Thread: Dashboard sealing rubber

Ever since I purchased my 93 SE RRC (a couple of years ago now) the sealing rubber at the front of the dash board (bottom of windscreen) has been angled down into the gap between the dash and the screen. Had it been correctly installed it would be sitting on the top edge of the dash and providing a seal to stop anything sliding down the front of the dash (like pens, spoons, coins - these are the things that I found in the gap).

If you have the 90-94 workshop manual you'll find a relevant diagram on page 472.

About a week ago I decided to rectify this issue and today the dashboard has been reinstalled with the sealing rubber in the correct position. However, it was not an easy process so I thought I would share how I finally worked it out.

Try as I might, I could not encourage the sealing rubber to sit on top of the dash. I have auto trim and upholstery tools and none of the hooks or other devices were able to dig the rubber out. So, out came the dash and I tried again with the tools to encourage the rubber on top, but as soon as I had one end on, the other end would slip back off. Another approach was needed...

Having tried a number of options I found the following approach worked a treat and the problem, in the end, was easily addressed (without having to remove the windscreen). If you have the same issue then the following steps should address it for you:

1. Follow the workshop manual instructions to remove the top dash
2. Attach a strip of self-adhesive tailgate seal to the front metal edge of the dash so that once re-installed the gap between the dash and the windscreen bottom frame is filled. This prevents the sealing rubber from sliding back into the gap. I purchase my tailgate seal from Clark Rubber which came with a self adhesive strip. All I did was stick it on with the adhesive strip aligned with the top edge of the dash metal strip.
3. Using Gaffer Tape (or cloth tape, which I also purchased from Clarky's), begin taping the sealing rubber in an "up" position by sliding the tape underneath, and then sticking the tape to the dash. You'll need to use lengths of tape about 20cm long to give enough surface area on the dash to hold the rubber up. Once you've worked right across the dash you'll have about 30 pieces of tape holding up the rubber. It won't stay there for long so be ready to move on with the next step.
4. Re-install the dash. The first step is to position the dash under the rubber (which should now be straight forward with the rubber held up). Next I reconnected the four heater hoses and secured them with new cable ties. Following that I reinstalled the instrument binnacle on the right and the grab handle on the left which locked the dash in position. Only after these steps did I then remove the tape, which came off easily. Then I finished reinstalling the remaining items.

Items included above that I purchased for the job were a 1.6m length of tailgate self-adhesive rubber, and a roll of silver cloth tape. Both were purchased from Clark Rubber for about $30 all up.

After much trial and error, the above approach worked first time and was hassle free. I did have a flat trim tool on hand if I needed to pry any of the sealing rubber into final position when I removed the tape, but I didn't need to use it. End result is that the sealing rubber is now in the correct position on top of the dash, plus I think the dash has been put back together more solidly than the last time it was removed and replaced.

The only thing I forgot to do was take photos as I had not expected it to work first go! But I have attached a photo of an offcut of the tailgate rubber and the tape I used, plus a photo of the finished result.
Adhesive Tailgate Strip.jpgDashboard sealing rubber.jpg