Hey I used to live in Houston on the NW side. Anyway, I did leather and did not use padding. I did use an ugly leather piece behind the good piece for just a slight give. I prefer the non-puffy look myself. I usued a blank dash so there were no holes. To cover your holes you could use some aluminum tape over them. That should prevent picturing through the leather.

Photo of the "give" from the buildsite:

Greg

 

This is leather over 1/8" closed cell foam. You would probably see the screw holes even more without any padding. The trick is to chamfer the holes, and fill with JB weld or some other filler, then sand smooth prior to covering.

 

Used Leather

I filled the holes with HSRF and then used Rage is smooth them completely.

My Tan leather came from FFR and the foam backing fell off.

What I did (got this suggesstion from Don DePontee) was get some craft felt from Joann Fabrics. (not wool felt like use on pool tables but the polyester kind that is used by the crafters) and glued that to the back of the leather (used 3M Super 77)

Then glued the felt leather combination to the dash.

It gives the look of some padding; but not spongy.

Ed

 

I prefer the non-foam look...

 

It is definitely an individual choice. But, as others have said.......my preference is the clean, unpuffed look! to me it just gives it a more solid look and tight. IMHO, of course!
fred z :001_cool:

 

Leather Dash

1 Layer of Leather no foam.

 

For the unused screw holes, you can back them up with little pieces of aluminum and fill them with a hard curing material. I veneered my dash and filled those holes with 3M HSRF from my body work bin. You could also probably used JB Weld or some other epoxy. Then just sand them flat.

 

I also did not use the foam and had no issues with the pre drilled holes and slots at all!