I'm an idiot

[Bill D]

I &$%?!€ up my blank dash tonight when I drilled two .500 holes in the wrong place. In an attempt to fix my idiotic move, I made two half dollar size pieces and I'm in the process of epoxying them with JBWeld to the back. I filled in the front with JBWeld and will sand the front smooth.

Do you think this will salvage the dash panel? It will ultimately be covered in black padding.

Sometimes I wonder why I do the things I do

[Young1]

Sounds like a good repair to me. Don't sweat it so hard. Only two 1/2 inch holes. Now if it was the tach. That would be an oops

[lippy]

I wouldn't sweat that one. I inadvertently drilled a hole in my hard fuel line during my build (no fuel in it). Had to tear it out piece by piece and replumb with a braided teflon line. If this is the biggest mistake you make, you're in good shape.

[David Kirkham]

Originally Posted by Bill D

I &$%?!€ up my blank dash tonight when I drilled two .500 holes in the wrong place. In an attempt to fix my idiotic move, I made two half dollar size pieces and I'm in the process of epoxying them with JBWeld to the back. I filled in the front with JBWeld and will sand the front smooth.

Do you think this will salvage the dash panel? It will ultimately be covered in black padding.

Sometimes I wonder why I do the things I do

Yes. It is an effective repair. Just make sure you sand all surfaces that will be epoxied/glued/bondo'd, etc. We have all done it. It takes a REAL man to admit it.

David

[Ron61]

Bill,

Like they have said, if that is the only mistake you make you are far ahead of most of us. I made so many mistakes when I built my Cobra that I felt as I had built two of them when I finally finished it.

Merry Christmas.

Ron

[jolsen42]

Bill,
you will be fine. I've done the same thing a few times.
Merry Christmas,

John O

[Tommy]

My long time refrain is that I have saved enough money by doing projects myself to pay for all the damage I did while doing projects myself. ... It happens. You'll be fine.

[mdross1]

Sounds like we are all in the same boat when it comes to redoing mistakes. Honestly believe that's part of how we become so attached to our prides and joy. Merry Christmas to all.

[1795]

It is the mistakes that make the project memorable. If everything went smoothly it would not be fun. WE cannot ever fully prevent mistakes, all we can do is learn from them.

[NOS-EDDIE]

When I built my first era I used the template to cut the holes for side pipes. Big OS moment. Seems the addendum never made it to my Manuel showing the upgrade to foot box . The retired gentleman who taught me the basics of body work said"don't worry! You can't F anything up. You can only make more work for yourself". it will be fine.

[Bill D]

Thanks guys. I feel much better after reading the replies. Merry Christmas to you all.

Sincerely
Bill D

[Bill D]

Just an update. One repair worked, one failed. Will try again before I scrap the dash and start over

[DonC]

Scuff up the patch and the surface it's being applied to with some fairly heavy grit sand paper first so the adhesive has some "tooth" to grab on to.
Make sure both surfaces are as clean as possible before doing the adhesive thing. Try some brake cleaner. It evaporates fast and doesn't leave residue.
Just consider it as adding another skill to your set. I add skills about once a week.
DonC

[joyridin']

Even if it doesn't work a second time, do not throw it away. My buddy uses some type of aluminum epoxy to glue airplanes together. I have never seen anything like it. I will get the name for you and where you can buy it if you want. Guaranteed it will hold up forever.

[Mother]

I polished a heat shield for my engine bay to a mirror finish. Do to the size of the aluminum, it took me 14 houres of polishing with an air gun, and Autosolve to get the piece mirror perfect on one side. Then proceeded to drill the mounting screws in the incorrect location. One 4 by 8 foot piece of ALUMINUM where I live in Canada, mill finish, costs me 400 dollars. A very costly mistake.

[David Kirkham]

Of course one failed. We call it--Tuition.
What exactly happened? Pics help. I'm pretty sure with all the brains on this forum we can help you fix it. I've done far dumber things.

[Bill D]

David
My fault actually. After epoxying the patches I clamped the dash face up (patches underneath) to a block of wood to ensure a good gluing. This morning after taking the clamps off, one patch was epoxied to the wood substrate. When I finally got the dash unstuck, one patched stayed with the wood. I made another patch and redid it. This time I was careful not to epoxy the whole thing to the wood block.

Bill

[Bill D]

Here is the repaired dash

Front side. Will sand flush when it cures


The back side

[FatBoy]

One small point; if you're interested in originality, the dashboards weren't padded. You mentioned in your first post that it would be padded. They were originally covered in a leather grain effect vinyl without any padding, although many people now use real leather.

Paul

[Bill D]

Paul
I should have said it like you did, which is my intention.