Dash replacement help

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Akgriffith
Posts: 103
Joined: Wed Jun 01, 2016 9:05 pm
Your car is a: 1977 and 1970 Spider

Dash replacement help

Post by Akgriffith »

Hello everyone. I've got a 77 and the dash is beyond repair. I want to replace it, not a cap. I've seen some replacement options around the vendors, but they all seem to use the flat bottom wood cluster panel. I want to keep my wood that has the bump on the bottom, it's in great shape & I like the 6 gauge setup. So my question is, does anyone know of a replacement dash that fits with the bump style wood? I'd perfer a hard type dash, not a soft one.
Thanks!
Alex Griffith
1977 124 Spider - Slowly coming together
PhillySpider
Posts: 325
Joined: Tue Apr 26, 2016 6:51 pm
Your car is a: 1980 Spider 2000
Location: New Hope, PA

Re: Dash replacement help

Post by PhillySpider »

Akgriffith wrote:Hello everyone. I've got a 77 and the dash is beyond repair. I want to replace it, not a cap. I've seen some replacement options around the vendors, but they all seem to use the flat bottom wood cluster panel. I want to keep my wood that has the bump on the bottom, it's in great shape & I like the 6 gauge setup. So my question is, does anyone know of a replacement dash that fits with the bump style wood? I'd perfer a hard type dash, not a soft one.
Thanks!
I know you said "beyond repair", but I've had great success with the vinyl repair kits available from Auto Zone on my dash and door cards. On the drivers side card, where your elbow rests, I had a MASSIVE and LONG gaping hole that now looks perfect from 5 feet away and damned good up close:

http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/perm ... repair+kit
pwilliam
Posts: 174
Joined: Fri Nov 02, 2012 4:30 pm
Your car is a: 1972 124 Sport Spider

Re: Dash replacement help

Post by pwilliam »

AR soft touch dash is what you are looking for.
Akgriffith
Posts: 103
Joined: Wed Jun 01, 2016 9:05 pm
Your car is a: 1977 and 1970 Spider

Re: Dash replacement help

Post by Akgriffith »

PhillySpider wrote:
Akgriffith wrote:Hello everyone. I've got a 77 and the dash is beyond repair. I want to replace it, not a cap. I've seen some replacement options around the vendors, but they all seem to use the flat bottom wood cluster panel. I want to keep my wood that has the bump on the bottom, it's in great shape & I like the 6 gauge setup. So my question is, does anyone know of a replacement dash that fits with the bump style wood? I'd perfer a hard type dash, not a soft one.
Thanks!
I know you said "beyond repair", but I've had great success with the vinyl repair kits available from Auto Zone on my dash and door cards. On the drivers side card, where your elbow rests, I had a MASSIVE and LONG gaping hole that now looks perfect from 5 feet away and damned good up close:

http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/perm ... repair+kit
[img][IMG]http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k85/alex_griffith2/Mobile%20Uploads/20160710_213317_zps2v1uaial.jpg[/img][/img]

In my opinion this is not worth a repair, simply too far gone......
Alex Griffith
1977 124 Spider - Slowly coming together
Akgriffith
Posts: 103
Joined: Wed Jun 01, 2016 9:05 pm
Your car is a: 1977 and 1970 Spider

Re: Dash replacement help

Post by Akgriffith »

I don't know why I can't get pictures to work on this, I'm following the directions. I'll try again.

[img][IMG]http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k85/alex_griffith2/Mobile%20Uploads/20160710_213257_zpscvlhth6q.jpg[/img][/img]
Alex Griffith
1977 124 Spider - Slowly coming together
DieselSpider
Posts: 2130
Joined: Wed Dec 24, 2014 10:21 pm
Your car is a: 1978 124 Spider with Isuzu Turbo Diesel

Re: Dash replacement help

Post by DieselSpider »

Akgriffith wrote:I don't know why I can't get pictures to work on this, I'm following the directions. I'll try again.


Image
Double encapsulated the image link in with a url statement.
PhillySpider
Posts: 325
Joined: Tue Apr 26, 2016 6:51 pm
Your car is a: 1980 Spider 2000
Location: New Hope, PA

Re: Dash replacement help

Post by PhillySpider »

LOL, I concur!
Akgriffith
Posts: 103
Joined: Wed Jun 01, 2016 9:05 pm
Your car is a: 1977 and 1970 Spider

Re: Dash replacement help

Post by Akgriffith »

PhillySpider wrote:LOL, I concur!
:lol: I figured once you saw it that you'd agree....it's way too far gone to repair. It's the worst I've ever seen, but I'm sure others have seen even worse ones.
Alex Griffith
1977 124 Spider - Slowly coming together
DRUMMOND
Patron 2018
Patron 2018
Posts: 443
Joined: Thu Oct 20, 2011 11:11 pm
Your car is a: Fiat Spyder 2000 1980 Pininfarina

Re: Dash replacement help

Post by DRUMMOND »

I disagree!

You have to remember that the dash is just basically paper mache. with a covering of vinyl. no big deal to repair.
either some body-filler or glass fiber matting will rebuild your dash then all you have to do is get some black vinyl and contact glue .
Mine was cracked (nearly in half) and lots of mold. this is how it turned out. I did a little more work than described above, but its how you want it to turn out.
Image
Image
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Image
Akgriffith
Posts: 103
Joined: Wed Jun 01, 2016 9:05 pm
Your car is a: 1977 and 1970 Spider

Re: Dash replacement help

Post by Akgriffith »

Wow Drummond, thats amazing. You did a great job on your dash. I'm impressed. I'm still going to replace mine, what you cant see in the pic is that the entire front is also peeling and cracked and it has a huge sag in the dash. The sag is so bad that the glove box door wont open. The sag probably comes from a dealer installed AC unit. It hung off the bottom of the dash and warped it over the years.
Alex Griffith
1977 124 Spider - Slowly coming together
njoconnor
Posts: 614
Joined: Thu Jul 05, 2012 7:06 pm
Your car is a: 1972 124 Spider

Re: Dash replacement help

Post by njoconnor »

pwilliam wrote:AR soft touch dash is what you are looking for.
Yup, I agree. However. Any of the replacement dashes will require tweaking at best, usually in the mounting brackets, etc. There's a couple of good posts on this in the forum, which include some pictures . As Jay would say: search and Google are your friends.

I installed the A/R dash (with hump) about 2 years ago and have been very happy with it. I considered capping the old dash, but spouse did not like the looks of the caps, and "directed" me to buy the new dash. Didn't take a lot of convincing...:)

Good luck with the search and the re-install.

Neil
Neil O'Connor
Madison, WI
72 FIAT 124 Spider
12 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland Summit
14 Ram 1500 Laramie Longhorn Eco-Diesel
ex-71 FIAT 124 Coupe
and a host of Audi's, Saabs, VW's, MOPAR's, Fords, and a Bimmer....
Akgriffith
Posts: 103
Joined: Wed Jun 01, 2016 9:05 pm
Your car is a: 1977 and 1970 Spider

Re: Dash replacement help

Post by Akgriffith »

njoconnor wrote:
pwilliam wrote:AR soft touch dash is what you are looking for.
Yup, I agree. However. Any of the replacement dashes will require tweaking at best, usually in the mounting brackets, etc. There's a couple of good posts on this in the forum, which include some pictures . As Jay would say: search and Google are your friends.

I installed the A/R dash (with hump) about 2 years ago and have been very happy with it. I considered capping the old dash, but spouse did not like the looks of the caps, and "directed" me to buy the new dash. Didn't take a lot of convincing...:)

Good luck with the search and the re-install.

Neil

I just bit the bullet and ordered the soft dash from AR. Thanks for your help!
Alex Griffith
1977 124 Spider - Slowly coming together
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