Dash Pads?

[dn010]

I finally got to replacing my evaporator over the weekend. So, a "while I'm in there" kind of a situation is happening now - my interior looks pretty great aside from a few things - one being the cracked dash pad that is also shedding it's coat of vinyl spray paint to hide it's sunburn.

Is DMCH the only ones reproducing these? I am on the fence about shelling out $300 for a repo from DMCH, I've heard mixed things about the fitment. Any comments on this?

[81dmc]

From what I've heard, the plastic ones are horrible quality! Once in DMCFL's showroom, I applied pressure to a plastic dash, and it squeaked and creaked. I suggest you just recover your dash with a medium thickness leather. After all, you will never find another with the quality of the metal-based original...

[Gfrank]

Zero complaints about the dmch pads. great bang for your buck. The studs aren't very strong, so don't tighten up much, once the nuts touch your done. Can't comment on color, my hole interior was dyed at once
I hear a lot of people saying they are junk, how ever I'd suspect a good majority of them have never touched one

[Drive Stainless]

Zero complaints about the dmch pads. great bang for your buck. The studs aren't very strong, so don't tighten up much, once the nuts touch your done. Can't comment on color, my hole interior was dyed at once
I hear a lot of people saying they are junk, how ever I'd suspect a good majority of them have never touched one

I have one. It was better than any original dashboard that I could find at the time, so it's been installed for a few years now. I spent a good 4-5 hours trying to get the glovebox lid to fit correctly. Eventually I made a custom bracket and shimmed the adjacent dashboard studs to get it to where I liked it. The finish is easy to damage. Speaker installation is simpler than with the OEM dashboard due to the longer studs.

[DMCMW Dave]

Here's an install hint. Before you fit it to the car, grind about 1/8 inch off the leading edge of the dash (this is the part that tucks under the base of the windshield, you will NOT see this modification). The dash was made a bit too perfect and often hits the glue at the bottom of the glass. Some cars may take more, but this is a good place to start. This causes you to force the dash into place so that the studs line up. This then puts some tension on it that can lead to problems later. The idea is to have it set in place with zero preload on the structure of the dash.

The other cautions given about not overtightening the studs applies as well.

If you want it to be a bit more "dead", you can glue some dense foam padding into the squares on the bottom side of the pad. I also dynamatted the one in my car (5 years ago, no issue) but this might be a bit risky if you car sits out in the sun a lot as the dynamat will tend to hold heat.

[dn010]

Thanks for the replies guys, at this point I really need my D as a daily driver by this Monday so that leaves me with very little time to get it ready - my wife threw a piston in her daily so now she has to take my daily which then forces me to take the D to work :D.

As much as I don't want to have my car looking awful, I may have to drive around without a dash until I can get something going but after the first post of advice I did purchase a special type of vinyl. The stuff I got is more durable then the usual vinyl upholstery I use (on the usual cheap stuff you slide a nail down it and it will rip the vinyl), it has much more of a leather texture to it too. My problem is the speaker holes, I haven't figured out what I'm going to do with them yet but I'll have to make it up as I go.

The upholstery cost me $50, if it looks awful - which it might since the color slightly off from the rest of the interior, I'll have no other choice but to get a reproduction dash.

[81dmc]

My problem is the speaker holes, I haven't figured out what I'm going to do with them yet but I'll have to make it up as I go.

You could use speaker grills like this (http://www.distantvisions.net/DeLorean.html) owner did.

I, however, mounted speakers in my foot wells with tweeters in place of the 3.5" speakers.

[cdrusn]

I've had my DMCH dash for about 5 years and it is some crumbling on top of the glove box area and some near the binnacle. For what you pay you should get a better quality. Maybe they are better now. :race:

[Ryan King]

I finally got to replacing my evaporator over the weekend. So, a "while I'm in there" kind of a situation is happening now - my interior looks pretty great aside from a few things - one being the cracked dash pad that is also shedding it's coat of vinyl spray paint to hide it's sunburn.

Is DMCH the only ones reproducing these? I am on the fence about shelling out $300 for a repo from DMCH, I've heard mixed things about the fitment. Any comments on this?

Dont get a new dash. They are horrible.

Stick with your original. Either get it recovered, or do what I did and buy a nice dashmat.
I used to hate them, but I find this one to be really nice.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000F3C0PA/ref=twister_B01BD6PXRE?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

[Gfrank]

Dont get a new dash. They are horrible.

Stick with your original. Either get it recovered, or do what I did and buy a nice dashmat.
I used to hate them, but I find this one to be really nice.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000F3C0PA/ref=twister_B01BD6PXRE?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

How long did you have a repo dash installed?

[Patrick C]

People have had good luck getting their original dash redone by http://www.justdashes.com

They strip the old dash down to the bare metal frame and rebuild it using modern materials. I understand they are able to replicate the finish of the dash exactly as NOS.

I am unsure of exact pricing, but believe it was in the $800 range several years ago.

[SoCalDMC12]

I'd just buy a dashmat:

http://www.dashmat.com/index.html

Nice looking protective cover will hide your sunburned dash until you find a suitable replacement. Even after installing a new dash pad, I'd still use the dashmat to prolong its life.

[Ryan King]

How long did you have a repo dash installed?

Too long.
There were gaps between the A-Pillars. It was wavy. Depending on the light, you could see where the studs were on the underside. It was just overall trash.
Luckily for me, a friend of mine gave me his original dash board, mostly free of cracks, aside for a hairline crack by the glove box lid. I installed that right quick and bought a dash mat...which leads me to....


I'd just buy a dashmat:
http://www.dashmat.com/index.html

Agreed. This is who I bought mine from. I LOVE it. I used to despise Dashmats. This one, however, I love. I went with the "Suede Dash" version. No regrets.

4134341344

[vin6635]

While the replacements aren't perfect, they're 1000x better than my destroyed original or the half a** dashmat I had. I'm very happy and it makes a world of difference every time I sit in my car.

Now this dash rebuilding shop...very interesting. Glad I saved my original in case I ever need to go down that route!

[Jason]

People have had good luck getting their original dash redone by http://www.justdashes.com

They strip the old dash down to the bare metal frame and rebuild it using modern materials. I understand they are able to replicate the finish of the dash exactly as NOS.


Would anyone happen to have a picture of what the dash looks like stripped down to the metal? I'm trying to decide if I want to try recovering it myself.

[Gfrank]

Too long.
There were gaps between the A-Pillars. It was wavy. Depending on the light, you could see where the studs were on the underside. It was just overall trash.
Luckily for me, a friend of mine gave me his original dash board, mostly free of cracks, aside for a hairline crack by the glove box lid. I installed that right quick and bought a dash mat...which leads me to....



Agreed. This is who I bought mine from. I LOVE it. I used to despise Dashmats. This one, however, I love. I went with the "Suede Dash" version. No regrets.

4134341344

Just checking you actually had a basis to bash :)

Zero fitment issues in my car, that and I can't stand to even look at a dash mat. First thing I did when I got my car was toss the mat out and get a repo dash. Had the dash before the car showed up lol

[dn010]

I, however, mounted speakers in my foot wells with tweeters in place of the 3.5" speakers.

I came across the link you posted when I was doing a search for others who have recovered their dash. I didn't like the way the grills looked. Could you post a picture of how you did your speakers? I just finished recovering and installing my dash and would love some ideas on where to alternately place some speakers.

Thanks for your posts guys.

[81dmc]

I came across the link you posted when I was doing a search for others who have recovered their dash. I didn't like the way the grills looked. Could you post a picture of how you did your speakers? I just finished recovering and installing my dash and would love some ideas on where to alternately place some speakers.

Thanks for your posts guys.

I have cheap, ugly speaker boxes for now, but the best place to buy footwell speakers boxes would be from DMCCA. I will take pictures of the tweaters in my dash when I get the chance.

[Drive Stainless]

People have had good luck getting their original dash redone by http://www.justdashes.com

They strip the old dash down to the bare metal frame and rebuild it using modern materials. I understand they are able to replicate the finish of the dash exactly as NOS.

I am unsure of exact pricing, but believe it was in the $800 range several years ago.

Justdashes.com DeLorean estimate:

$600 - Binnacle
$1,200 - Dashboard (speaker holes +$50)
$200 - Glove Box Door
$100-$200 Color Match Fee (if Gray)
+ Shipping

[dn010]

Well, for a quick update - I wrapped the dash pad with the material I mentioned earlier, and below are the results. I also wrapped the "glove box" door and passenger knee pad. The material looks great, however the color doesn't exactly match the rest of the interior which of course is pissing me off even though it isn't "that bad". It does match pretty closely to my replacement A-Post trim from DMCH but that is about it. Unless I recover the binnacle and other knee pads along with the doors which I do not plan to do-I'll have to suffer with it for now.

http://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=42037&d=1463596619
http://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=42038&d=1463597417
http://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=42039&d=1463597815

[WHO1DMC]

Too long.
There were gaps between the A-Pillars. It was wavy. Depending on the light, you could see where the studs were on the underside. It was just overall trash.
Luckily for me, a friend of mine gave me his original dash board, mostly free of cracks, aside for a hairline crack by the glove box lid. I installed that right quick and bought a dash mat...which leads me to....



Agreed. This is who I bought mine from. I LOVE it. I used to despise Dashmats. This one, however, I love. I went with the "Suede Dash" version. No regrets.

4134341344

For anyone thinking of a dashmat. https://www.covercraft.com/us/en/shop/delorean-dmc-12/dash-covers/?layout=horizontal

They have some good discounts plus I found a discount code for free shipping. CKSU-FQRS It saved me $24.30.



Dave B.

[WHO1DMC]

Installed a dashmat. Not too bad of a fit over all. I'm definitely digging it.



Dave B.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20230429/9ecea8170294287e91972fdd66758c27.jpg

Sent from my SM-G991U1 using Tapatalk

[82DMC12]

Does anyone have a photo of a black dash that's been refinished by JustDashes? I'm going to send mine out over this next winter / off season, don't really care how much it costs as long as it's perfect and looks OEM. How do they handle the VIN plate?