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I purchased my CMC (1988/89) Speedster 4 years ago. It had a AM/FM Cassette Deck mounted in a hole cut in the fiberglass dash. Tomorrow, a fiberglass repair guy is going to begin the process of filling the hole with fiberglass, leaving me to finish the surface and ideally, blow in paint and mount the badge. The color of the car and dash is 1957 Porsche green.

Could anyone with the knowledge or experience advise me on this repair? Is it possible to purchase a small amount of this paint for touch ups and airbrush the paint carefully on the dash in the area of the repair? About a year ago I saw an article in the Porsche Club Panorama Magazine about touching up a 911 dash and using an airbrush to address the paint.

Also, if anyone has other ideas how I can finish the dash, I'd be grateful. I acknowledge this approach to completing this repair is far from ideal but if I can accomplish this now, I'd like not to postpone it for another year with all my other small Speedster projects on the go......Mike

 

 

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To be more specific about the article I referred to previously, it is entitled "Interior Trim Refresh"  (Panorama article - November 2018) in which it describes Airbrushing 101. Since posting I have located the name of the company 'Chipex' that I previously saw advertised which includes 356 Porsche colours. There may be others and I would require a sufficient quantity. I'm happy to pay for whatever quantity to get the job done.

The hole repair is pretty straight-forward and any decent boat repair shop can handle it.  Typically, they apply a piece of fiberglass mat to the back side of the hole, let it set up and then apply a fiber-reinforced body filler to the hole to fill it, then sand it all off flush, ready for paint.

Matching the paint is another thing.  I would be inclined to mask off the upper half of the dash, where the vinyl upholstery is, and paint the entire bottom half of the dash, including where the gauge cluster is.  That means removing and replacing the gauges and switches, priming it, painting the bottom half and then polishing the paint to a luster.   

That way you'll have a consistent look across the entire dash which will blend in with the rest of the car more readily.

@Alan Merklin may have other ideas (he usually does).

The dash hole repair is easier that it appears and you can do the entire job yourself. opening. First rough up the back side of the dash with 60 grit paper 2" to 3" wider than the hole . The best method is to make a fiberglass repair plate an inch wider than the opening (if you don't have access to a piece I can send one today )  Then sand that area and the piece to be bonded and with the Fibral Light, fiberglass and mat it or ( but not cheap) is 3M Panel Bond) aka as " Corvette glue" you use this as an adhesive. Once the repair on the back side is cured, fill in the front area of the opening with the Fibral or " Tiger Hair " fiberglass " Bondo" sand that sorta even  then skin coat - blending 2" wider than the opening to blend the repair evenly with the dash face. Sand with 220, 320, then 400 . Use a " filler primer " then sand and refinish as needed,

IaM-Ray and Alan! Thank you both for your replies. My preference, when I get to the painting is to do it properly and last night, with seats out I was able to get under the dash on my back and unfasten dash padding and disconnect gauges etc.

Alan, with your detailed instructions, you have walked me through all the steps and broken this anticipated huge challenge into bite-sized manageable pieces. I have a piece of fiberglass to begin the process and won't need to ask you to send me one however, thank you for your kind offer and thank you overall for all the help!.....Mike

 

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