New owner w/ strange Q: what happened to my dash?

[CamanoViper]

I picked up my first Viper about a month ago ('93 w/ only 21k miles). Everything is in excellent condition, except the dash has been repainted. And not very well. It looks like it was scratched up pretty badly and somebody repainted it but without filling in the scratches. What I can't figure out is why the rest of the car is in nearly perfect condition but the dash was trashed. Anybody got any ideas?

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[CamanoViper]

I forgot the pic of the car itself:

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[Spike]

I don't know the history of your particular car, but your dash appears to have been painted over the original "soft-touch" paint that was on our Gen 1 cars. To have been done correctly, the original paint should have been stripped off to the bare plastic and then repainted. Unfortunately, the OE paint is very vulnerable to staining and scratches. The rest of the car looks great, though.

Spike

 

[Flash Gordon]

Hey Camano...Just FYI...Myself and many others on the board have taken our dashes out and refinished them the RIGHT way... There are some great threads in the archives that go into detail about how to take the dash off, prep, paint etc. I had them saved in my favorite threads section, but they got wiped out when the board got a make-over...If you decide to take the project on (it's an easy DIY), PM me and I'll give you my number...I can walk you through it...

-Rob

 

[RedEnuf93]

I have a 93 too. Just take the dash out and get it stripped and repainted. Few well spent bucks later, it looks great! e-mail me if you want some dash color ideas, I got plenty of pictures...

 

[Venomiss]

Welcome!
Another way to research for your problem. Go to the top of this page to the search button and plug in dashboard. It came up with seven pages worth of threads on the subject.
Several had pictures in them.
Hope this helps you!

 

[GTSjbud]

It looks like someone has tried to use a power sander or hand scraper with all the deep gouges. Once you strip the paint off you may have to fill in the gouges and/or try to sand them out.

If it turns out that you have to put in a lot of time and monies to make it look good, you may want to try purchasing a good condition used one from Scott @ X2 Builders.

Good luck with the project!

 

[CamanoViper]

Thanks all, I didn't realize the original paint was so soft. I really want to keep the car as original as possible, but if the factory paint isn't available, I'll have to try something else. One of the pics I found while searching was from somebody who redid theirs in black and it looked hot with the other soft parts still in gray.

Stripping the dash will be added to my list of projects for this winter. The other major item is fixing the curb rash on every single rim.

 

[FLOORIN04]

I have a 93 too. Just take the dash out and get it stripped and repainted. Few well spent bucks later, it looks great! e-mail me if you want some dash color ideas, I got plenty of pictures...

I am sure you do

 

[Rheeder218]

man i just looked for a pic of painted dashes and all the threads are to old or the links jsut bring you back to the home page. Any help on finding some pics

 

[klamathpro]

Nice color match, wrong technique.

 

[ROCKET62]

Here's a pic for you:

Also, those arent the original tires are they? If so, that would be the first thing I would change.

 

[Rheeder218]

yeah i saw that one.

 

[Venomiss]

I forgot the pic of the car itself:

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I just noticed you have an antenna car! In case you don't have this information already here is the website for WA. Maybe that will help you find others in your area.
Let us know what you end up with for your dash-pictures please!

http://www.wavca.org/

 

[Big Medicine]

try www.viperpartslarry.com

i have used him before

 

[CamanoViper]

I just noticed you have an antenna car!

Yep, I also have the "viper" calipers and gas door notch in the body. So I guess it's considered an early '93, which sounds much better than saying it's a leftover '92. #142 according to the VIN.

 

[carguy07]

Here you go: http://forums.viperclub.org/showthread.php?t=579140

 

[SylvanSRT]

orginal "mouse hair" got damaged, and sanded it off and painted it, and looks like a hasty repair/touch up job. I dont know if anyone has replaced or repaired "mouse hair", but if they did this is the place to find out where/how to do it.