1981 Dash panel
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 35
Likes: 0
From: Kinston, NC
1981 Dash panel
My car should have a Camel dash. PO painted my dash panel semi-gloss black. I've been looking at the vendor's sites and the most economical new panel I can find is about $450. Has anyone that has replaced their's recently found one cheaper?
I don't want to use one of those plastic covers and trying to get the paint/dye off of this one will ruin it.
Thanks.
I don't want to use one of those plastic covers and trying to get the paint/dye off of this one will ruin it.
Thanks.
Race Director
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 12,658
Likes: 3,117
From: Shamong, NJ
I think Corvette America is the only maker of 78-82 dashes. So if you decide on one, buy it where you get the best price, because the quality should be the same were ever you get it. I've been told they fit pretty good, but many other repros, they may not be perfect. Unfortunetly, good used original dashes don't turn up often anymore.
Believe it or not, the $200 caps aren't terrible. I've seen a couple of them installed on cars. You can tell they're caps if you know where to look, but if you were just checking a car out, you'd probably never realize it was a cap. The speaker covers are molded as part of the dash top on the caps, instead of separate pieces, like in original dashes. The other area to identify a cap is around the AC vents. The thickness of the cap material is noticable around the AC vents giving a different appearence at the vent.
Believe it or not, the $200 caps aren't terrible. I've seen a couple of them installed on cars. You can tell they're caps if you know where to look, but if you were just checking a car out, you'd probably never realize it was a cap. The speaker covers are molded as part of the dash top on the caps, instead of separate pieces, like in original dashes. The other area to identify a cap is around the AC vents. The thickness of the cap material is noticable around the AC vents giving a different appearence at the vent.
Safety Car
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 3,691
Likes: 833
From: WI
I bought a new one from Corvette America. I have not installed it yet, but the quality looks good. My suggestion is to wait until Easter and see if some outfit has a sale that involves Free shipping, or 10% discount or both. It will be oversized and there is usually an extra shipping charge and sometimes free shipping doesn't apply to oversized items. But on a larger, expensive item like a dash, discounts make a big difference. If you need other interior items like carpets or seat covers, etc, Corvette America and other places will sometimes work with ya. It would be worth a call and see what they can do in terms of bundling items together for a 'deal'. I bought an interior kit at Bloomington last year when the economy was in the tank and I really got a sweetheart deal.
Just to add: Most older dashes get really brittle, and getting them out is hard to do w/o them cracking. But if yours is in good shape and still a little supple, you could take it out and try stripping the black paint off.
Mark G
Just to add: Most older dashes get really brittle, and getting them out is hard to do w/o them cracking. But if yours is in good shape and still a little supple, you could take it out and try stripping the black paint off.
Mark G
Last edited by Mark G; Mar 27, 2010 at 09:22 PM.
