dash top swap

danekejt

Registered User
i have a 91sc parts car that has a black interior. over the summer i swapped the interior from that car to my 89sc that had grey leather interior. the grey leather seats are hammered thus the reason for the swap.

the top of the dash in the 89sc is cracked. the top of the black dash in the 91sc is perfect. how hard is it to swap the top part of the dash. one more thing also. my 89sc has the storage compartment in the dash. my 91sc doesnt. does that matter? will that part of the dash just cover up that hole? thanks for any and all info. if something is confusing please let me know and i will reexplain.
 
cougarsc,
Do you know how much of a pia it would be to swap tops? Thanks for the links. i will keep that in mind.
 
The stock dash tops is the whole dash. you will have to swap out the entire dash, which means unhooking alot of wiring.

The dashtops I listed just fit over your old dashtop and looks better than the carpet tops.
 
Does anyone actually have one of these? Most of the replacement dash covers are made of plastic.. not actual soft vinyl and these listings don't convince me that these are actually made with soft vinyl.

Before I would order one of these, I would want to see one installed in someone's car.

http://www.dashtop.com/products.html
It states "molded plastic" :confused:

Buyer beware!
 
Good note!

Thank you for pointing that out. The quality of the top is such that is was mistakenly advertised as vinyl. All ads have been changed to address that.

J3
 
If somebody could find a way to effectively bond vinyl to that plastic cover, or provide a kit + material to let the buyer do the same, I think they'd have a winner. ;)
 
I used one of the coverlay covers. they fit just ok. you put them down with blobs of silicon spaces about 12" on center. They have a vinyl grain molded into them. from outside you really can't tell, until the warp. mine warped after a summer here in Cali. So i used part of it and made the rest for my dash. maybe it will inspire someone to make their own also. it fiberglass covered in Landau padding then vinyled. its better than cracks

dash2.jpg

dash3.jpg

dash5.jpg
 
danekejt

Swap the dash. It's alot of work, but I'm sure that it would look alot better. I had a coverlay on my 69 mustang, It too look ok, but it also warped after a summer in ohio. That sucked, ended up breaking down and bought a dash pad for $500.00 from FORD. It did look alot better than the cover, but on the other had the cover did look alot better than the old cracked dash.
Good Luck
Tim
 
There is/are company(s) which will refurb the dash for around $700 + S/H. There is one which is on the west coast somewhere but is based in Australia. You ship the dash to them (west coast that is), they strip and rebond it and ship it back. Whole process takes about 6-8 weeks (2+2+2+?). So if you really need it done right, and cost is not an object, there are alternatives.
 
ok thanks. i appreciate all of the suggestions. what do you guys think of patching the crack and then dying the dash black to match the interior. anyone ever have any experiance with that? how difficult is that and how did it turn out for you if did patch and dye your dash?
 
I tried to patch the cracks (started with 1 and by the time I was finished with replacing my evaporator, I had about 4) on mine.. and it was a total waste of time. My dash has become faded, dry, and brittle from the UVs over the years. What I ended up doing was to just fill the cracks with silicon sealant and buy a dash hugger which I intend to dye to better match the interior color.

The dash hugger is a carpet cover which is cut and sticthed to conform to the shape of the dash. About $50 with S/H.

Dyeing the thing is going to be a trick also as the interior has faded into about 5 or 6 varying shades of the original red. I'll have to pick a shade which looks best overall.
 
I did an interior swap much like you on my 89 SC.I put 91 black interior into it and have the same problem, I'm stuck with the grey dash!!I cut the dash out of the 91 so I have a black dash ready to install but it's alot of work to install so its going to be a weekend project this winter!I'll keep you posted on how the swap turns out it should go smooth I think there were just 3 or 4 brackets I cut where I will have to weld.

Chris
 
Beware of used dashboards

Swapping dash's is a lot of work, but can be done in a day...before you begin though, make certain that that 'perfect' dash isn't going to self-destruct during the process.
I just pulled one out of my 90 SC to send to another member, as it looked OK through the glass, and from the inside as well. I laid it GENTLY on the lawn to remove the harness, and by the time I turned it back over there were several cracks in the top of it...I squeezed it between my thumb and forefinger (since it was now junk anyway) and it was so brittle it just collapsed -with less pressure than I'd use to crush a not-quite-ripe tomato.
Sacramento summers are kinda hard on interiors, however ;-)
Good Luck
 
Back
Top