You're probably going to have to make a mold first, as an overlay from fiberglass will be larger and have all the ripples and flaws in it. Have you considered just getting a plastic cap that replaces/overlays the existing pad? You can cut off any high spots to make the ovelays lay down nicely, and they look good if you do them out of the car as your's is. Probably cheaper than all the materials and time involved in making a mold and glass cap too. NPD sells them for around $80.

 

Good point. Heres the 1st layer of the mold. I have alot of fiberglass around from patching holes in boats. I've never done something this big before.
The plastic shows tho the matt but I promise its smooth.
for now.....
I'll pop it off in a few hours and get some more pics.

 

Hold the phone....don't remove that mold just yet. I see you used cloth, which is fine for your first smooth layer, but compared to mat it has no structural rigidity to it. I've layed a lot of glass over the years, my most extensive project way making a one piece mold of the front end of my old Datsun pickup, then created a tilt front end from the mold. In addition to adding a layer of mat for strength, you want to put some structural ribs in the mold, so that it will hold the shape when you remove it. The way it is now, it will flop and twist out of shape when you take it off the dash, and you're going to have a real fun time keeping the shape when you lay the actual piece inside the mold. What I did was taped down a length of rope on the section I wanted strengthened, and layed a couple layers of mat over that to give it a good bump. That made it so that the piece could not bend or twist. You'll want to do the same type of reinforcing on the inside of the finished piece.

 

I was planning on doing that after the first layer dyes. I have some old pvc pipe thats going to hold things correct. Is cold and damp here in Missouri right now, so its going to take a wile to cure. I'm out of mold release atm. Dose any one know of something I can rub on the jell coat so that the mold will let go of the final part?

 

Typically fiberglass makers of parts use paste wax on their molds as a release agent. I've used MinnWax Paste as a release agent on molds when doing fiberglass or epoxy work. It's cheap, easy to find, and works great. Home Depot and Lowes both carry it.

 

I just lightly oiled my mold. Can't remember if I used multi-vis or straight though.
PAM non-stick cooking spray is supposed to work well as a mold releaser. I spose either the vegetable or olive oil version should work!

 

Spray silicone is what we use at work. Its called Silicone mold release but its just silicone. I think Pam is a great idea on the cheap. for the ribbing you could use small dia PVC or PEX. I was thinking 1/4" round stock. Even wood cut to the shape. Someday i will mold a center console so I can make some custom stuff. I havent ever done glass but with a molding back ground I can wing it.

 

Thanks. I'm not sure what I'm going to do now. I did the cloth mat and then 3 layers of chop mat on top of that. Its stiff enough that it dose not flex much. I could have a fake leather cover made for cheap and fix that to it.
like I said...not sure.
On a lighter note, I was able to recreate the far right corner that was totally missing.

 

Still working on the dash.

I got the engine bay back together and running. It still has a tick to it as you can hear in the video.
Any ideas what that might be?

 

Sure sounds like a loose rocker arm to me! I'd double check the adjustment.

I hope you used some sort of release agent on your dash before applying all that cloth and resin!!!!!!!!!!! If not your work may be futile if the dash wont release from the fiberglass!