I just got around to looking at their website, and it looks like the bread and butter benz Dash is not handled by justdashes.com. Perhaps if everyone who considered a silly cap would have inquired, they would have tooled up to reskinn the 123 dashes.

Smells like a business opportunity. Any takers?

__________________
1982 240 D, 308,000 - 321,127 miles (sold)
1982 300 TD,166,500 - 226,000 miles
1998 E 320, 120,000 - 144,000 miles
2005 C 230 K, 26,000 - 77,000 miles (sold)

Wow, how did I miss this thread so long ago?

I'm already well ahead of you, though I doubt it would be a worthwhile business opportunity. Just Dashes will, in fact, take a W123 dash in and cover it. Grain patterns would not match the original, but hey, does that really matter, since the glove box door could be refinished at the same time? As long as the two match, the difference between original and recovered would be trivial.

The problem, as I see it, is that no one want's to pay close to $1,000 after shipping just to have a crack-free dash, when most W123 owners are A) unwilling to spend that kind of money on the motor, much less a dashboard, and B) are content with buying crack-free originals.

Me? I despise dash cracks, so I want them gone! Will I pay Just Dashes more than my car is worth to have one restored to non-original finish? No way. Besides, it violates my DIY spirit! I also don't see the logic in buying an original, but crack-free dash, because after 25 or 30 years, they are brittle, whether they have cracks or not! So...

I have in the past built one-of vacuum tables and used heatable vinyl and plastic to re-cover small items, like door panel inserts and armrests. Never have I attempted anything so large as a W123 dash, but, that won't stop me from trying. The project isn't exactly on the front burner, but it is in the works. Should my efforts prove successful, I figured I would offer the service to a small number of forum members for right around cost, as a sort of hobby/service to the community. I've estimated that the material costs for an actual finished product would be similar to the shoddy dash caps that are available.

The problem I am having is longevity... I can't say how long a fresh vacuum-formed vinyl skin would last. No one that manufactures the stuff deems it worthy of receiving any sort of rated service life.

__________________
- K.C.Adams

'77 300D Euro Delivery
OM617 turbo / 4-speed swap
404 Milanbraun Metallic / 134 Dattel MB-Tex

Current status:
* Undergoing body work

My '77 300D progress thread

Yes, myself also-A tool maker. So just Dashes charges approx $1000.00?
well even i would have to go with a cap with that kind of expense.--But i think they- JD- DO try to have the same grain pattern, I was thinking today of doing the wood trim refinishing on a exchange turnaround side thing, because my other line has always been the auto body/ resto side and this is simple, anyway tween shopforum/benzworld and/w123world -or what ever it's called, once you got the process flaws worked , you could have a steady line of customers

Well, I just hit up their site again, and they make it seem as if they only do certain dashboards now. Hmm. When last I investigated, they could do just about anything if you contacted them and discussed it. Perhaps they still do, but now seem to market directly to the owners of only certain models.

And yes, the last time I checked, a rough estimate for covering our dash panels would have been around $800 for one done up in basic black. That was one quick phone call I made well over a year ago that took all of five minutes. The glove box door was not discussed. Add in shipping each way on an over-sized package with insurance, and things get even more prohibitively expensive.

I can guess the reasons why our beloved W123's aren't a listed option on their site. Predominately, they are beaters. Until a car reaches collectible status, they aren't going to make an effort to make a factory original match available, because until that time, most folks simply won't want to spend the money on one. You gotta face the fact that most W123 owners will junk one if it needs a tranny.

I just want a fresh dash. if I can accomplish that and then offset the setup costs for the equipment I will have to build to do it, well, I'm happy with that.

__________________
- K.C.Adams

'77 300D Euro Delivery
OM617 turbo / 4-speed swap
404 Milanbraun Metallic / 134 Dattel MB-Tex

Current status:
* Undergoing body work

My '77 300D progress thread

Me too, and a clean rustfree later CD isnt becoming more disposable--exactly the opposite. The mint 12500.00--15000.00 ones on ebay in So Cal all have flawwless interiors and that's why I'm supprised JD does some of the oddball cars they do and not the Benz main one for the "Land of the Benz".

That's good thinking. But what if someone were to "reengineer" the w123 dash from similar materials used today for dashboards? Getting molds would be the difficult part; maybe they could be obtained from a perfect example. I wouldn't be turned-away if the covering was similar to the black vinyl covering my soft/spoongy w203 dash. The grain match would be fairly easy I'd think.

I don't think there'd be enough money in it from a new business perspective, but for a company that already has the tooling and capabilities, it could be viable.

How much would folks with restorable w123's pay for a new dash?

__________________
1982 240 D, 308,000 - 321,127 miles (sold)
1982 300 TD,166,500 - 226,000 miles
1998 E 320, 120,000 - 144,000 miles
2005 C 230 K, 26,000 - 77,000 miles (sold)

Well, they'll pay $120 plus shipping for a crappy dash cap, it seems.

I am confident that I can restore a good vinyl surface to any old W123 dash while preserving the factory foam, and simply repairing the sections that require it. I've done it with moulded door panels and armrests, after all. Removing and replacing the foam entirely with something that has a little more give is possible as well, but would obviously require a lot more work and materials. Beneath the vinyl and foam, the W123 dash is just a chunk of metal, and those simply don't go bad unless they have rusted out, and if that has happened, well you've got bigger W123 problems than a cracked dash.

I can obtain vinyl which is close to the original texture of the dashes, but it isn't a perfect match, so for aesthetic reasons, recovering the glove box door would be required. A perfect texture match doesn't exist. The end product, while not being something that would be identical to original in texture, would look every bit the part of a completely new dash. It would pass for a factory fresh dash to anyone who didn't know better.

How much is that worth to someone, and just how many someones are there, I cannot say. It's pricey to do a one-of dash the way I plan to do it, because I have to actually build the equipment to do it. There are things like heating elements, thermostats, and vacuum pumps involved. Much of that is stuff that I have laying around, or can repurpose later on, but it's still a lot of work. However, in theory I'll end up with an essentially brand new dash that should look like a million bucks and hopefully last longer than the original did.

__________________
- K.C.Adams

'77 300D Euro Delivery
OM617 turbo / 4-speed swap
404 Milanbraun Metallic / 134 Dattel MB-Tex

Current status:
* Undergoing body work

My '77 300D progress thread

Here. I dug through my notes on the other computer, and this is the texture of the stuff I can obtain. It's tough enough for wear surfaces, and marine grade as well. It can also be sprayed to match, so you blue dash guys wouldn't be left out in the cold. Its gloss is just about equal to the original finish.

What do you think? Close enough to blend in to the car? The "pebble-like" pattern is ever so slightly smaller and just a touch more deeply imprinted than the original dash finish.

Attached Thumbnails

 

__________________
- K.C.Adams

'77 300D Euro Delivery
OM617 turbo / 4-speed swap
404 Milanbraun Metallic / 134 Dattel MB-Tex

Current status:
* Undergoing body work

My '77 300D progress thread

I'd be concerned about the original factory foam. Even though it'd be more costly, getting new foam seems to be the absolute best solution. I don't know what MB used back then, but I'm under the impression that the cracks also go through the foam...I suppose that the foam could still be stable, but chances are that it's dry/brittle/turned to dust. No? Seems like it'd be similar to building a house on a faulty foundation?

I really think there's a business opportunity here, though the number of folks with restorable w123's, with funds and willingness to restore, are probably few and far between. Could only mean a few customer's each year. But advertising at meets and maybe in the Star Magazine, might get some business.

I like the vinyl sample you found. It looks very similar to the stuff covering my 2005 w203. And while not an exact match to the w123 original material, I don't think it'd look out of place at all. Especially since door panels etc., are a different color in most cases.

__________________
1982 240 D, 308,000 - 321,127 miles (sold)
1982 300 TD,166,500 - 226,000 miles
1998 E 320, 120,000 - 144,000 miles
2005 C 230 K, 26,000 - 77,000 miles (sold)

I've got a dash cap in my 300TD. It was there when I bought the car, so I don't know who made it. It looks fine to me.

__________________
" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century

OBK #55

1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold
Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold
The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold
Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles
2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles
2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles

Can anyone tell me what this post is about?

Pull your head out and look into it! the post is about everyone who needs a real dash resto to forget about the caps and make the effort --CONTACT-- Just Dashes to realise what a HUGE product possibility they are leaving unfilled.. Just Dashes does NOT do Cap Covers , THEY REDO THEM LIKE FACTORY, by making a vacuum tool that molds on a new skin just like a origonal.

Oh, sorry. I guess I didn't look at their site. I thought this was about caps.

__________________
" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century

OBK #55

1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold
Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold
The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold
Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles
2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles
2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles

I see what you mean. They only have caps for three Mercedes models. That's hard to believe. Did you inquire as to whether they might offer caps for other popular models? It seems like anybody who would bother to make caps would certainly have ones for 123s, 124s, and 126s.

__________________
" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century

OBK #55

1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold
Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold
The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold
Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles
2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles
2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles