Tibo

iTrader: (15)

Rather than try to re-wrap my cracked dashboard, install a dash cover or pay hundreds of dollars for a new or uncracked dashboard I decided just to fiberglass it and paint it. Well I am in the finishing stages of my fiberglass dashboard and am thinking about paint, more specifically how much gloss I can go with before worrying about excessive glare off of the dashboard. I have decided and am dead set on it being a plain black dashboard with a clear coat. I have no interest in spraying it with that trunk texture paint or whatever after putting in all of those hours of longboard sanding. So how much (if any) gloss can I get away with? Regular gloss, semi-gloss, satin, flat? My hood is gloss black and I never have a problem with glare on it...

drknow90rs_ss@y

iTrader: (3)

I would go with a satin finish. Probably a high gloss black with a satin clear coat over it. Please post up some pics of this project. I am considering doing the same thing, and I would like to see how others go about doing it.

The biggest issue with glare is really not the glare off the dash, but rather the reflection o the dash as seen on the inside of the windshield. (Referred to by automakers as the "Mirror effect".)

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

It will probably be a month or so before I have a finished product for pictures. I laid a guide coat today and was thoroughly impressed with how well it was turning out. Plan on it taking many hours of work and even more in drying/cure time. The first one I did I ended up having to scrap, but I learned several things from the failed effort. I have been taking lots of pictures and was hoping to do an easy to follow tutorial.

HeathAU25

Please do a full tutorial when you are finished! Ive been debating doing this for a year now, but my pad only has 3 cracks and isn't thaaat bad. I just don't have any experience with fiberglass and don't want to mess up my original pad. Good luck with the rest of the project!

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

Well a year later and I am finally about to spray the black this week and have it done in time for Thirdgen Fest. I did not apply enough fiberglass in some areas so I was being dogged by the problem of sanding one spot too thin and having to reglass it refinish the area. Then I kept finding small pinholes. Then I spent time getting the front edge to be smooth and edge free.

Anyways.... You were really right about the mirror effect. I did a gloss bright red guide coat a few weeks ago to find imperfections. At times it seemed as if the windshield had a red fog to it. Here's to hoping the clear on the black dash don't present any driving difficulties. Going with Semi-Gloss Black and a satin clear coat.

Joe Tag

iTrader: (4)

+1 on the mirror effect. Vinyl protectant on the dash and its blinding on a bright day.
I have seen people here use bedliner products to texture radio faceplates, then SEM paint. This would give a texture similar to stock and take care of pinholes. Some texture will help reduce the glare. Then a satin or matte finish.

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

Using a texture finish would mask the pin holes and a slight amount of waviness but then you would never hear the "O wow look at that, a nicely done fiberglass dash." I could have been done with it last year and many hours of my time back had I done that.

In time I would like to fiberglass the top part of the door panels and parts of the center console. Maybe sand the dash and paint it the same as the dash pad also.

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

I started out spraying a semi-gloss black and a satin clear but I could not spray the clear well enough, it would look hazy or look like stripes. Ended up sanding it off and just respraying a single stage semi-gloss black. I will install it and drive around for a while at varying times to find out about glare. It still appears that it could have quite a glare and I am thinking a flat black or a (gulp) textured black might be sprayed next week. Can't imagine driving one of those vehicles with the fully fiberglassed interiors sprayed in gloss paint.....

Joe Tag

iTrader: (4)

I think it's the rake of the windshield and the wide flat level surface of the dash that exacerbates the problem on our cars. The lack of texture is just the icing on the cake. Look for a matte finish, it has less gloss than satin but more than flat.

T/Aperformance

I know a lot of people will say not to do this, But if you use some semi gloss black say from rust-oluem , thin it with acetone and apply it with a paint roller. This will give it an orange peel and divert the light and not give a glare.

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

I wouldn't see a problem with it provided you used a foam roller. I don't think clear coating these is a good idea anymore.

My new thread about making the dashboard: https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/inte...dashboard.html