sewlow
Bitchin' Stitchin'
It could be done. The whole dash would have to be removed to be able to wrap around the edges.
I've covered several dashes. Porsches, '90's Camaro's, '60's Chevys, many, many, square bod dashes, & late '50's full size Fords. (Chevy's of that era were steel.) Corporate Jet glare shields, too.
The most intricate one was for a Pantera in leather. That one required 17 individual pieces which had to perfectly fitted to each other in order to get the leather to fit the contours right.
An early GMT400 would be a lot simpler. Most of the labor is in the fabrication time of the new skin. The sewing is minimal.
If the new cover is fabricated to a high standard, then the application is pretty simple. It should fit the dash panel with little effort, virtually falling into place. Because the new skin will be stretched onto the dash, I do not cut the pieces with a seam allowance. Usually I cut with a 3/8" allowance, & then sew a 1/2" seam. The stretch of the material & that extra 1/8" sewn on the seam makes for a nice fit. But with a dash, the cover has to be really stretched on, due to the environment it's in. Heat softens & 'loosens' the material, whether it's leather or vinyl. Especially vinyl.
But it does take patience. A lot of time is spent waiting for the glue to tack up. And there is a lot of glue used! The whole skin has to be glued down to the panel.
The most important part is to get the stitching aligned straight as it glued down. Any imperfection will be a glaring mistake, as this is the part that you see most when driving.
Now that I've said that, the question is...'Have I ever re-covered an early GMT400 dash?'
Well...no!
Could I do one? Sure!
The speaker grilles I would dye to match.
I've covered several dashes. Porsches, '90's Camaro's, '60's Chevys, many, many, square bod dashes, & late '50's full size Fords. (Chevy's of that era were steel.) Corporate Jet glare shields, too.
The most intricate one was for a Pantera in leather. That one required 17 individual pieces which had to perfectly fitted to each other in order to get the leather to fit the contours right.
An early GMT400 would be a lot simpler. Most of the labor is in the fabrication time of the new skin. The sewing is minimal.
If the new cover is fabricated to a high standard, then the application is pretty simple. It should fit the dash panel with little effort, virtually falling into place. Because the new skin will be stretched onto the dash, I do not cut the pieces with a seam allowance. Usually I cut with a 3/8" allowance, & then sew a 1/2" seam. The stretch of the material & that extra 1/8" sewn on the seam makes for a nice fit. But with a dash, the cover has to be really stretched on, due to the environment it's in. Heat softens & 'loosens' the material, whether it's leather or vinyl. Especially vinyl.
But it does take patience. A lot of time is spent waiting for the glue to tack up. And there is a lot of glue used! The whole skin has to be glued down to the panel.
The most important part is to get the stitching aligned straight as it glued down. Any imperfection will be a glaring mistake, as this is the part that you see most when driving.
Now that I've said that, the question is...'Have I ever re-covered an early GMT400 dash?'
Well...no!
Could I do one? Sure!
The speaker grilles I would dye to match.
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