diggers

I have a 84 Vette and love it but the dash light are on just like when you turn the key I know this year has all kinds of problem with the dash and there are some place that rebuild these dash and you can find them on ebay . Here is my question where can I get mine rebuilt or a do it yourself book and mine has the 4-3 shifter and the overdrive is out some tell me its the relay but how do I check all that but the dash cluster is the main Id like to see my rpm speed and gas gauge lol any help would be great Thanks

rithsleeper

I got mine done by an ebay company and was fine. Really worth the 300. Mine was totally washed out too. Thing is doing it yourself will cost about the same and you might miss something. In the mean time, go to autozone, pick up a 10 dollar cheap pair of POLARIZED sunglasses. They have to be polarized. Then take a look at your dash. Bingo, you can see everything. If you can't then you have an electrical issue and not a wash out. Try it, its pretty cool. I keep a pair in my car at all times until I get mine redone. This is my 3rd vette and all have been fixed the same way.

HlhnEast

Some punctuation would help us with an easier read. That aside, go to batee.com for some great Corvette info especially dash stuff. Some things can be repaired by the average mechanic, some take more skill and knowledge. Do a search with the terms "dash repair" or similar for TONS of info.

As far as restoring on the cheap, it aint happening. Sorry to be such a downer but you will run into the "Corvette Tax" on most items i.e. something that normally would be $30 for any other car costs $120 for the Vette. One new door trim panel is around $400. And on and on. Its a labor of love not something to drop $1K in and have a great car.

Again I hate to be negative but you will find most folks here with similar advice. You can work on a little at a time and get it done but youve been warned, hold on to your wallet with both hands. Luckily youve hit on a great Forum with some knowledgeable folks willing to help you put your car together. When you have an issue do the search FIRSt then ask if you havent found your answer.

Good luck and post some pics of your ride!

Joe C

- these cars can be money pits. from a financial standpoint, i wouldn't want to "restore" one of these cars (C4's). i would get more into "reconditioning" - not making a +99 point show car or museum piece, but a super nice, driver quality, car. things don't have to be "factory" perfect, and a rattle can of paint can do wonders. my advice, clean, repair/rebuild, and recondition what you have, buy used, and do the clean and reconditioning thing, and then only, buy new (OEM, NOS or repro), but weigh out the cost differences. why spend $4000 for a NOS set of wheels, when a extremely nice set can be had for $500-$700, and for another $200, a little paint, and a little elbow grease you'll end up with, what 99 out of 100, people couldn't tell the difference anyway, and definitely try to avoid the "matching numbers thing" concentrate more on "form, fit, and function". THE WORLD ONLY NEEDS SO MANY MUSEUM PIECES!!! on the topic of labor, try to do as much of your own labor as possible - some shops charge up to, and north of $100/hour and labor costs can kill a project. sorry to rant - just my 2 cents...

hitmanpty

my lcd dash is totally tost. I found on ebay new lcd cristal replace for about $300. I have not get it yet. but I will eventualy. the thing is that you will have to instal this kit your self.
I open my dash just to see the conditions . and look preaty easy to replace this cristals. and also you can find a lot info on this subject.

I say. take one step at the time. go slow but steady.

dukeallen

hitmanpty

Since is so dificult for me to write in english. I will try to give an explanation on my native laguage, about the grammar so here it is....

voy a explicar mi gramatica. nuevamente. debido a que mi idioma original es el ideoma español, estoy teniendo algunos contratiempos, al tratar plasmar mis ideas, en el idioma ingles. como se podran percatar es mucho mas sencillo para mi exponer mis ideas en mi idioma natal.

nuevamente expreso mis disculpas, y espero que entiendan que estoy tratando de mejorar.

gracias

Sweet 90

I don't think they are talking about you.
Me gustaría que mi español fue tan bueno como su Inglés. Es muy difícil

hitmanpty

dukeallen

Indeed. ESLs are exempt from Grammar *****. Or should be.

xsalvioutlawx

What do you mean by a tight budget? How much do you want to spend on the issues your car has, as opposed to how much they actually may cost?

I personally feel (If your car is in running condition) you can keep it running with a tight budget, but don't expect to make it look as good as you want it to be without spending some money.

Well, actually you could have a good looking car as well on a tight budget, but it would take a few years.

My Veronica Vette

You can go to www.corvettecentral.com or there is al www.contemporarycorvette.com when I had a problem with the dash in my 86 I took it out and it was actually very simple the plug in the side of the unit wasn't locked in place I haven't had an issue since

ßill

Yes, it can be done. It just takes more time. Save your extra change until you've got enough to get the most important parts you need. Then shop around for the best price. First thing get the factory service manual and some tools and do the work yourself.
Good luck and enjoy your ride!

DA1984VETTE

There is a guy on here SCARABEXC I think is the name. He rebuilt my dash cluster about 3 years ago and have no problems. Just drop him a PM and tell him what it's doing and he should be able to give you a price to fix it.

Railroadman

No.

blackbear bob

Gary is great to deal with. Two years on mine and it still looks new.

Frizlefrak

Saved me the trouble of typing it.

Donde aprendiste Espanol, Kittah? Lo que usted vende en una tienda de mascotas en Guanajuato??

doc_cj

If you're asking about restoring -- as opposed to just fixing select parts -- then you may want to read this article at Autoweek:

Four Reasons NOT to Restore a Vintage Car

There are those that will tell you that you can "restore" a car for as little as $10k ... but then there are cars that have had $150k and more spent on them during the restoration process.

You'll want to decide whether you're going to factory "show-room" condition or something else. I love watching the auctions online (Mecum and BJ come to mind), and I am amazed when they tell me how much was spent on a restoration of one of those cars. I went to an RM Auction at Pebble Beach a few years ago, and some of those cars were simply amazing. One of my favorites was a 1967 L71 427 cu. in. car that the seller claimed to have spent over $170k to restore. The car sold for $135,000!

It all depends on how deep you plan to go and what type of job you want to do.

Take some time to go to your garage and then pick an area to "restore." As an example, just pick the interior upholstery and start there. Then go to the major supply houses and do your homework. Find out what a set of seatcovers will cost. What about a full set of seat frames? Carpet? Dash? Instruments? Everything has a price. Find out what it is, then start adding it all up.

Here's some ideas ... a Corvette Door Speaker Grille with Bose Emblem for an '84 to '89 is $59.99 each. So just for the speaker grille you will spend $120. A Corvette Door Panel Armrest is $99 each. You can easily spend more than $1000 just on the doors, assuming you want "new" or OEM quality parts. So you can start to see how quickly this "restore" idea can get expensive.

On the other hand, if you are just trying to create a nice daily-driver car then you can control your cost a lot more. Cleaning, repainting, and replacing major parts is one way to go. Lots of guys on here discuss the different jobs they've been doing with their cars. Read the forum really well, get an idea of what others have done, and then send some emails with questions. You'll find most of the folks here are ready to answer reasonable questions.

Another idea is to find a good local car club. Chance are there will be folks who ave already done what you're thinking of doing. It's also great to have local people to use for ideas and to lend a hand as you work on the car.

Last thought ... set a budget and then do your homework on what will fit in the budget. Make a list of the priority items for repair, replacement, and to just ignore. Unless you're looking to do a total restoration, this will become a long term commitment. I have one car that I've owned since 1974, and it will never be done with the restoration.