LUVTruck.com

After further research I have been unsuccessful in finding anyone who can repair them. I have successfully repaired two dash pads and will begin restoration of my third one. I have three Luv's (two that run/drive and one for parts) and plan to acquire a third if the wife permits. Need Parts

I would be interested in how you repair them. I have found someone who has detailed the way they do it and it seems pretty straightforward. But it's always good to see other methods. You never know if you might find something even better :-)

Rick
1981 LUV 4WD Diesel

I asked him what he did this is what he said..

I use a dremel tool / cutter blade to remove old foam. Then I use fiber mesh drywall tape to help strengthen it so it wont seperate again. Then I use expanding foam from home depot , wait until it skins over and smash it flat (messy - use latex gloves). I then trim foam off and shape it then after it is back in one piece and looks good you use 1/8" white foam and glue it to the dash to make it imperfection free (as possible) then you have a upholstery shop vacuum heat shrink the black textured vinyl on top. Its a bitch but it is cheaper that $800.00. Let me know if this helps or if you need any more tips

_________________
2006 GMC Sierra 2500 HD

Here are a couple of links from a guy who has done a pretty good job (I think) at restoring dashes. The first link is his first method (good), and the second link is his final method (best). Very inexpensive, too.

1) http://gtam.silvahalo.com/dashrepair/in ... ginal.html

2) http://gtam.silvahalo.com/dashrepair/

What do you guys think? Maybe someone could accumulate as many cracked LUV dashes as possible, restore them and sell them for us. Just a thought...

id imagine someone could make a killing. my dash is crap anyway .. ill give it a shot and see what happens. being as im pretty much broke i cant do my suspension and motor right now. may as well give this a try. and if it works ... it could very well pay for some of my parts.

now on the bed liner material ... i assume thats just to give it the texture that of a stock dash?

and i think both methods work well. and its pretty simple really. it just takes some time

additional thought. he doesnt really say HOW he sanded the cracks. low rpm palm sander? or would you start out by hand and get a feel for how the material works?

I would do it by hand at first and see how it goes. I think the guy's email address is at the end of the article so you might be able to ask him.

i have one of two ideas on how to "pretty up" my entire dashboard.

one idea is to find a dash cap, and install it over the dash and either fiberglass the front of the dash or sand and paint it and go with a bare metal type of look.

the other idea i have is to find a donor dash from a 60 to 66 C10 chevy and cut it down to size, and use that as a basis for a custom dash with custom gauges (or the like after using the stock luv guages) like this one



what do you guys think?

_________________

To the Oquirr hills for awesome thrills! Go-go 4wd, Activate!

I have thought about a different dash. I know a guy that cut down a 40 something Ford dash and put it in his VW. I think he cut it in about 4 places and welded it back together... It looked great. It is in a Volksrod.



Not sure what to use, but I thought I would like to use this at one time. 59/60 Chev Dash

_________________
75 Luv, 350 V8, TH350, Camaro rearend. New 1975 Luv Step side. Stock for now.
Grandmaster of the "Shade Tree" way.. I can't see the yard for all the cars. Come on down and we will sit on the porch and watch the grass grow.

i just had a thought. if i were to collect a few stock luv dashes. wouldnt it be easier to take the good parts of each one and kinda blend them together than fixing the cracked, split, busted dashes? if you have to do body work of sorts anyway .. why not have flat gaps instead of bumps where the dash is dry and cracked.

...does that make sense? it does in my head but the transfer from my head to my typing is sometimes kinda ... off

Here are a couple pictures of Nick's dash




That was a early thing Nick did on his car. So it can be done.

_________________
75 Luv, 350 V8, TH350, Camaro rearend. New 1975 Luv Step side. Stock for now.
Grandmaster of the "Shade Tree" way.. I can't see the yard for all the cars. Come on down and we will sit on the porch and watch the grass grow.

I have search the internet on this subject and their does not seem to be a permanent fix... I can post some of the links. One of the best could be one of those dash caps. I also have some info on making custom dash's or covers from audio stuff. I remember them using flower shop green foam and felt I think.

_________________
75 Luv, 350 V8, TH350, Camaro rearend. New 1975 Luv Step side. Stock for now.
Grandmaster of the "Shade Tree" way.. I can't see the yard for all the cars. Come on down and we will sit on the porch and watch the grass grow.

There is a type of bondo stuff made to repair the new bumpers that some people have used..I think it may have been in another post. I think I found it on a Mercedes Benz forum.

_________________
75 Luv, 350 V8, TH350, Camaro rearend. New 1975 Luv Step side. Stock for now.
Grandmaster of the "Shade Tree" way.. I can't see the yard for all the cars. Come on down and we will sit on the porch and watch the grass grow.

I haven't taken my dash apart yet, it only has 2 large tears in it. To be honest, I am probably going to just pull the whole thing out and build a custom dash. It wont look stock but, I'm not really going for that. One thing that could work though, I make no promises but its an idea, 2 part urethane foam could be poured into the missing spots then carved/sanded to contour. after its shaped, if the contours allow, I might suggest stretching grille cloth or a t-shirt material over the whole thing and fiberglassing to unify the surface. Im afraid trying to sand filler over crunchy foam and dried out dash might not go well. Alternately if you wanted a softer feel, gluing a 1/8" or 1/4" closed cell foam (kind of like wetsuit material) over the whole thing after the repair, but before vinyling would give the same unifying effect.

"Because I can"
1978 Luv

_________________
"Because I can"
1978 Luv

I have been researching some companies over the last couple years about getting brand new ones made. I had held off some over the past year because of the slow economy, but I am hoping to get going on this again soon. One place I contacted said just the molds would be 8 to 10 grand and I am sure most of the manufacturers are probably pretty close but I want to do more research before I commit to one. I definitely want to deal with an American company. When I get going on it I will be sure to let everyone know. The main thing is to try to keep them at a reasonable price and better material than the originals. I am fortunate to have bought a brand new original still in the Isuzu box replacement dash a couple years ago. It was pretty steep, but I bought it in hopes of getting these made for all of us, so to me it was worth it. I am not exactly certain yet when I will be ready to go full ahead with this undertaking, but hopefully in the near future. For now another order of Offy intakes are on deck. Let me know if anyone wants one who hasn't already contacted me. For info check out the Offy thread in the Stock Trucks forum.

_________________
http://www.purerockradio.net/