was just to cover, hole, its not hooked to monitor anything, yet. Cool
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