So more dashboard questions....
I've made my sculptured dashboard from foam board and hardboard which is pretty strong but won't stand up to too much abuse i think. I plan to cover it in a thin foam and alcantara. What should i do to toughen it up a bit? Give it a coat of grp or will p38 do the job?

p38 = body filler?

that may work but I would include a metal mesh as it is brittle if non supported.

I have used GRP for adding stiffness to parts.

P38 is probably the worst thing you could use i recon - would stiffen it up with fibreglass myself.

What are you attaching the dash too?? I fibreglassed in a piece of steel to the back of my old car's dash as it was too flexible.

Sikaflex a length of ally angle to the back of it to stiffen it up. B&Q do suitable ally angle for the job.

small battoning across the back section or boxing it may work too. Although hidden the fibreglass is typically going to be messy job as it usualy is.

let us know how you get on

i remeber when i was 17 i attached my parcel shelf with some 6x9's. was imprssed how stiff it was and my dewalt just manged to get through. some audis use a small metal/steel rod in theirs too. just a good comparison to stiffening board

Hardboard and water don't mix too well . YOU WILL get wet

We made our dashboard from 6mm ply and a fake carbon fibre panel 1.6 mm thick stuck to it. This had a lot of flex in it so what I did was make three tensioners that attacked to metal points I fixed to the back of the ply.The front end of the tensioners attached to suitable points on the bulkhead high enough not to be seen. We were then able to use the flex of the dash to get it in and then with a bit of foot work in the roll bar style fit the tensioners afterwards.

Thanks all. I got me a plan!
P38 was a bad idea, as soon as i wrote it i questioned what the hell i was thinking...
Will get some pics up asap, more interested in making than photographing at the moment.