Almost finished with dash
 

Here is a before and after shot of my dash. I can't wait to get her on the water now!

Re: Almost finished with dash
 

:wink_thumbup: Excellent work!

Re: Almost finished with dash
 

Looks great... like you breathed new life into her.

Re: Almost finished with dash
 

Looks much better! Is that some kind of textured paint on the dash or what? I cant quite tell from the pics.

Re: Almost finished with dash
 

Looks great, you want to do mine.....:yes_grin:

Re: Almost finished with dash
 

I'm getting ready to tackle the same thing. Where did you get your switches/actuators and how did you refinish the woodgrain?

Re: Almost finished with dash
 

Yep, might be a good time to post up a "how i did it" guide........

Re: Almost finished with dash
 

Beautiful work!

Re: Almost finished with dash
 

Looks great!!! :wink_thumbup: From someone who's redone their dash, I can say, that's an impressive job!!

Re: Almost finished with dash
 

Sorry for the delayed response here.. I have been out of town. Anyways, here is what I did: I must start by saying that we do not have alot of money so I had to do this as cheaply as possible with it still looking good! First, all my switches worked fine so I only replaced the sleeve that goes around the outside of the switch and the switch face. Originally, my Z275 came with Carling IV switches which are curved and look better in my opinion. But they are very hard to find now, and to find all 16 that I needed was impossible. So I went with the Carling II instead.
As far as the woodgrain...this is the painful part. After reading all the posts about redoing the woodgrain where you have to dremel out the MASSIVE globs of glue that hold it inplace and then mail it off to a company that will dunk tank it for ALOT of money, I set out to find a cheaper way. I was in Lowe's getting paint for my daughters art project and it hit me. Yes, it is actually spray paint! I took one of the small pieces off and did a test and was amazed with the results. It is actually Rust-Oleum Universal Exterior paint and primer. The exact color is called "Hammered Brown." It is plastic exterior paint so I figured it couldn't hurt it. I put 3 coats on and then put a coat of laquer over the top. And I did not remove the panels from the dash. It was a pain to tape off everything, but still less hassle than removing all the gauges and switches and dremeling out the glue, hoping that you don't snap the plastic!
I know this was the redneck way of doing things, but it looks great and worse case is that the paint fades and I either redo it or pay the big bucks and send it off to get done the right way. Oh and the switch faces and sleeves cost me $200 for all 16. This also included 2 custom switch faces because no one seems to carry "Power Seat" and "Defogger" switches!

Re: Almost finished with dash
 

"Redneck" method or not........i'm still impressed/

Re: Almost finished with dash
 

Thanks Mikey and everyone else as well. Appreciate the compliments!

Re: Almost finished with dash
 

Hey! I got my switches from R & R. They are VERY helpful! Ask for Regina.

Regina
R & R Yacht Service, Inc.
941-966-4320

The dash came in a spray can! Not sure if you saw my other post about how I did that....

Re: Almost finished with dash
 

I found them on eBay last week and ordered a nav/anchor actuator to test fit the switch, good to know you recommend them!

Re: Almost finished with dash
 

I've added R & R Yacht Service Inc to our parts vendor list. :wink_thumbup:

Re: Almost finished with dash
 

Interesting method! Considering I was the guinea pig and was the original one who dropped all the $$ on refinishing, since no one had ever done it before, I'm always looking for more cost-effective ways to refinish the dashes. Let us know how it holds up over the summer!

I'd love to get my hands on the original molds for all the dash parts. Remanufacturing them from any material other than vacuum formed ABS plastic would be amazing...

Re: Almost finished with dash
 

Hey Chris!

Yes, that is the big question now if the paint will actually hold up! I figured if it only lasts thru this year, then I will hopefully have enough money saved up to do it the right way. Or if all else fails, just reprint it again! Lol
But I am now religiously covering the dash with a towel when we go out.

Re: Almost finished with dash
 

[QUOTE=ShabahZ250;35120]Interesting method! Considering I was the guinea pig and was the original one who dropped all the $$ on refinishing, since no one had ever done it before, I'm always looking for more cost-effective ways to refinish the dashes. Let us know how it holds up over the summer!


I'm looking to have the dash redone on our '97 Shabah...could you give me information on where you sent it, and the approx. cost...you can send it to me in a message, if you prefer. Thx.

Re: Almost finished with dash
 

[QUOTE=jchemotti;37026] Jan: I'm not sure if you are intending this for the original Poster csterner or for ShabahZ250??? If its for Shabah (Chris) then have a look at his "How To" which details his complete adventure on reparing & refinishing his dash. For good measure Domraga did the same thing & posts his trials & tribulations in the same thread.