Thanks! Makes sense now!

 

Am I wrong assuming it would be the same time involved in a 79? If the caps look that good, I'm going that route. We bought the new clear gauge cover from you guys, the dash is the next piece. I've got bigger fish to fry that battling a dash for 8 hours

 

I am assuming Street Rat can't hear a thing through his cover/shield. We are into semantics here. As Willcox noted, a cap is what is needed. Been down that road but I need a new one.

 

Paul.. sure the caps are a cheap way to go... but.. I have soooo many customers that get them and then want to return them.. The are ABS plastic.. and while they offer a cheap way of making the interior look good, they have a history (like with the 78-82 style) of cracking in the door jambs, not fitting around the wiper switch or the speedo tach opening. The glove box door opening is another issue. When they age, they tend to pull away and they are only held in place by a few screws and Silicone glue.

While I agree, for some this might be the best option based on what they want to spend... To me.. i'd never offer this as an option to a customer in my shop. I don't enjoy doing the same job twice or fixing them when they go sour.

Yes.. we offer them.. But we are about a millimeter from pulling them from the site based on customer feedback.

IMHO... <-- a big one this time..

Willcox

 

I actually bought the replacement dash from you guys for my 80, it was from Corvette America. And I had to do alot of work to it to get it to look good. There are no predrilled holes. If you have to take the gauges out once or twice the holes are stripped. It didn't fit well around the glove box door and the leading edge by the door isn't finished. The AC vents need to be filed out to get them to fit. It dosen't fit around the wiper switch. It did the job but I almost wish I had gone for the cap sometimes. At least I would still have the fit of the original dash and wouldn't have to worry about fixing stripped holes every time I remove the gauges.

 

Lot of good information here, Mr Wilcox, is the labor to replace the dash truly an 8 hour gig?

Our interior is really in good shape except the dash is cracked. I want to enjoy this car this summer, and with rebuilding the engine and such, adding another 8 hours into the dash at this time, is something I am not really looking forward to. Maybe another year when all the more imortant stuff is done and Im looking for something to work on. But this year, I want to focus on the mechanics while still enjoying the inside.

Im still leaning towards the cap.

 

I'm not sure when you purchased it.. but the pad was revised sometime last year.

We installed one late last year and only found one issue. That was on the passenger side and it was a reinforcement not in the mold that is in the original pads. We made one (a triangle) out of some plastic we had and bonded it in with plastic fusion. It's my understanding this has been corrected too.

The wiper switch fit fine, the bezel when installed was a bit tight but we took a blow drier and heated the area, then installed the bezel and it fit fine.

The glove box door opening on this car was exactly like the original GM dash.. All the factory pads had that same look you are describing. This dash is in a 30k mile 1 owner car... this car up till last year was never outside and always indoor climate control stored.. You can see the crappy fit of the factory pad in the two pictures below. Sad GM let them out this way.





Here is the new pad installed.
We have an album of the install with some tricks here



The holes can not be pre-drilled in the dash pads, even when GM made the pads they didn't have any of the holes drilled in them. To make the holes, we place the part where it belongs and then mark the hole location. We then heat a small pic and burn a pilot hole in there. Even on the new pad, I don't trust any pre-marked holes either.

Willcox

 

I purchased it about a 2 years ago. I eventually put anchors in the holes that became stripped. There are still a couple of issues I have to deal with. The bottom of the dash where it meets the gauge cluster is flimsy and I need to make a bracket for it to hold it into place. I didn't heat the wiper switch arae, I will try that.

 

If you ever have an issue with a hole... plastic fusion, or plastic weld is the perfect product to repair them. You fill the hole and let it dry, then re-drill.

If you heat the pad where the bezel goes in, then insert the bezel and make sure it looks good... Then put a wet towel on it... this will set up the plastic and hold it... It's an old restore's trick. Another trick is if you have a wrinkle... if you heat it and allow it to cool on it's own it will shrink. This trick is used often on the 58-62 dash pads..

Willcox

 

Regarding the glove box door (top right) to pad gap, can't you just slightly bend that part of the door inward to close the gap? I see this gap on other 82s including my own but always thought that age/heat was causing the door to sag out over the 32+ years. I just left mine alone because I didn't want to start bending stuff and cause all kinds of other problems.

 

Well, I didn't get a reply, so I did look up on he Wilcox website, it does appear that for an experienced person, the dash pad replacement for a 79-82 is approx 8 hours. For someone like me, just as I thought a weekend project.

With that in mind, the pictures posted earlier in this thread look pretty damn nice for a cap.

 

Sorry Toonz.. didn't see that question.. Yes, 8 hours start to finish is about how fast we can do the job.. The problem is... We've done this over and over and over... IMHO, honest time for a first timer.. about 2 days.

 

Nope, I'm sorry to day... it's not just a matter of bending the door or the hinge. If you bend the hinge the door will drag at the bottom. The back side of the door is metal and it's a stamped part with sides so twisting it really isn't going to happen either and if you do, screwing the plastic door cover back in place will probably strip the threads out on the cover.

It's sad but true.. your car had the door and the gap from day one.

 

Occasionally I cruise craigslist and last night I found a guy selling a cap, in black new, never put on. I got it for $50. Painted it a nice black satin finish and I have to say they look real nice. I got real lucky this time. Now I just need a drivers side sun visor

Down the road after I have the higher priority items taken care and I need a weekend project I can get a new dash.

 

I've had one on my 76 for afew years now,and it is pretty good.You can't tell you have a cover.