I was in the wood shop working on a project and noticed one of my boards has cupped. Cupping happens when one side dries out faster than another...



Sometimes a way to fix cupping is to spray water or somehow rehydrate the cupped side to even out the board. Doesn't work all the time, but can. And it got me thinking about the dash cupping issue we have in our Discos. Essentially the same thing is happening. The sun beating down on the dash is drying out the top at a faster rate than the underside, and the curling results. I'm wondering if a fix is simply to oil or otherwise rehydrate the topside. The problem is the barrier of paint that's covering the foam or whatever the dash is made of. Oil or some other liquid will simply lay on top of the paint, not get down into the foam.

Not sure I'm able to land on a total solution yet, but at least wanted to help identify the challenge.

 

Mine warped a number of years ago. I bought a kit like this:
https://rimmerbros.com/Item--i-RD124...hoCnHIQAvD_BwE
Installed it and looks almost like it was there to start with. Tough part is getting good angle and down pressure to get the screw to bite.
I reference the kit above s one I found on a quick search, do not remember where I got mine from though

 

I've seen this kit before, and though it seems effective, in my opinion it's not nice looking. The black one is the best I've seen, but the Bahama beige's shade is way off.

 

Those kits are only as good as the plastic under the soft dash material. If it's old and brittle the kit will not hold the soft part of the dash down at all. You would have to get creative and use like popsicle sticks held under the brittle plastic which the kit screws would go into which would distribute the tightening effect across the brittle dash plastic.

 

I never thought of your correction method and it sounds like a great idea. If you could get that part of the dash off and hydrate it from the bottom ( if it’s not painted like the top) would that work?

Again, great idea.

 

Any progress?