Dash "Dent"

[Elanlover]

I have a small depression in the grey foam dash right beside the "Lotus Design" badge above the glove box. Looks like it was pushed in from leaning on it or hitting it - its been there since i acquired the car. The back of the dash is a fibreglass shell so trying to fix it by pushing on it from behind won't do. Does anyone have any suggestions for fixing this? Thanks!

[tweetdriver63]

Is it possible to remove the Lotus Design plate and reach behind the padding from where the plate is? Maybe you can push a tool of some sort (flat scremdriver?) under the padding from the area behind the Lotus Design plate? If any damage is done there, the plate would cover it up when replaced. Just a thought.

[Elanlover]

Is it possible to remove the Lotus Design plate and reach behind the padding from where the plate is? Maybe you can push a tool of some sort (flat scremdriver?) under the padding from the area behind the Lotus Design plate? If any damage is done there, the plate would cover it up when replaced. Just a thought.

I'm not sure that can be done. I think the foam is bonded to both the fibreglass in the rear and the rubberized surface of the dash. I don't think you can just "slide" something between one of the surfaces and the foam and push it back. Might be worth a try though if there's no other solution. With my luck, I just don't want to make it worse than it is

[Sy V]

Blair

Don't dismiss this as crazy.

I bought a 12 gauge (bore) hammer gun (made by Vickers in the 19th Century) that I refurbished (it's now worth about 7 times what I paid for it).
It had a very knocked-about stock. Most of the scratches I sanded out and French polished but it also had a dent in the wood.
I got some heavy brown wrapping paper and ironed over the top of the dent.

Gone completely.

Might be worth a go but I'd start with a very cool iron!

[Elanlover]

Blair

Don't dismiss this as crazy.

I bought a 12 gauge (bore) hammer gun (made by Vickers in the 19th Century) that I refurbished (it's now worth about 7 times what I paid for it).
It had a very knocked-about stock. Most of the scratches I sanded out and French polished but it also had a dent in the wood.
I got some heavy brown wrapping paper and ironed over the top of the dent.

Gone completely.

Might be worth a go but I'd start with a very cool iron!

Do you think heat will help? I seem to recall somewhere reading, a looong time ago, that someone used a heat gun. Can't recall if it was on the dash or elsewhere though I might try a heat gun and see after I get the car back together from unfinished projects.

[Sy V]

Heat guns (dependent on range) can be very hot.
It's just an idea but I'd go for something a little gentler like an iron through denim perhaps.

[Elanlover]

Heat guns (dependent on range) can be very hot.
It's just an idea but I'd go for something a little gentler like an iron through denim perhaps.

Good point. Better to start cooler and go hotter if needed.

[tweetdriver63]

I remember reading the heat gun thing, too. It was on the air vents, which tend to warp with long-term sun exposure. Because of that thread, I did that too a while back. I don't know how it would work on the dash itself, though.

[RichardK]

An interesting thread for alot of people, including me. Does anyone have a scrap dash that we could run some experiments on? Looking at the sandwich construction of the dash and reading somewhere how they make them heat would seem to be a good option - I haven't tried on my own dent, I have enough other cosmetic niggles to work on to satisfy my OCD. But I will have to have a bash at it some time!

With a foam sandwich construction mechanical prodding and poking risks destroying the foam.....The problem will be off access, to do a really good job you would need get in from the back or cut through from under the "ELAN DESIGN" plate/air vents.....off the wall idea that my replace the foam - use some of that yellow builders foam in a can used to seal around windows and generally bodge all manner of holes........leads to injection, expansion.....?!?!

Now I must have another go at the scuff left on the dash by my father who thought it a good idea to transport a 1cwt of logs in MY Elan because he had just cleaned his 911....