Fixing dash backing

[SteveHobart 57]

Hey guys! Well I had the heater core go in my XF so had to pull the dash out to get to it (pic below, it is really stuffed). Anyway, the dash backing is really brittle and has snapped in a few places where it screws to the bulkhead (and no, it wasn’t me who did it).

 

Anyway, what’s the best way to reattach it?

 

 

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[hendrixhc 10,918]

Cant see any pics but maybe large body washers?

 

[steve mcqueen 1,796]

If its what im thinking, just use a bead of silastic  along the dash          ( i always find that black engine silastic the best)

and put the dash back in per factory. It screws up to those white nylon plugs if my memory is working 

perhaps use 4 short self drillers thru the brittle plastic and into the metal bulkhead. 1 in each corner and 2 in the center.

Let it dry and presto. 

your dash wont squeak again is a good point

but if you have to ever remove it again, that is going to be difficult.

Unless you take the windscreen out so you can cut the cured silastic.

[christosmon 3]

I had the same issue when I last had my dash apart in the XE. I cut some metal strips/tabs from some gal sheet and glued them onto the dash where the screw originally went through and had broken away, then drilled a hole through the the metal tab so the screw can go through back into the factory location on the bulkhead, this acted like a washer and distributed the pressure from the screw onto the brittle plastic and stopped further breakage. No more dash squeaks and it's more secure than it ever was.

[lindsay.creighton 16]

Yep, I had the problem appear as well and fortunately local wrecker supplied good dash out of XD better than ever now

Lindsay