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DevilDriver

Thoughts on a dashboard material...

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My dash is pretty much completed. It's built to be very flat from a-pillar to a-pillar with no erratic or uncontrollable reflections. I have some ensolite ready to apply but need to consider an aesthetically pleasing way of covering it. I have considered a few different materials....

Vinyl - I would love to wrap it in vinyl, but that would do nothing as far as taming reflections.

Suede - Not bad for managing reflections and certain kinds are permeable, but good suede is expensive and looks like crap as soon as it's touched.

Tweed - Permeable and manages reflections well, but ugly as all sin, in my opinion.

Any thoughts on a good covering material?

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Would you not be able to do a combination? I'm thinking either vinyl and suede or vinyl and tweed. The vinyl mainly for appearance and cost, and suede/tweed for taming.

Then there's alway shag carpeting or leopard print faux fur!

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I'd go with a mixture of vinyl & suede. Suede on the areas that will experience more reflections (like closer to the pillars, by the windhshield) & vinyl for the hand touching areas (nearest to the passengers).

Unfortunately you will have to fork out some $$ for some good materials, as the sun will cause anything mediocere to fade fast.

I paid $23/yard for my man-made suede, but I am not sure it could handle direct sunlight all that well without a test.

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Haha. These are definitely considerations I had made, but I was hoping someone would surprise me with a cheap, viable, and attractive solution that no one had ever heard of. Dream a little dream.

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Go to a Jo Ann fabrics store, or someplace similar, and just walk around... You might find something rugged, or you just might get new ideas.

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Black speaker grillcloth?

It's acoustically transparent, so you don't have to worry about strange reflections, and wouldn't block the ensolite.

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How about cheapening up and going with ultrasuede?

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Black speaker grillcloth?

It's acoustically transparent, so you don't have to worry about strange reflections, and wouldn't block the ensolite.

Quite a nice idea dopey.

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Spend the money on some good suede... and it will look great!

Totally different application, but here is a suede dash we did in a 1971 cutlass.

DCFC0100.jpg

nG

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This may sound rather odd, but how about some fleece? Treat it with some scotchguard or Teflon before applying it and dirt and fading should not be a worry. It's soft and stretchy and IMO, has a great texture for the automotive environment.

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if you do suede, don't do blue

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Of course the easiest solution is always the ugliest , good old carpet dash covers which I can't stand. Micro suede is pretty sexy. What color is your interior ? :)

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Interior is kind of a greyish tan colour, but I intend to re-do it to match whatever colour(s) I end up going with on the dash. It's going to be dark colour, no matter what.

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I went with the sanded smooth and painted to match the exterior myself. It's nice looking, but hell to keep dust free, and doesn't exact manage reflections well:

DSC01663.jpg

Edited by stratusrt01

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He's trying to reduce reflections, not increase them.

Definitely. I actually have a dash in my truck right now that I glassed and painted, but it won't work too well for SQ competitions. ;)

Thanks to all who have contributed ideas so far.

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He's trying to reduce reflections, not increase them.

Definitely. I actually have a dash in my truck right now that I glassed and painted, but it won't work too well for SQ competitions. ;)

Thanks to all who have contributed ideas so far.

Is there a thicker/tougher version of insolite that you could use?

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ensolite seems like an unbacked neoprene to me . I wonder what a layer of the permeated ( chit with holes ) vinyl over top of the ensolite would look like . I might have to do some expirements as I'm gonna need to fight some reflections myself :)

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