Repairing 88-94 dash bezel cracks

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randomguy

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Those of us fortunate enough to own an 88-94 truck know how fragile these dash bezels are, especially around the headlight switch. The switch bracket sits on 4 plastic posts and is held on by screws. Those posts break and then you have a floppy switch. Or if you’re like me the previous owner of your truck drilled holes to mount the switch and then the holes cracked leaving your bezel even more messed up.

I did some googling and decided on a method to repair the cracks using a soldering iron, Oatey medium black ABS cement, and dry wall fiber tape. The following is what I did. Not sure if it’s correct but it made a strong repair, probably stronger than the original dash. I wish I took before pics.

  1. I taped the dash together with painters tape on the face to keep everything lined up. My bezel was cracked and tweaked from years of abuse so this took some effort.
  2. I traced the cracks on the back of the bezel with a hot soldering iron making a groove along the cracks.
  3. I took a very fine, small, and cheap brush and applied the cement to the cracks. Take care not to use very much as the solvent in this stuff can damage the bezel if allowed to pool up.
  4. Let it sit. Can says 15 minutes for handling strength and 2 hours to cure. I let it sit for 30 minutes.
  5. Apply dry wall tape over the repair area.
  6. Use the applicator from the ABS cement to apply a very thin coating of cement over the tape, which bonds it to the bezel. Remember no puddling or pooling. Let it sit at least 15 minutes. Repeat until the repair tape is mostly covered.
  7. I then took the painters tape off the face and traced the cracks with the soldering iron. I did two applications of ABS cement to the face cracks.
Here’s what I ended up with.

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I’m going to use button head Allen head bolts to secure the switch. We’ll see how it works I guess.

I need to sand and paint it still but I won’t do that until I know this works out well.
 

someotherguy

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Wow! You're doing major surgery on one that is definitely busted up.

The usual failure I've seen is just the posts broken where the headlight switch screws go in. I had one that was otherwise really nice, so I saved it by making little "forms" out of drinking straw, and filling them up with Devcon Plastic Welder glue. Set the switch on top and put the screws in. That glue hardens really nice but doesn't get brittle. I've used it in situations with a lot more strain on them than that headlight switch!

Anyway, just more options for someone working on this problem:

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Richard
 

randomguy

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I wish that was all that was wrong with mine. I’m certain the holes drilled for the screws did mine in.

Thanks for adding your fix. Info and experience on these fixes is a little hard to find. Anyone else please feel free to post ideas, comments, whatever.
 

Macfluke

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Those of us fortunate enough to own an 88-94 truck know how fragile these dash bezels are, especially around the headlight switch. The switch bracket sits on 4 plastic posts and is held on by screws. Those posts break and then you have a floppy switch. Or if you’re like me the previous owner of your truck drilled holes to mount the switch and then the holes cracked leaving your bezel even more messed up.

I also had the more messed up version of the bezel when I bought the truck from my Dad many years ago, I was like damn Pops really? Buying the bezel was one the first things I did replacing Pop's "improvements"...
 

NightRunner

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Just an FYI in case you guys or anyone who stumbles across this thread didn't know, LMC Truck sells replacement bezels for around $100. I didn't know this before, so when I seen eBay listings for more than that with pieces missing I figured a new one would be astronomical. Another option is Classic Dash, they make a bezel replacement that allows you to place custom gauges inside. It's about $300 but it looks beautiful.
 

Knuckle Dragger

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Wow! You're doing major surgery on one that is definitely busted up.

The usual failure I've seen is just the posts broken where the headlight switch screws go in. I had one that was otherwise really nice, so I saved it by making little "forms" out of drinking straw, and filling them up with Devcon Plastic Welder glue. Set the switch on top and put the screws in. That glue hardens really nice but doesn't get brittle. I've used it in situations with a lot more strain on them than that headlight switch!

Anyway, just more options for someone working on this problem:

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Richard


Older post I know, sorry to bring it back up. Did you just set the screws in the epoxy before it set up or did you re-drill for them? I just had two break on me today. Do you think it would work to re-fill the holes for the 4 holes with the torx head panel retaining bolts?
 

kyle7630

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I know this is an older post, but I recently fixed the cracked corner mounting holes and the light switch mounts on my bezel with some JB weld. It held fine and was pretty much an exact color match. It's easy to form after it starts setting up and once it's cured, you can still hit it with a Dremel if you need to shape it more. It worked well for me and at 6 bucks, it was a cheap fix.
 

someotherguy

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Older post I know, sorry to bring it back up. Did you just set the screws in the epoxy before it set up or did you re-drill for them? I just had two break on me today. Do you think it would work to re-fill the holes for the 4 holes with the torx head panel retaining bolts?
I set 'em in the epoxy before it dried. You could go either way, I'm sure.

Looks like you also got an answer on the bezel holes ^^

Richard
 
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