Knee pad problem - any interior experts

[Rols 912]

Hi everyone

I am having a problem with my '68 912 'one piece' knee pad install. I was wondering if anyone else has had this problem. I purchased my car as a rolling chassis with parts.

The dash knee pad, when installed has a gap between the trim and the dash that runs across the whole front of approx 2 cm.

When I spin the knee pad the other way around the screw holes don't match up.

Any thoughts?

I have downloaded a photo from another pelicanite and put a red line where the gap is (naturally this dash pictured is not my car)

Cheers

R

[DRACO A5OG]

Whoa 2 CM = 20 mm. It would be more helpfull if we can see yours.

Does the knee pad line up with the driver side, level?

I am sure you already checked but does the old one match up with the new one?

[rolls 912]

Same problem across the entire dash.... This part may not be original to the car as I bought it as a rolling chasis. It is a one peice knee pad though.

If I spin it around:
there is an inclusion for the steering wheel
the gap disappears
but
none of the screw holes match up
the screws also don't appear to be long enough to go through the holes

This thing is driving me nuts!

thanks for replies

R

[lin7310948]

i have the same problem in my 71. i believe that i bought a set of later knee pads and replaced the originals...in very poor condition..cannot remember what year the replacements came from!

[rolls 912]

Does anyone know what year the single peice pads were changed?

[Evans, Marv]

Maybe you wouldn't want to do this, but have you thought of putting it in the way that makes the gap disappear and drilling holes so they match up and getting longer screws?

[R_Builder]

'69 was the first year they went to the two pads with an ashtray in the middle. This makes me want to fitcheck my knee pad on the 68 project car to see if I have the same issue!

[ossiblue]

Not familiar with the pre-69 single knee pad so bear with the ignorant questions.

I agree with DRACO A50G that 2 CM is extreme, it seems the pad should be installed the other way (flipped). Now the questions: Is the pad mounted with sheet metal screws? How far off is the hole alignment when the pad mounts with no gap? Is the misalignment the same for each hole (meaning, all holes are misaligned in the same direction by the same amount?)

My first reaction to your post was the same as Marv's, redrill holes and install. Is it possible that the factory buys the pads from a supplier with the holes pre-drilled and then installs them in an undrilled dash panel by matching the pre-existing holes? If so, then possibly your car had a pad from a supplier or manufacturing run that was different than the replacement, thus accounting for the misaligned holes. Conversely, if the dash has threaded holes, maybe Porsche realigned them over the years and also realigned the pad holes. Remember, the single pad was used from 65-68 on 911's and 912's so it may be possible that there were several suppliers/versions made over that time or other subtle mods by the factory.

Just a theory, hopefully experts will comment but if you can flip the pad and re-drill holes without any visual evidence, that might be the way to go.