Dash rehab! Need some advice fixing up a 1998 dash

[bored&stroked]

My current original dash is beyond help. All 3 mounting tabs by the window have disintigrated to nothing and theres a large crack going all the way along the top. So I bought a new one from the junkyard today. YAY! It took a long time to find a good one. It only has a couple very small cracks in not visible areas that I'd like to fix. With my old dash I tried fixing the crack along the top with some super glue. It was about an inch long when I glued it together. It was over a foot long the next day, so superglue is no longer an option. So what do people use to fix cracks in dashes?
When its all fixed up I was planning on covering it in gray alcantara. After finding out that costs over $100/yard I've decided to find a cheaper alternative material. Any ideas?

[bored&stroked]

122 views and not a single reply? Nobody has ever had to repair a crack in their dash?

[ars1]

I repaired a crack in mine by plastic welding it with a soldering iron then I plasti-dipped the whole dash. I didn't spend much time on it and you can still tell it was there but with a little patients you can make them disappear.

http://www.fullsizechevy.com/forum/general-discussion/interior-tech/495265-getting-ready-do-my-dash-v-2-0-its-done-pics-inside.html

[rockusaf]

I'm working on a 98 dash to replace my stock 91 one that's toast. It has a few cracks on those same 3 tabs, I've used epoxy and some fiberglass fabric on the back side to strengthen it up, not sure how it's going to hold up but it seems real solid sitting on my work bench.

[jacaspary]

My dash on my 93 was broken to hell. I went to the junk yard, paid them $30 or $40 for a complete dash and pulled it myself. It took about an hour to pull it but so worth it. It was in almost perfect shape. Pulling and replacing mine took around 4 hours with cleaning and pulling parts off the old one to make one good complete dash. I'm not sure how easy your style is to do, but that is what I did and I couldn't be happier with it. I didn't like the idea of dash covers because I would still know it was a mess underneath it, I'm just not a big fan of band-aids unless you absolutely have to do it that way.

EDIT: I didn't fully read your original post as I did not realize you already went to the salvage yard.

[jacaspary]

You could fiberglass and shoe goo from the back side and sand and wrap with vinyl also. The reason I say shoe goo is, I had a bumper cover that was cracked from some guy in a parking lot on a real cold day on a Buick Century and instead of buying a new one, too expensive for my taste, I used fiberglass and shoe goo on the back side. Shoe goo is flexible so changes in temp wasn't going to expand the plastic differently and ruin all the work I put into it because it is flexible enough to handle the changes. That was two years ago and that bumper cover still looks good (as long as you don't look too closely, cracks still show unless you use filler and sand the whole thing and paint) and it was broken up pretty bad. So I would use shoe goo if you off road at all since heavy shocks could break the bond of the epoxy on the one side. All it is holding on to is the scratched up plastic surface.. If you vinyl, the surface has to be damn near perfect so it lays flat and looks good.

Shoe goo is also good for rebuilding the soles on your hiking boots! (at least in my experience)

Anyways that is my opinion.

[bored&stroked]

So I would use shoe goo if you off road at all since heavy shocks could break the bond of the epoxy on the one side.

Shoe goo is a neat idea. I don't have to worry about off roading unless you count gravel driveways seeing as the truck is a couple inches off the ground :)

[jacaspary]

Ha I suppose it doesn't see much of the back country. My father taught me that trick a few years ago. I was doubtful when he suggested it but I've used it in multiple little projects and it works well. I should have known he was right, it always ends up to be the case...