Howdy, I hope this is ok to post here? I looking for advice to restore my Fiat Abarth dashboard? I figure some of you might had to do restoration on a Ferrari dash. Any advice on who or how to do a restoration on a Italian dash? I was looking at JustDashes.com,, but was wondering if anyone else had suggestions. Thanks so much for your advice. Greatly appreciated. Thanks Bob
The dash I have has cracks on top. I tried to get a Fiat 850 dash, but as it turns out, they are not the same, The dash panel with the gauges is different, and so is the trim. The picture has the Fiat 850 dash, and my dash. I want to get mine recovered, even though the Fiat 850 dash fits, I would hate to go different than original. If I could find a Fiat 850 dash from a 1972 or 1973 racer, that might work. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Bob Image Unavailable, Please Login
Best I can tell it is plastic. You could try to fix it with a plastic patch material and repaint it or try getting a reproduction one from a Fiat part supply house. Try google I found this place Fiatplus.com
These dash boards are not plastic, but have a fake leather covering. Chris at Fiat Plus has no access to these dashboards, only the earlier 850 dash, like what I already have. Looking to see who might be able to recover these, and the only one I have found so far is JustDashes.com. Thanks Bob
That is easy go to any car upholstery shop they can do it either vinyl or leather that should not be an issue.
If its not plastic, its leather. If its not leather, its plastic. Fake leather? Gotta be plastic then. No other alternative. Then , you gotta approach it as youre fixing plastic product.
Best I can describe is a foam covered shell, with a vinyl hard cover. It is not like the leather cover on my 328. What I have been told is that it is a vacuum form dash with a cover on it. I have found three companies so far that deal with this, but not sure which one to deal with or what options I am not aware of.......
Bob Contact Csaba or Ramzi at AutoRicambi in TX (http://www.autoricambi.us/ ). They import some reproduction dashes for 124s, among many other Fiat related parts. They are both excellent people, and will let you know if a dash can be sourced for your car (which I doubt, but it is worth asking). they will also be able to recommend a restorer in the US, as they have both restored several Fiats in their time. JustDashes does have a good rep in Fiatland. When I redid my 124, the cost to replace was the same as the cost to recover, but that was because 124 Spider dashes were available. For your car, originality is important, and recovering *may* be your only option. I have wanted to adapt a Fiat 850 Coupe dash into my 850 Sedan so that I could use the big round factory coupe gauges, but could never get it to fit without cutting the metal. If you have a real Abarth, please take the time to source the best and proper parts, and don't use the wrong one! For others -- the dashes in these old Fiats are an odd looking material that is sort of a combination of chippy cardboard and fibreglass. Hard to explain, but they are not merely injection molded plastic. The vinyl covering is adhered to the core, and removing it can crack off large parts of the core and ruin it, so must be done very properly and carefully. Reproductions that are injection molded don't have the "padded" feel of the real dashes, and usually look very different, making for a bad experience. Jonathan Denver, CO
