Dash warp fix pictures?

[Aussie Ford]

In all these repairs that folks have done, what has worked?
I saw the thread where one fella repaired it similar to the ford fix using wire ties.
Then there is the Ford fix kit. WHich by the way is just an oversized trim piece that you pop rivit in place over top of the original trim piece.
Several others have made attempts like the wedges and gorilla glue but to no avail.
Somethings I have noted: on my 99 the vent trim had no factory clamps on it and I did not see any factory clamps around the inside of the vent. There were no spots on the vent trim where the clamps had been broken off they just were not there.

On the other 99 dash that I got there is a clamp all across the leading edge that goes against the windshield, several around the inside of the vent opening, and the trim has clamps on it. It appears that those things have helped minimize the issue of curling up, but it has done nothing for the fact that the adhesive is no good. There in lies the problem. Dash pad have been made for a long time without pealing themselves off. There are several other spots that the pad has separated from the base, line around the instrumnet cluster, the opening for the steering column and the glove box. I have been regluing those areas using spray glue (80) for vinyl & plastic, and applying heat with a gun to lay the pad back in place prior to clamping & gluing. Seems to work, but then several others have had temporary success too.

Have you who have reglued your pad used heat to remold the pad first? Applying heat also when clamped in position seems to not only make the vinyl pliable but when cool it stays in place so there is very little actual pull against the glue when done.

Lessons learned,
AF

 

[Aussie Ford]

That gorrilla glue didn't hold my dash warp down. Came right back up. That craps like an iceberg. I creeps slowly and there is nothing you can do to stop it.

Ok, I really hate to say it but that Gorilla Glue is not for plastic and / or foam, so it had to fail. Using the proper adhesives is extreamly important. Not doing that is what has caused us all these problems in the first place.

This spray glue I am using now actually etches the plastic to make it bond better. However good I think it is at this point only time will tell. I should also say again that there are many loose spots on the dash so IF you have the problem more areas may be affected that are being held in place by other components.

I have about 8 hrs into this repair not including removal (1hr 10 min) and installation time. Currently I estimate I am about 60% complete. Sometimes the hardest part is divising a clamping procedure for an area.

Regards,
AF

 

[Aussie Ford]

how hard is it to tak eout the dash and fix it like that? it this a 1 day thing or a couple days?

I need to say that the removal of the 99 dash was a lot easier than the 95, as there is a big difference in how the electrical is run. Also it didn't have the clamps like the 95 so I expect it will go back in easier. I think the hardest part was getting the air bag module over the pipe brace. That is after undoing that connector I missed again

 

[96RedSE5Sp]

Kurt Vonnegut died?

 

[ruwfo]

Here's a 2025 repair of the dreaded Dash warp fix. 1st off, I read the old threads, on how you need to remove the dash etc, 4-5 hours job. The wasn't happening, as someone said, he was worried about breaking more then he'd fix, me too.

So my SVT dash warped years after the recall, 2015. So yeah i bought 2 of the dash recall repair kits, there's 1 with a large metal cover (pics of this kit is shown at the beginning of this thread) & 1 kit w/o it. I Read the instructions of the so called recall repair, and the metal grille gets riveted from the inside of dash, outward, meaning yep you need to remove the entire dash.

Well i wasn't doing that, so i had a windshield repair shop , come & remove my windshield , cause it was cracked anyway.
Now with the windshield out, i'm like wow, the dash pad is still very pliable, I can fix this myself. So i started with sitting the car in the hot sun, with some weights on top of a few boards. 3-4 hours in the sun, & it damn near fixed itself, laying back down about 90% flatter. The Windshield installer, suggested using a 3m adhesive, lucky local auto parts had a can in stock. It's $30 a can, but i've hear great things about 3M adhesives. So back in the garage, it went, for a cleaning of surfaces to be glued, taping off the area, with blue Scotch painter tape. I had already watch a You tube video, on how to spray this stuff, & knew it would make a mess, with alot of over spray. This stuff really smells bad, so use this stuff in a well vented area, it was Hot a hell this weekend, so i was opening & closing the garage door alot

Ok, follow the instructions, this is a Spray both sides of what u want to bond together, adhesive. Let it sit apart for 5mins, It will get tacky, and i think if you wait too long, you maybe harder to work with. I had already bought some small plastic clamps, which fit inside the defroster opening. After the 5mins i started from the drives side & started pushing the 2 parts together & then putting on 1 clamp at a time, til i got all the way across. NOTE i only glued down the very front edge of the dash pad , the part that had pulled away from windshield only. I didn't care if i got over spray on the inside of outer portion, AKA, the side that was really badly curled. Wait about 10 mins, so the clamps / glue can do it's stuff. Wow does this stuff work, undid the clamps, front of pad was bonded & wasn't going anywhere. Covered what i just fixed, an sprayed more glue on the really warped portion, waited 5 mins, then pulling on the boards & weights i used the 1st time the windshield was out. Let it sit for 30 mins, took the boards/weights off, and it wasn't perfect, but boy does it look a hell of lot better.

Pretty sure i'll be using the plastic Defroster grille, supplied in 1 of the recall kit, & not the larger metal supplied in the other, as the grille doesn't need to hold down the dash pad any more.

To me, this is a way easier fix then pulling out the whole dash

Pics from left to right are #1 windshield out/weights, #2 & 3 taped off, showing how well dash started to lay flat., #4 is front edge only is glued down

 

[ruwfo]

Here's more pics, again going left to right

#5 is 3M can, #6 is back of defroster area (worst warped area) now glued do & with weights
#7 almost done, glue all dried, sorry pic is a bad angle, but does show a bit over spray in the lower part of the opening,
which will be covered with plastic grille.
#8 is an old pic, which shows how warped the dash was, it's touching the inside of the windshield

Will figure out the plastic grille mounting & post pic of that part & with windshield installed.