Dash covers vs dash pads

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shadango

shadango

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ANy of you guys have dash covers installed? I am not at that point yet...gotta get the car running first.....but my dash is trash and looks like it had a cover at one time.....

If you have one, what do you think of the fit etc for the cost and if you have pics that would be great.

Thanks!
 
Dang, I thought I had a picture of the one I did on the Duster.

Well, they look preety good and it went in easy. While not a dead on 100% ringer for what came with the car, there extremely close and will fool most people 100% of the time.
 
I installed one in my 69 Barracuda and 71 Duster and they look great.I would highly recommend them on an A-body....Easy install just make sure you clean,sand,& clamp very well......I let mine set up overnite..

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The caps just go right over the old one, right?

My old one is in REALLY rough shape.....cleaning would be marginally effective...LOL
 
If you are talking about your new Barracuda the choice is easy...go with the cover. I bought a new pad for my 71 hemicuda, it is a non air, 3 speaker dash pad and I pad over $600.00. I installed a cover on a 72 cuda for a customer and it looks great.
 
Yep, for the barracuda.....

I see them online for about $100.......A guy who lives near me says if I wait til Carlisle I can get one for half that.
 
Are there varying quality out there and if so who is the best looking and if not, who is the cheapest....LOL
 
I started with no pad at all, only the underlying metal frame. I bought a cap made by Accuform plastics. Even though I had no pad, I prepared very similar to tufftoy1. In my case, I bonded the cap to the frame leaving every clamp in place for a day. While the clamps were still on, I half filled the area between the cap and the frame with Quick Stuff. QS is spray foam insulation and can be found at Lowe's, Home Depot, etc.

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The cover wont lay just right on a pad that is severely warped. They are nice though when properly installed. I has a Dart version in our 1st 67 nothback way back in 1988. Price was 75.00 then,,
from wholsale dist. no less.
I did manage to get it dyed for free. :)
IF I paid 300 + to have a oem pad restored I'd have to put a cap over it to protect my investment.
One of the first things I noticed in a new Dodge truck was absense of a foam filled dash pad. All hard plasic like these caps, so mfgrs finally got a clue. LOL
 
I got the same one off e-bay like tufftoy1 did. It was $62.99 shipping included. I ended up getting a garbage one to start with that was trimmed too short from the factory but they sent me out a new one and it went on pretty good.

I know it isn't the real deal but probably like most of you, I couldn't spend $300 for a remanufactured one so I went with the cap... for now.

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This is what my old one looked like, so I had to get a core from the junkyard because there was no way in the world a cap was going to go over the top of that warped piece.

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I think it looks much better, and I am happy with it. I say if you don't have a ton of cash get the cap and change it out when you have the funds. My two cents.
 
It has a lot to do with prep work before installing a cap. I removed my dash before I capped it so I could clamp and prep it better out of the car. If there is any high places they need to be removed. If you can remove the dash it is easier. I have capped one before with the dash still inside the car so I've been down that road also. lol Not as easy.

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sydcuda said:
Very nicely done dash there Mullinax, very nice indeed.
Click to expand...

Thank you very much.

blackace said:
What are the caps made of, plastic?
Click to expand...

Here is some pictures of the front and back of the cap. The reason there are two caps is because they sent me the wrong cap the first time. The one with the longer ends is for a 67 barracuda and the other is for a 68.

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Looks great in the pics.....would never know!

I suppose worse comes to worst I could file down or sheese-grate my dahs to smooth out the peaks where the vinyl has bucked up?

Sure beats spending $600+
 
shadango said:
Looks great in the pics.....would never know!

I suppose worse comes to worst I could file down or sheese-grate my dahs to smooth out the peaks where the vinyl has bucked up?

Sure beats spending $600+
Click to expand...

You got the idea... you can test fit as you go to see if you have any peaks causing problems.

When I was working on my dash I decided to use the $600+ for the dash on the gauges instead.
 
tufftoy1 said:
I installed one in my 69 Barracuda and 71 Duster and they look great.I would highly recommend them on an A-body....Easy install just make sure you clean,sand,& clamp very well......I let mine set up overnite..
Click to expand...

Did you purchase your dash cap from Acuform Plastics??/ Are the edges flexible so as to fold them over and glue? Thanks
 
i got a dash pad from dante's parts for about $200. great quality and you dont have to mess with sanding and clamping.
 
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