Greg

My dash pad is showing a little cracking around the speaker perforations so I thought I'd check out the dash caps as a solution. I settled on the U.S. made American Dash Caps for $119 plus $30 shipping. The only question I needed to ask them was whether the speaker holes lined up well or missed by a mile. They assured me the speaker holes lined up fine.When it arrived the color, texture and quality looked quite good. I laid it over my original dash pad and, as you can see by the pictures, the speaker holes missed by a mile. A full two inches from side to side and another full inch from front to back. I contacted the supplier with pics, they in turn contacted the manufacturer who said:

"As long as he has 1/3 of the holes lined up there should not be any disturbance to his music.
He has more than that so he is fine.
He can dry fit the cap on and play music and see what he thinks.
Let me know if it works out for you. That is the way the mold was made."

Well, I can't tell you how disappointed I was with this reply. Of course any sound installer in the country will tell you how wrong this information is. But I had to ask the supplier, if all 1970-77 dash pads have the speaker perforations in the exact same spot, how could this manufacturer have missed them by so much. I can't be the only Corvette owner who spotted this obvious flaw. They must get these caps returned all the time. Anyway, they are sending me a return ticket and I will start the search for another.
If you're considering a dash cap for your Corvette let me save you time and trouble, Do not order the inferior product offered by American Dash Caps.
So, have any of you purchased a cap from another manufacturer/supplier and could you recommend them?
Greg

RJ1AZ

Looks to be quite a difference in the number of perforations, as well as shape and location.

"Good enough" is NOT good enough.

michaelroy

Man! that sucks. I'm sure they prepaid the return postage. So now $60.00 down the drain for freight and another several weeks to wait. I tried a cap for my 79 and it didn't go well. Bit the bullet and paid for the replacement. Although not as good as factory I made it work.

7T1vette

Actually, that advice is not totally 'wrong'. Yes, the holes don't match up that well...BUT, those speakers are used mainly for high frequencies which do not use very much sound power and do not need a full compliment of holes for normal hearing level.

The stock radio amp is only capable of 16 watts RMS sound power. Probably less than 1 watt would be coming though BOTH dash speakers with the stock radio on MAX volume.

Because of the problems in returning this part and also in finding a 'better' alternative, I also suggest that you turn the radio on with the stock dash cap...listen...then lay the new one over and listen again to evaluate your level of displeasure with the mid/high frequency sounds. Those speakers will NOT reproduce low frequencies, anyway. (And, you do not want them to do so.)

P.S. If the highs are muffled significantly with the new cap, I would return the part at their expense, since they gave you poor advice.

Greg

Forgot to mention, I just had my both original speakers rebuilt with original Delco cones. I expect the system to work as GM designed it. I suppose if GM believed one third of the holes would have sounded just as good, then that's probably all they would have made.

7T1vette

Well, you have the cap already. You can just bi+ch and moan about it or you can try it to find out for real....

P.S. The 'original' speakers for the dash were junk when they were new. Probably not the best idea to reuse them...unless you just want it completely stock (which is a legitimate path).

Greg

I'm not sure how giving a "heads up" to my Corvette brothers on an inferior part while looking for a better quality replacement computes to "bitch and moan".
I supposed just about anyone would have realized from my pictures that the original dash pad is not currently installed so testing how it sounds is out of the question.
Thank you for your valuable input.

7T1vette

It's your problem...do what you want. We're just trying to give you some 'sane' advice. You can choose to ignore the realities of "modern" aftermarket parts, but sometimes you just have to improvise. Unless they sent you a cap for the wrong model year...or you ordered the incorrect one...that is probably the only shot you have of capping your existing dash.

Wish you the best....

Greg

Maybe I posted too much information for you to understand so I'll simplify it down to the last sentence of my original post:

"So, have any of you purchased a cap from another manufacturer/supplier and could you recommend them?"

cor66vette

I appreciate the heads up, Greg. Thank you