first gen 4runner dash question

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bryan89

bryan89

Joined
Jul 13, 2010
Threads
79
Messages
809
Location
Charleston, SC
hi guys,
so every first generation toyota i have seen has a cracked dash. i was wondering what kind of fixes people have done, aside from buying a new one.
there is a guy on ebay selling a cap that goes over the dash but everyone i have talked to says that they are crap for one reason or another (fitment, quality, etc)
here is a link to what i am talking about. Careful the guy is annoying.
1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 Toyota 4Runner Dash Pad Cap: eBay Motors (item 140438666897 end time Sep-08-10 20:22:45 PDT)

anyway, i was wondering if anyone has tried removing the dash, epoxying the cracks and covering the whole thing in linex or some kind of a roll on bed liner. if it sticks i would do that. i kind of like that stuff better than shiny paint!

so post up your comments/photos.
 
no one has answered you yet, so i will say it is your rig make it yours, if you are thinking it will be an investment, well it will not, that said i just made more cracks in mine.....


toy4xfun-albums-my-truck-picture7642-mytruck-003.jpg
 
I would say something like "Chicks dig cracks!" but I might get banned. So I won't say it.

No idea on a solution for ya. Duct tape and Liquid Nails, maybe?
 
I'm planning a repair of my dash pad for my 83 pickup, and my crazy idea may work for you:
The idea's just trimming the really protruding pieces down, filling in the cracks with real loose-mixed bondo, and sealing the whole thing up with a few layers of fiberglass weave and fiberglassing compound from an online surfboard supply shop. I figure, once it's that beat up, it'll never be stock or stock-looking again, may as well make it look nice without breaking the bank.
 
Both my '85 and '86 minis have those Dashmat things. I bought 'em to prevent said cracks and so far so good.:)
 
How bad is your pad? I've heard alot of the dashpad covers are decent and fit well, but if you're looking to save some coin you can remove it and try filling it in like the OP showed. I've seen a friend of mine fill in a Chevelle dash that was horribly cracked using plastic wrap and fibergalss body filler. First, he used an exacto knife to deepen the cracks in the dash. He then loosely wrapped the pad with the plastic wrap and let it fill the cracks. After that he added the filler and once it set up he removed it and used it as a mold to fill the cracks. He had to play with the pieces to get them to look good, but all in all it wasn't time consuming. Once he had it filled in he used the same filler to feather out the edges like you would a dent or rust repair. He then sanded it smooth, primed and shot it with a lightly textured vinyl paint. It looked excellent and saved him alot of cabbage. Chevelle dashes are big $$$$$$$$$$$!!!
 
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Just chopped up an 87 with a good grey dash.....damn shame

was one of the few things left on this truck that was good but noone wanted it

NO TITLE + NO MORE GOOD PARTS = SAWZALL
87 4runner.webp
chopped.webp
 
pgh854runner,
would you be willing to sell the dash you pulled or was it for your turck? ill send you a pm.
thanks
bryan

edit: wait, so it went to the junk yard with the dash in it? damn. lol. just my luck
 
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yea that fawker sent me one for a ford ranger then never took care of me.

Autozone sells one for around 30 bucks
bryan89 said:
hi guys,
so every first generation toyota i have seen has a cracked dash. i was wondering what kind of fixes people have done, aside from buying a new one.
there is a guy on ebay selling a cap that goes over the dash but everyone i have talked to says that they are crap for one reason or another (fitment, quality, etc)
here is a link to what i am talking about. Careful the guy is annoying.
1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 Toyota 4Runner Dash Pad Cap: eBay Motors (item 140438666897 end time Sep-08-10 20:22:45 PDT)

anyway, i was wondering if anyone has tried removing the dash, epoxying the cracks and covering the whole thing in linex or some kind of a roll on bed liner. if it sticks i would do that. i kind of like that stuff better than shiny paint!

so post up your comments/photos.
Click to expand...
 
oh i definitely want it if he still has it. but after i re-read his post it sounded like he took it to the dump with the rest of the poor truck.
 
We once wraped a dash from an '80 with new vinyl and this nasty 3M spray adhesive. It was kind of hard but it worked really well and looked pretty stock. I was lucky enough to find an uncracked dash for my '89 4Runner in a wrecking yard while I was shoping for something else. It had the big tilty-meter thing with the tercel wagon on it, which I am going to gut and turn into a place for my adjustable shock controler and guages.
 
lucky find. i wish my local junkyards even had these trucks at all!!

but just my two cents:
dont chop up the original gauge set if you can help it. i would find something else to house the gauges. these 4runners are getting hard to find, let alone parts.
it would be really easy to make up a sheet metal housing to fit whatever gauges you want, but once the inclinometer is destroyed there is no going back.
 
I haven't fooled with it yet but it looks like you can remove the clinometer guts without actually messing it up. That is my goal, then just build a new peice that holds the guages in the clinometer housing and stuff the clinimeter in a box for someday if they are ever actually cool.
 
that gauge set looks cool. idk maybe im a loser but i like those inclinometers. they dont really work worth a chit, but its a novelty thing.

btw, why is it called a "tercel" gauge set? wasnt that a toyota car? why would a car have an inclinometer? dont wheel cars to much around here...maybe its just me.
 
I installed that one in the Caird a few years back, it's out of a 90-95 Hilux Surf (4Runner over-seas) and that one came from New Zealand, but I'm pretty sure they were available in most overseas markets.

I call the stock 4Runner clinometers the "Tercel" gauges because that's the picture that's on them...

Stock 4Runner set:

IMG_2906.jpg


Stock Tercel set:

tercel%2Bdash.jpg


If I had a 4wd Tercel I'd wheel the :censor: out of it, I don't know what you're talking about!!! :D
 
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I have wheeled a car... Twice. A 1991 Oldsmobile Delta-88 Royale, and a 1985 Oldsmobile Cutlass Calais Supreme... scary as hell. The trails we took them on were hugely mild, but with only front-wheel drive in the '91, I was scared I'd knock the transaxle against a rock and crack it, and the '85 had a tired old TH350 that lost alot of its seals afterwards, and bogged itself down in the sand at every corner. All I can say is: leave the offroad (even mild logging roads) to Toyotas!

I think the "Tercel" gauges were called such as they had the logo of a Tercel on them.

Edit: Jerod beat me to it! Curse you Megatron!!!!!
 
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