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The problem with the cracking is not so much that the dash pad expands and contracts with heat cycles, it is that it is trying to expand and contract, but it is constrained (held) at different points along it length from expanding and contracting. Places like the instrument bezels and the passenger grab handle and the mounting screws. It is held to the steel structure which does not expand and contract the same amount for a given temperature range. This difference puts added stress in the dash pad since it is less stiff than the steel structure. The solution...... Design in slip at the connections between the two pieces so they can expand and contract independent of one another. I know this is near impossible (actually it is probably impossible) on our T3 dash pads, but that is probably the only long term solution. Later, John Jaranson '71 FI Auto Fasty (Jane) http://hometown.aol.com/jaransonT3 ------------------------------------------------------------------- List info at http://www.vwtype3.org/list or mailto:help@vwtype3.org