Ok, this is a fairly long post.
This is my way of repairing my cracked dash the''easy way''
If you are into show car and 100 points car, look away!! This method is for a driver car! Because you don't get the factory look or texture.
I hope you find it informative. The key is in prep.
I took my about 6 hour to do. This include diasssemblie, prep, repair, paint and refurbished radio, bezel and little parts. So its not hard, a good day of work.
My personnal cost for this job 0$. I had all the produts I needed.
So, you need:
Sanding paper; 40, 80, 180
Sanding block (optional, but this will help have a straiter dash)
Degraiser (I use brake cleaner in a spray can)
Black sandable primer spay can
Black gravel guard spay can --> The gravel guard can be swap with this :
http://www.krylon.com/products/make_it_stone_textured_paints/ This texture can look event more OE than gravel guard.
Black vinyl paint
Automotive bondo, yes bondo!
Bondo spreader
Step 1Remove all accessories and part that you don't want to have paint on and clean all the dash with degraiser.
Step 2You need to get ride of all the dash dry broken part. Use a little screwdriver and tap around the damage area. This way you will get rid of any too dry part of the dash. Take out as much as you need. This is avoid to have more crack. My dash had the edge broken, so I use cyanoacrylate (krazy glue) with a accelerator (bond quicker) to glue this back. We do not reuse old part of the dash. (picture is to shown produts)
Step 3You need to clean the edge of the repair area. You need to unsharped the edge. Like in my picture. You can use 40 grit sandpaper or a dremel tool. Then sand the area you around the repair area.
Step 4Clean with degraiser once again, and prepare a batch of bondo. Don't put too much at once. Spread the bondo evenly
Step 5Once your bondo as dried, sand it with a 40 grit paper to start with, then 80 and 180. Once your done, apply a light coat of sandable primer (also called a guide coat). This will tell you high and low spot on your work. This step will help you with the hard to see imperfection. When done, applied a couple more coat of primer to cover the repair.
Step 6Now, this is the part you need room to move.
Reinstall glove box panel, ashtray and steering column panel, (I know I forget my column panel d'oh)
You want them to blend in
Dust off your dash and make sure your dash and workling area is clean and dust free.
Grab your Gravel guard spray can and spray your dash. Now you need to be at about 20 inch from your dash. Spray evenly in light coat only!!! You might need 2-4 very light coat. It will look weird at first, but when it dry you will see a better result don't worry.
Step 7This step is the last.
Now i'm doing my dash in black. But if you doing with colored dash like blue, red or tan, the step is almost the same, you just need to buy a vinyl die of your choice. If your doing with color, use a grey primer.
When the gravel guard as dried, now you need to apply 2-3 light coat of primer (in my case it was a black primer). This will help get the best end result.
When the primer is dry, take your vinyl spray can and spray your dash. Again 2-4 light coats.
When dry, inspect and reinstall.
Well hope this help.