68 Upper Dash Pad, Repop vs Original

[BronzeOnSteelies]

Your guy opinion on bang for the buck.

I can get a 68 dash pad from legendary for about $225.

I also found an original in very good condition (allegedly I haven't seen it yet) for $345.00

I usually see on this board that repops are not that great and you should go with original.

Just asking your opinions in light of the pricing.

My car is to be a nice driver. It will never be all original concourse.

Mark

[Silver R/T]

Id go with repop product, its just as good IMO and youll save some money

[is_it_EVER_done?]

I have only used a reproduction once and it sagged between the attaching bolts after about 6 months. The repro's don't have the steel shell in them that the stock ones have.

Just Dashes  -- http://www.justdashes.com/, can restore your original dash to better than new for less than what you can get an old for. They are a great company.

[41husk]

Just Dashes do a good job, I used them for the upper door pads.  They are very pricey and will take a long time.  If you are wanting to hide some ugly cracks on a driver, I would suggest a fiberglass? plastic? dash cap you glue it down and it looks good for a driver and can be had for under $100.  When glueing it down follow the directions, a little glue will go a long way.

[BronzeOnSteelies]

41husk wrote:

Just Dashes do a good job, I used them for the upper door pads.  They are very pricey and will take a long time.  If you are wanting to hide some ugly cracks on a driver, I would suggest a fiberglass? plastic? dash cap you glue it down and it looks good for a driver and can be had for under $100.  When glueing it down follow the directions, a little glue will go a long way.

Husk, the owner before me tried a glue on cover and must not have followed the directions. It did not adhere and he had to peel it back off.
So, my dash pad is unreparable by the looks of it. Big chunks of vinyl gone. I may need to just cover the gaps with Summit Racing stickers and such.     

[is_it_EVER_done?]

So, my dash pad is unreparable by the looks of it. Big chunks of vinyl gone.

Just dashes replaces the original foam as well as the vinyl, so as long as the frame and attaching studs are in good shape, your dash can be refurbished just as easy as one with just a minor vinyl crack.

I don't know what their current prices are, but I had a 69 pad done about a year ago and it was only a bit over $300 with about one month turn around. Well worth it in my opinion.

[Rolling_Thunder]

if you want a cheap alternative...   you can have a local upholstry place cover the pad with new vinyl...    looks decent...    place charged me $30

[8WHEELER]

I paid $200.00 for a Repop pad for my blue 68 6yrs ago. I would say in less than 6mo i/2 of it was
sagging down, there very little reinforcement in them compared to an original, and I paid $100.00 to
have it color matched, so over $300.00 down the drain. I looked very hard and it took 2yrs but I
found a very good original one in ''blue'' just what I needed, cost me less than the repop piece
of you know what, and it was already blue.

Dan

[41husk]

I wish I could find a blue 68 dash pad with no cracks for under $200

[Lord Warlock]

just try finding a tan one.  Figured I'd live with my one large crack till someone makes another. 

[BronzeOnSteelies]

I can see from all the advice that I should have my original redone. That is now a no brainer. If I buy someone elses original It will only be so good and they are asking more money than redoing it.

It allows me to do it on my own schedule also, not under pressure to buy it before someone else does.

Another question, any way to replace the dash pad without removing the entire dash? Eventually I need to remove the dash, put in a new windshield and vinyl top and headliner. The dash pad is definitely the most ugly part of the car right now.

[BronzeOnSteelies]

Answered my own question, got the dash pad off with the dash left in.
Had the instrument cluster out, took out the radio and the speaker,
and a previous owner had carved out a chunk of the glove box liner top.
With all of that you can get at all the nuts.

I am going to try a local upholstery shop like Rolling Thunder did before I spend $300.00 plus on Just Dashes.

[BigBlockSam]

you can have a local upholstry place cover the pad with new vinyl 

thanks rolling thunder i never thought of that.i haven't done mine cause it looks like a pain in the ass to take it off. Rene

[JimShine]

The caps will stay down if the surface is prepped before glueing. And missing pices is no big deal. But I understand the desire to get a real pad as the caps never feel right.