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?

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!

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.

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.

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.

Black speaker grillcloth?

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

How about cheapening up and going with ultrasuede?

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.

I'm batting .001

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.

nG

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.

if you do suede, don't do blue

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 ?

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.

Canadians and their spelling of color

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:

Edited August 24, 200718 yr by stratusrt01

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

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.

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?

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

Neoprene is a hell of an idea too.

I vote Louis Vuitton logo canvas.