Re-covering beat to heck dash

[NocturneVoyager]

My poor '86 XT has been without a good style since I bought her years ago, and one of the biggest problems is the dash top - you know....that piece of the dash you see through the windshield.  Poor thing has had a piece of fabric over her since the day I bought her, and looking undeneath, it has nasty splits in a couple of different places.  I'm not sure if this is something I can have re-covered, replaced, or if I should just put an aftermarket dash cover on it.  I have a new trim bezel to go on the front, but wanted to have the rest of it nice first.

 

Opinions?  Recommendations?  She needs some life breathed back into her.  Mechanical-wise, she's in good shape, although I need to find out why the heater blower stopped working, so I can drive it in the winter time again.

 

Thanks all!

Edited March 11, 2015 by NocturneVoyager

[Crazyeights]

Take a look at Youtube for dashboard repair or recovering. People are doing some pretty impressive repairs in their own home shops these days. If the structure isn't totally destroyed I bet you can fix it. One of several different ways.

[bendecker]

I have always wanted to get a nasty old dash (as in not practice on mine) and try to glass it. That being said, I've seen some pretty good solutions with bumper filler and bed liner sprayed on, but they are not permanent. There is also a couple of good videos on YouTube about covering a dash with vinyl using a heat gun to stretch the fabric around contours.

[NocturneVoyager]

I'll check those out.  Thanks guys!  Oh.......and I found out the reason the heater blower stopped working is because the relay for it went kaput and stopped working, so off to the shop it goes on the 1st to get that brought back to life so I can drive it even when it's colder!