1971 911 Factory Dash Installation

panamadre · 05-17-2007, 10:26 PM

Hello, folks:

Has anyone installed a new factory dash in a 1971 911?

If so, pls let me know what the secret hand shake is becasue because I'm about to go postal!

After my experience today, my educated guess is that a new factory dash will not fit without modification.

True or False?

I learned the hard way. When the first new dash didn't fit, I bought another thinking the first had a factory defect.

Well, the second fit just like the first. Both were made in Germany and both were purchased from well respected suppliers.

So here I was with two factory dashes and neither one would fit. Specifically, there was left a 1/2" gap between the driver side air vent and the dash, and an even larger one on the opposite passenger side (3/4").

The photos at this link show what I mean:

http://picasaweb.google.com/andregladden/1971911EFactoryDashInstallation

Can someone please help me figure this puzzle out because I'm really about to go postal and you may be the only one who can save me. Otherwise, there's a chance you will be reading about me in the morning paper.

Call, write or send smoke signals fast!!!!

andregladden
323-314-4964
andregladden@gmail.com

Johan123m · 05-17-2007, 11:51 PM

There was a guy on early s registry who had the exact same problem. I don't know what his cure was, but i guess you will find the article if you do a search.

By the way...my car is getting a bare-metal respray right now and a brand-new dash is waiting to be installed. I will dig up this tread in a few weeks to share my experiences of the installation!

silverc4s · silverc4s's Garage

andre,
did you remove/replace the vents? the one in the picture looks like it would fit better rotated 180 degrees.

panamadre · 05-18-2007, 02:42 AM

Thanks for the input, gentlemen. Had I known of this isue in advance, I would have probably put a cover on my old dash instead. But, I really didn't want to do that either. The air vents are not reversed -- the driver's side is the 35+ year original and the passenger is brand new from Porsche -- and, the are not upside down, either, as I had thought they may be, too. Thanks again, guys.

panamadre · 05-18-2007, 02:56 AM

I checked the 911S registry web cit and there weren't any articles concerning this dash issue. Any other ideas and/or comments are more than appreciated.

Johan123m · 05-18-2007, 03:31 AM

Hey Andre,

There sure is a tread on early S

Here it is (hopefully link works...):

http://www.early911sregistry.org/forum/showthread.php?t=12760&highlight=stoddard

title of tread "new OEM dash" from member "Gearbox"

His dash looks like this installed:
does it ring a bell

Good luck solving the problem!
Johan

Johan123m · 05-18-2007, 03:47 AM

Hey,

In the meantime I read the complete tread and it isn't looking to good...

Those OEM dashes just don't fit!

I'm gonna measure mine this evening to see what I have (look in the for measurements)

Otherwise...someone wants a real OEM-dash? very cheap! as of tommorow on Ebay!

See ya!
Johan

panamadre · 05-18-2007, 04:28 AM

Johan: Thanks for the link. I read through it carefully and it seems pretty clear that this is a real issue for us early model owners simply becasue we pay a high premium for an OEM dash that is supposed to fit, but it doesn't. This situation has set me back so much as I was on track to ship the car out of the country in a few days. I need to mull over this one and see what can be done. Thanks again for the link even thought it was not the news I was hoping to receive.

Johan123m · 05-18-2007, 10:46 PM

Hey Andre,

I just measured my dash and it's also not wide enough.

I'm still gonna test-fit it when the repaint is finished, but I probably will have to find a replacement or find a solution to make this one work...

If you have any ideas, let me know!

Regards
Johan

JohnKo · 05-19-2007, 04:51 AM

It might be interesting to start talking about where these "factory" dashes came from. Is there a bogus source out there? I got mine a while back from Automotion, but it's still in the box so I can't report any problems. Anyone?
John

panamadre · 05-19-2007, 08:19 AM

Gentlemen: I have been working this issue very aggressively over the past several days and, unfortunately, there is only more bad news to share. Specifically, I have learned that senior members of the Porsche community are well aware of this issue, yet the new dashes ($1300-$1500) continue to be sold. Be advised, that new OEM dashes currently available on eBay and other well recognized suppliers/distributors are ALL defective -- they will not work perfectly for early model owners (69-73). More specifically, there will be left after installation a 1/2" gap betweeen the dash and driver air vent, and a larger gap on the opposite passenger side(3/4"). There is a way to cheat: by removing/gutting the factory foam on the inside of the new dash, it seems that you can gain 1/4" inch in the desired forward direction. But, even like this, you are still left with a very noticeable gap. At this point, you can use painted cardboard or other material to fill the noticeable gaps. I know of a technician near in Van Nuys, California, who has offered this service in the past. I don't mind sharing his contact info should you be interested in speaking with him direct (please send PM). In the end, Porsche is making us pay a high premium for a replacement dash and then expecting us to invest more time (10 hours or more) of fabricating to make the new dashes work better. To me, this is so unacceptable that I am preparing myself in thought to write a complaint letter to Porsche Public Relations (let me know if you have a good contact). In the meantime, I have returned both my OEM dashes for refund. Also in the meantime, to move my restoration forward, I have swapped my original decayed dash with a reupholstered dash ($650 + core). The reupholstered dash looks very cheesy and requires modifcation of the dash speaker to work. I feel I got robbed because I could have done a better job, but the better job would have required several more days, and time is not a commodity I currently have. Once I install the rehopolstered dash, I will provide photos through this thread. Hope this information helps.

panamadre · 05-19-2007, 08:32 AM

Gentlemen: I have been working this issue aggressively over the past several days and, unfortunately, there is only more bad news to share. Specifically, I have learned that senior members of the Porsche community are well aware of this issue, yet the new dashes ($1300-$1500) continue to be sold. Be advised, that new OEM dashes currently available on eBay and other well recognized suppliers/distributors are ALL defective -- they will not work perfectly for early model owners (69-73). More specifically, there will be left after installation a 1/2" gap betweeen the dash and driver air vent, and a larger gap on the opposite passenger side(3/4"). There is a way to cheat: by removing/gutting the factory foam on the inside of the new dash, it seems that you can gain 1/4" inch in the desired forward direction. But, even like this, you are still left with a very noticeable gap. At this point, you can use painted cardboard or other material to fill the noticeable gaps. I know of a technician in Van Nuys, California, who has offered this service in the past. I don't mind sharing his contact info should you be interested in speaking with him direct (please send PM). In the end, Porsche is making us pay a very high premium for a replacement dash and then expecting us to invest more time (10 hours or more) of fabricating to make the new dashes work better. To me, this is unacceptable to the extesnt that I am preparing myself in thought to write a complaint letter to Porsche Public Relations (let me know if you have a good contact). In the meantime, I have returned both my OEM dashes for refund. Also in the meantime, to move forward, I have swapped my original decayed dash with a reupholstered dash ($650 + core). The reupholstered dash looks very cheesy and requires modifcation of the dash speaker to work. I feel I got robbed because I could have done a better job at a fraction of the cost, but the better job would have required several more days, and time is not a commodity I currently have. Once I install the rehopolstered dash, I will provide photos through this thread. Hope this information helps.