How to Fix Dash Board

[AMC86Kid]

i was wondering if anyone has ever attempted to fix a cracked dash 

i was hoping that some company sells a filler and then i can just paint over it to make it look like new 

 

 

 

 

is it even possible to fix ?

[Minuit]

The glovebox door is replaceable. I wouldn't bother trying to fix that. It doesn't look like it's the right color either. Someone on here should have a glovebox door in that color.

[Newton]

I fixed mine with fiberglass turned out pretty decent..can't even tell it was cracked

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Eagle]

There are kits available for repairing cracked vinyl. They're "okay," but the one time I tried one I wasn't especially pleased with the results. I probably should have done a couple of practice repairs before I went to work on the arm rest I needed to fix. You can always try -- if it doesn't work, the option of buying another glove box door is always open to you.

 

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Master-Manufacturing-Leather-Vinyl-Repair-Kit/13432580

[johnj92131]

Way too many Cherokees in the junk yards to spend time on a patch up job for that glove box door.

 

Spend some time in Pick N Pull or the like "prospecting" for better quality Cherokee parts.  You will find them,   And the aged paint on those old parts will be a better match for the rest of your truck than any patch up job you are going to do.

 

I am still looking for that "perfect" bottom of the dash panel to replace the cracked original one on my 91.

[AMC86Kid]

i really don't care about the color because i am repainting the entire inside of the vehicle black 

so i just need it to be in good condition so that i can paint over it 

and i have tried looking at junk yards i live in Arizona and 

after calling 20 places no one carries jeeps that are older then year 2000

 

also can you explain how the fiberglass procedure works

do i just throw it on there and let it dry

then sand it smooth and paint over it ???

[Minuit]

Here's a grey one for $25:

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1987-88-89-Jeep-Cherokee-Laredo-Glove-box-door-lid-Gray-/172436993007?hash=item28260bb3ef:g:1loAAOSwA3dYSLEG&vxp=mtr

 

A tan one for $20, but you'll have to swap your latch:

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1984-1996-JEEP-CHEROKEE-XJ-OEM-PASSENGERS-SIDE-RIGHT-UPPER-DASH-GLOVE-BOX-DOOR-/322352955396?fits=Make%3AJeep%7CModel%3ACherokee&hash=item4b0dbbc004:g:ZG4AAOSwzJ5XWpEl&vxp=mtr

 

I think this one might even be the AMC dark tan color, with a latch:

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/84-96-JEEP-CHEROKEE-TAN-GLOVE-BOX-DOOR-85-86-87-88-89-90-91-92-93-94-95-/182362954864?hash=item2a75addc70:g:MvoAAOSwMORW7yqe&vxp=mtr

 

By the time you buy the stuff to fix it and spend the time to fix it you'd be way better off just replacing it. Even for a pretty rare interior color like you have, the glove box door just isn't worth repairing if you wanted it to match. If you're just going to paint the interior black (which I honestly would recommend against - only one of the black painted interior jobs I've seen turned out that great) you can buy literally any 84-96 glove box door and have a factory correct part.

[AMC86Kid]

thanks for the help Minuit but i think i can fix mine for way less then the price of a replacement 

and i don't even have the key for the latch so i think I'm just going to replace it with a new one 

[Mattman6]

http://www.pullapart.comis where you need to look. Plenty of XJs in those junk yards.

[AMC86Kid]

if i have no success in fixing my old one

i may have to just stop by there and take a look 

[Newton]

i really don't care about the color because i am repainting the entire inside of the vehicle black 

so i just need it to be in good condition so that i can paint over it 

and i have tried looking at junk yards i live in Arizona and 

after calling 20 places no one carries jeeps that are older then year 2000

 

also can you explain how the fiberglass procedure works

do i just throw it on there and let it dry

then sand it smooth and paint over it ???

Just sanded the dash down with 80 grit cut the fiber mat to appropriate size and applied resin and layered it over the dash sanded when dried and used by bondo to fill holes and level out then sanded and painted... Wasn't difficult at all

[AMC86Kid]

kool thanks man maybe i will try your method out 

[54bobby]

try this. from my BMW forum R3vLimited.

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=395713

[AMC86Kid]

thanks bobby 

they basically used a bondo filler to fill in the cracks that they drilled out 

then sanded it all down after filling it 

and repainted it 

 

i think i will go ahead and do that since I'm going to have to take out the whole dash anyways to rewire the vehicle 

[Eagle]

 

i think i will go ahead and do that since I'm going to have to take out the whole dash anyways to rewire the vehicle 

 

Why are you even THINKING of rewiring the entire vehicle? Do you have any idea what you'll be getting into?

[Minuit]

What are you wanting to achieve by re-wiring the vehicle anyway? That's one of those "you better know exactly what you're doing before you ever think about doing it" projects.

[HOrnbrod]

:popcorn:

[AMC86Kid]

i have no choice you guys have you seen the pics of my vehicle 

after i put a new battery in it about 80 percent of the electronics on the truck don't work at all 

even my combination switch does a full 360 and ends up just moving the wiper blades thats about as much as i can get out of it 

and besides my neighbor builds hot rods for a living ive seen him build cars and wire them up from scratch 

he tells me its easy if you go by the 3 wire system (positive / negative / ground)

ive looked at many of his projects and i agree for someone of my back-round it does look pretty easy 

[Eagle]

i have no choice you guys have you seen the pics of my vehicle 

after i put a new battery in it about 80 percent of the electronics on the truck don't work at all 

even my combination switch does a full 360 and ends up just moving the wiper blades thats about as much as i can get out of it 

and besides my neighbor builds hot rods for a living ive seen him build cars and wire them up from scratch 

he tells me its easy if you go by the 3 wire system (positive / negative / ground)

ive looked at many of his projects and i agree for someone of my back-round it does look pretty easy 

 

Appearances can be deceiving. You're not just "going" to a 3-wire system. All automotive systems are positive/negative/ground.

 

Here's the link to the 1988 factory electrical manual. It's 103 pages, and many of those pages are fold-out 11x17 pages. Your '86 is slightly different because you don't have the fuel injection, but everything else is pretty much the same. You'll be much better off just fixing what's wrong rather than trying to rewire the entire vehicle from scratch.

 

http://www.bteventures.com//mj1988electricalmanual.pdf

 

But ... don't pay any attention to an old man. It's not like I might have made some mistakes over the course of my life and have some idea why what you think is easy ... isn't.

[AMC86Kid]

i have the electrical manual for the 86 comanche and i hate the way they wired it

there are to many safeties and reroutes on it 

i have wired motor cycles before and have had very little problems

this is just a bigger project i know i can do it 

its just going to take more time thats all 

i have looked threw the whole manual and i know where the wires start and go i am simply going to rewire it but 

do it the way i want it done not the way they have designed it

also i have to put in a whole bunch of new buttons in the dash so I'm going to be in there anyways 

why not just redo it all, deal with the problems once so i don't have to deal with the problems later

i know it will take me anywhere from 1 to 3 weeks to wire the truck, i am fine with that 

 

[Minuit]

:popcorn:

 

Just sayin', there's a lot more to it than I think you know. Ever wired up a car stereo? If so, did you do it properly?

[AMC86Kid]

i have wired tons of car stereos thats easy work 

[R1.]

I think I need to go down the same road and do a major rewiring in my truck.  I was out wheeling this weekend and shelled out a motor mount.  The motor shifted and pinched the wires on the alternator.  I started to dig into it and found it had been rewired before.  They had used duct tape on the splices.  Wiring was fried from the alternator to the cab.  

 

How did this go for you?

[big66440]

Way too many Cherokees in the junk yards to spend time on a patch up job for that glove box door.

 

Spend some time in Pick N Pull or the like "prospecting" for better quality Cherokee parts.  You will find them,   And the aged paint on those old parts will be a better match for the rest of your truck than any patch up job you are going to do.

 

I am still looking for that "perfect" bottom of the dash panel to replace the cracked original one on my 91.

Agreed!!  pulling the dashboard on these trucks is easy, you can find step by step instructions on the internet. I would suggest doing the heater core while you're at it.

[krustyballer16]

I used a painless wiring harness for a dodge truck I think.

Completely rewired everything and ran new wires for power 97+ doors. BUT I didn't have any wires running to the engine since it was on my little cummins. But the cab wiring was easy.

 

Sent from my HTC One M9 using Tapatalk