Gen I - Painting the dash

[SYDWNDR]

So... when I bought this Viper a few weeks ago, there wasn't a whole lot wrong with it, but one of the things that bothered me was the dash had lots of scratches in the OEM surface. That rubbery, dark grey stuff. It was really scratched around the glove box handle. So, after a little research, I decided to get it painted. After talking to a few painters, it seemed a little pricey, so I took the plunge and did it myself.

I'm horrible about taking pictures before I start a project, so I didn't. But here's a stock photo of what it looked like before...

Dash1.jpg

After using the recommended oven cleaner and steel wool to clean off the old surface, I started with primer and then paint. Masking off the bezels was time consuming, but worth the contrast look.

Anyways, here's the final product, which is exactly what I was picturing in my head before I started. As long as you don't get too close, it looks great. I'm not perfect, and this will not be a concourse car, but it certainly does pop now!

Dash2.jpg

[slowhatch]

That actually looks really really good! Love how it seems to waterfall off the hood.

[smhog]

SYDWNDR, I like it. Most people go with black, myself included. I've had mine covered in plastidip since last fall. Props for doing it your way. I know what you mean about the bezels being time consuming, just removing all the residual black paint of the dash is taking a lot longer than I expected.

Tim

[SYDWNDR]

It was a bit more overwhelming than I thought it would be, but taking my time helped. Learned a lot doing it as well. Hardest part was finding out how to take the headlight switch out.