Just came back from my upholsterer. Specialist in vintage. My cowhides are dying a second time.
I'm so lucky. I have only two small cracks in the dash where the instrument binnacle cover meets the flat dash. Anyone know of a great product for patching? I'm mainly concerned about keeping the cracks from growing.
My upholsterer doesn't have any solution.
There are do it yourself upholstery repair kits out there, you mix up some gooey stuff and put in cracks. One would need to be very careful not to get anywhere else. As far as stopping I'm afraid sun, heat and time are enemies and they will probably grow as it gets older. Keeping your car in a cool garage will vastly slow the process down.
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=dash+repair&ref=nb_sb_noss
I heard positive things about these guys, they have mobile services available pretty much anywhere:
https://www.fibrenew.com/
Wanted to use them for my 126, but ran out of time this year.
I think a dash cap is also a good idea, to conserve the dash once fixed.
Sorry I dont think there are any easy fixes. I think the fillers are always seen, maybe its enough for you if they just aren't that big. I dont personally like dash caps. It depends how militant you are on the original look as they look different, feel harder and often prevent nice fitment of glovebox lid and speedo cluster after being fitted. in saying this, I once had a 126 dash that so done had relined with vinyl and it actually looked very good and didnt cause the fitment issues. Perhaps look out for cheap wrecks and you might find a nice dash? the only other option is some Turkish company, cant remember the site, was now selling 'remanufactured' dashes, I have no idea of the quality though.
best of luck
I found Permatex vinyl repair kits on Amazon. The one I got uses a tiny iron to cure the repair adhesive. I'm happy to report that after 6 months of use including sitting in the sun, the repair is holding. Not invisible but a lot better than all the stuffing hanging out.
For maintenance and protection use Pledge. Got that tip from someone else. I went one better using their product for vinyl floors.
No way! Use 303 vinyl and rubber care.