964 style dash in 74-89 911, anyone do this?

[doc holladay]

Was wandering if anyone on the forum has done this weighing my options and have found some reasonable prices on a later style dash seeing that it will cost more to have mine redone. Or has anyone recovered with the world upholstery kit. Thanks

[pegasus9]

86 and on will work with a 964 dash. What year is your car? If earlier than an 86 you will have to do some modifying.

[will hung]

I found a dash top on eBay for really cheap, so I snagged it hoping to install in my '79 SC. I was surprised to see that it fit fairly well, and that the bigger center vent plugged right into the existing plumbing. To get it to fit it would have required some cutting (for the bigger center vent) and drilling (for the side mounting screws) to make it fit, but there was 1 big problem. The problem was, the windshield defroster vents are different between the two dashes. Older style dashes use 2 smaller defroster vents. The new style uses 1 big vent that has a cover that runs almost the entire width of the dash. The cover could be placed over the existing vents so that it would look fine, but the cover would block the defroster vents. I have heat in my car primarily to defrost the windshield on cold mornings and nights, so this was a deal breaker.

To make it properly fit, you'd need to get the sheet metal from a later style car and weld it in.

[doc holladay]

Ok thanks for the reply. Mine is an 83 sc.

[doc holladay]

I'm not to worried about mounting it , was more interested in how the defroster vent would line up I've never seen a later dash up close so I don't know what the 964 vent opening looks like. Is it open all the way across? Thanks

[SilberUrS6]

Originally Posted by will hung

I found a dash top on eBay for really cheap, so I snagged it hoping to install in my '79 SC. I was surprised to see that it fit fairly well, and that the bigger center vent plugged right into the existing plumbing. To get it to fit it would have required some cutting (for the bigger center vent) and drilling (for the side mounting screws) to make it fit, but there was 1 big problem. The problem was, the windshield defroster vents are different between the two dashes. Older style dashes use 2 smaller defroster vents. The new style uses 1 big vent that has a cover that runs almost the entire width of the dash. The cover could be placed over the existing vents so that it would look fine, but the cover would block the defroster vents. I have heat in my car primarily to defrost the windshield on cold mornings and nights, so this was a deal breaker.

To make it properly fit, you'd need to get the sheet metal from a later style car and weld it in.

I've seen some of those cheap ($100) eBay things and wondered on what kind of quality they were. Someday, I'm going to have the glass out, and when I do, I want to be able to get a new cover in there to replace the cracked one I have. Can you comment a bit on the quality?

[Brandon-FL]

Here is a picture of the 964 defroster vent and a screenshot from the Porsche PET catalogue that might help.

[doc holladay]

From the pics it looks like the defrost would still work does anyone know. Thanks

[Brandon-FL]

Here are drawings of the earlier dashes from PET.

1974 - 1977 Dash



1978 - 1983 Dash



It looks to me like the 964 defroster vent cover would provide openings for the earlier vent outlets. Seems like if you can get the 964 dash mounted on the earlier car that the defroster vent shouldn't be a deal breaker. Might need the windshield out to get the defroster vent piece mounted to the car (five screws). Can't tell if the defroster vent goes on top of or underneath the dashboard.

[will hung]

Originally Posted by SilberUrS6

I've seen some of those cheap ($100) eBay things and wondered on what kind of quality they were. Someday, I'm going to have the glass out, and when I do, I want to be able to get a new cover in there to replace the cracked one I have. Can you comment a bit on the quality?

Mine was a genuine 964 dash plus the plastic piece for the defroster that runs near the windshield.

[will hung]

Originally Posted by doc holladay

From the pics it looks like the defrost would still work does anyone know. Thanks

I should still have a pic at home from when I tried to fit the newer dash. Pop the plastic covers off your current (early) defrosters. There will be 2 openings for the defroster. At one end of the opening there is a sheetmetal piece that directs the air up onto the windshield. The plastic pieces do nothing to direct the air, they just cover that up and make it look good.

The problem with the newer style defrosters is that the plastic piece that runs along the windshield covers the sheetmetal openings 100%. So no defroster air can escape. If you don't want defrosters, go ahead and fit the dash, it's fairly easy. If you want working defrosters, it's going to take some cutting and welding.

[doc holladay]

Thanks for the help everyone.

[will hung]

Here are the pics, as promised.

Here is a pic showing the earlier style defroster vents and how they are directed to the windshield.


This pic shows the plastic trim piece for a later style defroster vent. The openings in the cover don't line up with the existing sheetmetal vents, totally blocking it.

[911fool]

The time as arrived for a dashpad replica, not a plastic cover, but an actual dashpad that feels and looks like the OEM, but for half the cost of the current $1,500 original.

How many of us would go for that?

[timmy2]

Originally Posted by 911fool

The time as arrived for a dashpad replica, not a plastic cover, but an actual dashpad that feels and looks like the OEM, but for half the cost of the current $1,500 original.

How many of us would go for that?

+1 here...

[doc holladay]

will hung thanks for all the info. Doc

[will hung]

No problem. It's something I really wanted to do and there was no info on the board. Some people would say they did it, but provide no details. I played around with it for a while convinced that I could make it happen. But then I came to the conclusion that I needed defrosters more than I needed a newer style dash pad. If I lived somewhere warmer and drier, I would have installed it along with a set of heaterless headers.

As far as relica dashpads go, I'd love to have one that has the earlier style defroster, but a bigger hole for the later style center vent. A hybrid dashpad, if you will.