Dashboard restoration- 1999 Chris Craft

[Augoose]

So when I purchased my new to me 1999 Chris Craft 200 a few years ago, I eventually noticed that the dashboard panels were made of plastic and had a painted on wood grain. Over the years and due to the PO over-tightening the mounting screws, the edges of the plastic where the screws passed through began to crack. The apparent solution at the time to the PO was to GLUE the dashboard panels in place rather than fix or replace them. Well the same PO who had the bright idea to do that also had poor attention to detail, as the glue ran over and dripped all over. Sure the panels were securely in place but it looked pretty bad and it was not the right way to tackle the project. Also the sun had pretty much bleached away any wood grain appearance, leaving the panels pretty faded and ugly. The Chris Craft steering wheel had suffered a similar fate, with the wood having not been taken care of.

So this spring I decided to pull all 5 dashboard panels and see what I could do to clean them up, fix the cracks, and either have them redone in mahogany or some composite which could then be painted.

Here is what I started with....

I then removed the panels.... cleaned them up and repaired all the cracks with epoxy.

I then started researching wood grain vinyl wraps and purchased a 3m product called Burl Wood Wood Grain Vinyl Wrap. The install was very easy and I used a hair dryer to warm up the vinyl and stretch it in place. The corners were a bit tough but a combination of stretching and use of the hair dryer (or heat gun) made it look great. I then used a precision cutting knife to cut out all the gauge holes....

So last night I installed all the gauges back in place following the photos I took when I disassembled everything.


My phone doesn't take the greatest photos and so the image quality doesn't do the 3M product justice, but honestly it looks like real burl wood and shines nicely!

I would definitely recommend a quality vinyl wrap to anyone trying to restore similar components.

 

[bvetter]

Re: Dashboard restoration

Re: Dashboard restoration

Nice work!

 

[Augoose]

Re: Dashboard restoration

Re: Dashboard restoration

Nice work!

Thanks!

I look forward to mounting it back on the boat this weekend along with a new steering wheel.

 

[gm280]

Re: Dashboard restoration- 1999 Chris Craft

Augoose, very nice results there. I understand you used a vinyl wrap and a hair drier to achieve those results. My only question is will the hot sun continue to shrink the vinyl? Surely hope not because it really looks good... :thumb:

 

[Augoose]

Re: Dashboard restoration- 1999 Chris Craft

Augoose, very nice results there. I understand you used a vinyl wrap and a hair drier to achieve those results. My only question is will the hot sun continue to shrink the vinyl? Surely hope not because it really looks good... :thumb:

Thanks gm280.
Good question.... The vinyl is made for auto and other exterior uses and it comes with a 3 year warranty, so I'm hoping that once it settles into place, that's it despite heat- which its going to get plenty of here in South Carolina. I also spoke to a fellow who had some on his car, albeit a different color and not a wood grain, but its still the same vinyl product and it looked just fine.

 

[gm280]

Re: Dashboard restoration- 1999 Chris Craft

Thanks gm280.
Good question.... The vinyl is made for auto and other exterior uses and it comes with a 3 year warranty, so I'm hoping that once it settles into place, that's it despite heat- which its going to get plenty of here in South Carolina. I also spoke to a fellow who had some on his car, albeit a different color and not a wood grain, but its still the same vinyl product and it looked just fine.

The only reason I asked is because I use to built and fly R/C aircraft. And we used a few products called Monokote and Solarkote, Econokote and Coverite that were all heat type shrink coverings. You would use a heat iron to attach all around the edges and then a heat gun to shrink the covering tightly on and remove all the wrinkles. It would look light the best paint job you would have ever seen. But as we flew the planes in the summer time, the covering would loosen up and wrinkles would form again. So you would reheat the covering and the wrinkles would stretch out again... So I was just wondering how that vinyl worked... Anyway, nice work...

 

[Augoose]

Re: Dashboard restoration- 1999 Chris Craft

Thanks again. Oddly enough the vinyl has seemed to harden now in place. Still feels somewhat removable if I really needed to but I don't see that happening.
Took it another step forward and took two of the pieces to a print shop and they were able to reprint the switch labels, for the "blower", Nav lights, etc. They made them out of exterior vinyl as well so they should be durable!


I plan on installing everything back in the boat this weekend as soon as the rain quits!

Come on spring!

 

[Augoose]

Re: Dashboard restoration- 1999 Chris Craft

Finished product - before and after

 

[gm280]

Re: Dashboard restoration- 1999 Chris Craft

View attachment 226986View attachment 226987Finished product - before and after

Very nice work there. You should be very proud of your project. Nice touch with the labeling too. Did they print on top of the wood grain vinyl or into the vinyl?

Before my wife retired she use to be in charge of the LASER section of an arts and craft shop and did all their LASER engraving. So we purchased a large (24" X 36" bed) LASER engraver at home. And that IS how I plan on doing all my faceplates for my refurbishing of my tri-hull boat too.

Again nice work... I always love to see before and after shots! :thumb: :thumb:

 

[Augoose]

Re: Dashboard restoration- 1999 Chris Craft

Thanks! A laser engraver at home? Endless possibilities there!

Yup, the print shop took my finished pieces, printed the vinyl lettering then placed it by hand on the pieces over the wood grain. For only $25 too.....they did a great job

 

[gm280]

Re: Dashboard restoration- 1999 Chris Craft

Thanks! A laser engraver at home? Endless possibilities there!

Yup, the print shop took my finished pieces, printed the vinyl lettering then placed it by hand on the pieces over the wood grain. For only $25 too.....they did a great job

So did they make a silk screen setup for the lettering or actual labels (or individual letters) and cut and stick them on?

And yes we do have a LASER engraver at home. I've made tons of things for a lot of folks and companies, but really not worth the expense to buy it in my honest opinion... The cost is really too high for a home use item. If you were doing that for a hobby business or a serious business then it would pay to own. But we don't do that...

 

[Searayb]

Re: Dashboard restoration- 1999 Chris Craft

Great work, looks great.

 

[Xxvisionrider]

Wow! Great job! I have a 99 210 bowrider with the same issue. Thanks so much for the write up as I would have never thought of doing it this way. I started looking for steering wheels as well but couldn't find one like yours. Do you mind telling me what it is or where you found it? I didn't see any info on it in the article, I might have missed it. Anyway that steering wheel is the perfect compliment to your project. Thanks again!

 

[Xxvisionrider]

[No message]

 

[Augoose]

Thanks - I'm very happy with how it came out. I'm trying to remember where I purchased the steering wheel, I think it was Ebay. Its not a high end one by any means and I recall paying about $60 for it but it was rated for marine use. It has burlwood trim at the top and bottom which matches the dash and rubber grips around the sides. So far and after two summers I haven't noticed any fading, wear, damage, etc. Its very easy to grip with wet hands and has help up nicely. I'll keep digging through my emails and records and I'm sure I'll come across the company I purchased the steering wheel from - I'll post it up as soon as I find it.

 

[m_steiger]

Is it just me or can anyone else not see the pictures? Maybe its because I'm an Apple computer?

 

[Axkiker]

You can also use a process called Hydro Dipping. You use a film which floats on a tub of water.. then an activator is sprayed over it and the part immediatly is dipped into the film.

Its actually how most parts with a woodgrain appearance were made from the factory. Its a little more involved than the vinyle wrapping but produces a factory finish. I have used the process on guns and dash parts just like this. Its well worth a read and a few experiments.

Best results I have found to come when you use a true automotive clear and spray gun for a final finish. They however do sell spray can kits if you choose to go that route. Its a pretty inexpensive process.

 

[Augoose]

Is it just me or can anyone else not see the pictures? Maybe its because I'm an Apple computer?

No, its not because you are a Apple Computer, even though that is a bit odd........:joyous:
The forums are going through a major overhaul and everything is pretty much screwy right now. Give it a couple of weeks and it will be better. I do like the auto-save and recovery feature now though - seems to be the only thing that works.