Dash Kit?

Easyrider · 10-26-2005, 03:47 PM

Anyone know where I can get a dash kit to spruce up the looks of our dash. We have an Itasca Sunrise motorhome and anyone who has looked inside one knows the dash is pretty plain looking. I wonder if there is some kind of stick on kit that would simulate wood or even colored plastic that would look better than the plain bland vinyl plastic look that I have now.

Easyrider · 10-26-2005, 03:47 PM

Anyone know where I can get a dash kit to spruce up the looks of our dash. We have an Itasca Sunrise motorhome and anyone who has looked inside one knows the dash is pretty plain looking. I wonder if there is some kind of stick on kit that would simulate wood or even colored plastic that would look better than the plain bland vinyl plastic look that I have now.

Bob&Pat · 10-27-2005, 05:13 AM

I was looking for a 3" x ½" x 6' length of oak and could not find it. A few days ago I found, at a local smaller lumber yard, a chair rail 3" wide x 5/8" thick at its thickest point and 8' long. The passenger side is 5'-5½" long and the wood will cover up the Sunrise logo, on the drivers side I need to work around the switch plate for the battery boost and slide out switch. This chair rail is somewhat simple in profile, the center is 1½" wide and flat with a very small radius on the edges. The oak grain will look good on the plain dash. The molding is made by Weyerhaeuser "ChoiceWood" the bar code number is 073291083472. I am working on the stain and finish right now and plan on using something like liquid nails "general purpose" adhesive to glue the wood to the metal part of the dash on my 2003 Sunrise.

Bob&Pat · 10-29-2005, 12:38 PM

Cut the pieces of oak molding on Thursday and prepared them for the stain on Friday. Today I used Zar #129 "Aged Varnish" stain, it matched the tone of the stain on the Portsmouth Oak in our Sunrise very close. Decided to notch out the cowling surround on the steering column to bring the oak against the cowl. The framing around the switch plate for the battery boost and slide out switch looks pretty good the top piece and bottom piece are only about 3/16" wide however the "framing" will give it a finished look.

I may have my wife, Pat, paint a new Sunrise logo on a brass plate or something to mount on the oak.

I will have to take pictures and learn how to upload them when I have finished.

Bob

Easyrider · 10-30-2005, 03:57 PM

Thanks Bob for the idea! I never thought of using real wood trim but can't think of any reason it won't work! Hope you can upload the pictures as I would like to see them. Sounds like a great idea to me, but I'll have to wait till spring to do it now as I plan on putting our MH into storage this week.

Bobg43 · 11-01-2005, 11:14 AM

I have a 2005 Sunrise and had the dealer custom design a fabric cover for the dash. They fitted it for the computer workstation and the vents. There are companies that do this and you can pick different colors.

I did it because my dog lies on the dash and this prevents him from scratching it.

Easyrider · 11-01-2005, 02:15 PM

Thanks Bobg43, I'm aware of what you are talking about. I'm looking for something to put on the front of the dash around the instruments and switches, not on top of the dash - though I plan on doing that sometime also.
Steve

Bob&Pat · 11-03-2005, 02:02 PM

Installed the oak molding on the dash today, will take photos of the dash after I remove the clamp Friday.

I wanted to try posting a photo of the "before" showing the plain dash.

Posted all photos in the following message.

Bob&Pat · 11-04-2005, 05:03 AM

tderonne · 11-04-2005, 07:08 AM

Looks like my 2004 Adventurer which came with a wood (or pseudo wood) band in the same spot. I knew the Voyage used the same dash, didn't notice they left the trim off.

Very nice installation.

Easyrider · 11-04-2005, 06:35 PM

Pretty nice looking! Any ideas on if anything can be done around the instument panel? I'm going to try the same thing with ours in the spring. It's getting too cold to glue things on now. Thanks for the inspiration!

DriVer · 11-05-2005, 01:07 AM

Very nice looking modification.

DonavonP · 11-05-2005, 04:56 AM

Very nice job.

Bob&Pat · 11-06-2005, 09:52 AM

Thank You for the very nice comments; Easyrider, tderonne, DriVer and DonavonP.

Easyrider, I have no plans to add anything to the instrument panel of the dash.

However I plan on making a Tray (box with bottom and sides) out of Oak approx. 7 ½ " wide x 12" deep (front to back) and with 1 ½" sides, stained and finished to match the dash trim, to set between the instrument panel and the passenger-side workstation. I will just set the tray on that non-skid rubber matting. This would be like the old style wood file boxes used in offices long long ago when I started work, before the plastic ones. I may use the 1/4" stock for the sides and bottom and put some dividers within the tray.

The other item will be to replace the Plastic Console cup holder with a console box and tray made of the Oak. That should be it for the dash area, don't want to over do it.

Weyerhaeuser "ChoiceWood" Oak is available in ¼" thick, ½" thick and ¾" thick stock in widths of 1½", 2½", 3½", 5½" and 7¼".
Always need a place for all the Reading glasses , Sunglasses, remotes and cell phone.

Bob

Captain Bud · 11-07-2005, 11:56 AM

Does anyone know of the availability of a full dash kit. The wood trim is already installed on my MH, but what I''m looking for is a full mask to cover the total dash. I have seen these kits for other vehicles. How about for MHs??

Bob&Pat · 11-14-2005, 12:59 PM

Update, I have the Console Box with lid cut out, it has cup holders with tray behind them.
The other Dash Tray Box will set on the dash between the workstation and the instrument panel. The pieces are just standing against each other in place to see how the proportions look.
Next step is to finish sanding, glue together, stain, polyurethane and hinge the lid on the Console.

I used ½" thick oak, 2 pcs 7¼" x 3' long, 1 pc 7¼" x 4' long, and 2 pcs 2½" x 4' long, cost $46.00
The chair rail cost $20.00

I'll post pictures when finished.

Easyrider · 11-14-2005, 05:24 PM

Very nice!

Bob&Pat · 12-02-2005, 03:57 PM

Stained, polyurethaned, and installed, it even feels warmer now.

The lid of the box doubles as a end table at this height between the pilot and copilot chairs when they are turned around to the living area. Just one more oak addition to make 1½" x 2'-0" x ¼" thick flat piece of oak to glue on the front of the work station, went down to the lumber yard and picked a piece up the exact size, no cutting necessary, just sanded and stained it tonight. Will polyurethane it Saturday and glue it on. I'll take a picture when finished and post it Monday or Tuesday.

Picked up the motorhome from storage about 2:30pm exercising the generator for a couple hours and the furnace heated up the motorhome to 68 in about a hour and a half it was 27 degrees when I started you can see the windshield steamed up in the photos.

Lots of toys, lots of projects, good thing I retired.

Bob&Pat · 12-03-2005, 02:28 PM

This is it, absolutely, the final piece of oak I should add to the dash area, here at the Work Station. What is the line in that movie I remember the tv ads for "SOMEBODY STOP ME". I must stop before I end up framing the windshield in oak.........

"Just because you can, doesn't mean you should".

I did not glue the boxes together I ended up clamping them together pre-drilling the oak and using 3d finishing nails 1¼" long, countersinking them and using a stainable wood filler from Minwax, looks pretty good you can hardly see the filler after the stain was applied. Gluing and clamping did not work for me, I could not get everything squared up in time for the glue to hold. If I had "Norm's" shop with his tools glue would have worked. Hardwoods, like oak it seems, is very difficult to glue so I did it the old fashioned way with nails. Had to re-sand everything to get the glue off.

Adventurous · 12-03-2005, 06:37 PM

If you are in the mood for more modifications...
The cup holder on the passenger side can be used much better...
We took the whole thing out, made a box that fits on the floor and is wide enough for maps, standing up soldier style.It is long enough to put in a divider for books like the road atlas(with the walmart locations) and we put the cupholder back on top of it all. The electical outlets were relocated to the outside of the box. I love having a handy place for all the maps we have on board for a long trip and a quick access place for Coast to Coast and Pasport America books ( and the walmart info).