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Dash Support - Suggestions to Repair Cracked Plastic?
1978 Delta 88
So unfortunately the top of plastic frame that sits underneath the dash and holds all the instruments, gauges, radio, etc cracked when removed and reinstalled.
The bottom held strong but two of the upper screw holes just kinda disintegrated on me… Bummer for sure… But… Not all that surprising given it’s almost 50 years old .
I tried some washers for now. Just a temporary fix. Any suggestions on how I might better repair it to give it some more support ???
Comparing the dash photo from your other thread you don't have all the steel support brackets in place which is causing alignment issues. The piece you are screwing in is hanging lower and away going from left to right where it's supposed to be connecting to the steel cross member. Because it wasn't flush and aligned the tab could only be stretched so far and snapped because it's only plastic.
Not an easy task of what you are tackling. If you find you are forcing parts, stop and look carefully at how the pieces are going together, check your photos for reference to see what is different and study what is causing the issue.
As far as repairing the broken tab, I saw a video some years ago on youtube of a guy who repaired the plastic tabs on his headlight housing that was similar to what you need done. It was a pretty clever repair and it held up good after. Sorry I don't have a link to the video but I'm sure you can find it if you do a search.
It should not be an insurmountable task to fabricate a correctly sized piece of aluminum or other metal and fasten that piece of metal to the plastic and then to the area which the screw attaches/adheres. There are several ways to attach the metal piece to the plastic you simply need to think outside the box on this i.e. boat fiberglass resin epoxy, tiny screw(s), a clip of clips or appropriate size. You're really looking to simply bridge that gap with a secure form (metal strap?) of adherence.
Heck, you could drill a hole in the plastic, put in a piece of metal strap, drill a hole through the strap where you drilled a hole in the plastic, use small nut and screw/bolt to adhere the metal strap to the plastic then another hole in the metal strap where it meets the screw hole for attachment.
Comparing the dash photo from your other thread you don't have all the steel support brackets in place which is causing alignment issues. The piece you are screwing in is hanging lower and away going from left to right where it's supposed to be connecting to the steel cross member. Because it wasn't flush and aligned the tab could only be stretched so far and snapped because it's only plastic.
Not an easy task of what you are tackling. If you find you are forcing parts, stop and look carefully at how the pieces are going together, check your photos for reference to see what is different and study what is causing the issue.
As far as repairing the broken tab, I saw a video some years ago on youtube of a guy who repaired the plastic tabs on his headlight housing that was similar to what you need done. It was a pretty clever repair and it held up good after. Sorry I don't have a link to the video but I'm sure you can find it if you do a search.
Thanks. Yeah it’s a bit of a challenge. I do have all the same steel support brackets in place (see photo 1). I swapped the entire frame over so the plastic dash itself never came out of the frame.
It seems maybe the upper plastic tabs are just prone to cracking on these?. The other dash has the same problem. And again it’s still in the metal support frame (see photos 2, 3, 4)
As for fixing it, I will figure something out. Probably fabricate a small metal “bracket”
Sorry, I didn't realize how you were moving the whole piece intact. I'm useless when it comes to fabricating a repair, I usually end up making matters worse.
