Can someone help direct me to a link that shows how to fix a faded dashboard or advise me what to do? I did a search, which popped up lots of dashboard threads, but not what I’m looking for.
Here’s the problem. There is a spot directly above the glove box, (on a flat surface) that if you look at it at an angle, you can see a big white spot the size of a palm. Somehow, it’s not very noticable while sitting in the passenger seat, but in the driver seat, you can see it all the time. I know that it’s not a glare or a reflection because it’s on the same spot with the same size and shape all the time. At first, I thought it was a stain. I cleaned and scrubbed it, but it didn’t work. I treated it with dashboard polish, still didn’t work. Someone told me to use vinyl paint to paint it, but I’m afraid that the color is going to be different and I’m going to end up pulling the whole dash out to paint the whole thing. Then after that, it might not match the doors and the rear panels anymore.
Has anybody had this problem and what did you do to fix it?
if its in the location (dip) in front of the clock, the most likely u or the previous owner had something sitting there that damaged the vinyl. i suggest using the best stuff u can buy out there. have u tried mother’s or meguiars interior cleaning products? then aside from that u can maybe try some vinyl dye stuff, but i don’t really recommend going overboard with that. just try a tiny tiny spot on that patch first. don’t paint it tho… too many horror stories of ppl painting their interiors. and it comes out very bad in time.
No, it’s not the part where it dips infront of the clock. It’s the part directly above the glove box.
At first I thought it was residue from the previous owner sticking something to the dashboard, but it’s nothing like that. The surface is smooth and level just like its surrounding area. The only difference that it has a white shade to it if you look at it from the driver seat or from the rear seats. Somehow it’s not noticeable from the passenger seat unless you know that it’s there. Strange?:think:
then its within the lil cracks of the material. it’ll be smooth cuz u can’t feel past the top surface. try some release agent, or some nail polish remover. don’t worry about where u can or can’t see it from, u’re making too big of a deal of that… its there… get rid of it. try those and let us know how it works.
With something like nail polish remover I would test it somewhere out of sight first. Some of those can damage plastics.
:umno: the top of the dash isn’t plastic.
I’ll look at it closely tomorrow to see if the shade of white is in between the little cracks or not. I know it’s not a big deal where it effects the performance of my car, but it’s just annoying knowing that it’s there. I’m just looking to see if anyone knows of a quick fix.
I’ll post my results later.
i’m not saying its not important, its like rattles and squeaks… u gotta get rid of it, or it’ll drive u crazy. just try that stuff that i mentioned. and on the nail polish remover… get the one without acetone.
Well, I waited until there was full sunlight out this afternoon to look at it. It turned out to be a very thin layer of film of some sort. I’m still not sure exactly what it is. Because of the texture of the vinyl, it just feels like part of the dashboard. Fortunately I was able to scrap a little bit of it off with a razor blade without damaging the vinyl, but not all. The heavier colored parts just will not come off. Maybe I’ll go borrow some nail polish remover from my lady neighbor, brush over it, and then try to scrap it again.
I’ll post results once I’ve figure it out.
there u go, at least u’re making some progress
The film that I’d referred to in an earlier post now looks like some sort of paint. It did have a clear film like coat above it, but not it looks like paint. The good thing is that I’m able to get a little bit off at a time. I haven’t yet used nail polish remover since I’m able to get it off slowly, but surely. Don’t want to take the chance of damaging it with the polish remover.
thats why u test it on a certain spot that is not seen easily. and thats why there is “ACETONE FREE” nail polish removers. it doesn’t hurt vinyl or plastic.
I don’t know what kind of nail polish remover my neighbor give me. She just poured a small amount into a plastic container for me. But, I’ll go get the kind of polish remover you said if I can’t get the rest of the paint off the old fashion way.
Thanks for the info.
… u can’t go and buy nail polish remover at the store? wtf? i’m not trying to rag on ur or anything… but it can’t be more than $3.
Use this to repaint your dash if you want to make it looking like it came off the assembly line… link with pictures here
http://honda-tech.com/showthread.php?t=2114271
