dash forward-dating

Otter74 · 03-23-2016, 12:05 PM

Occasionally I notice a pre-86 car that has an 86-up upper dash pad in it. It is obvious that it is a newer dash on an older car either because of the information and context in the post/photo/etc., or the older lower dash vents are obvious.

How is this done? How involved is it? I know that '86-up dash pads cannot be installed as-is on older cars - center vents are larger (though maybe the hole in the structure is the same, I dunno), mounting locations and method at the windshield are different and it can be removed without taking the windshield out, etc. But clearly some people have made the retrofit.

vintagecarlover · 03-23-2016, 01:23 PM

Gotta have the metal welded in from an 86 or newer car. Call a junkyard and buy a cut, remove ur dash top and weld in new metal. Bolt
On. Nothing to it.

scottrx7tt · 03-23-2016, 02:35 PM

I have a dash pad from an 89. There really isnt all that much work to do to get it to fit. All you have to do is cut out the vent opening to fit the larger center vent. The defrost vents are fine as is. The 89 metal defrost cover fits over the existing old style defroster outlets. you just have to get some self tapping screws to screw the defroster vent in.
There are no push pins on the newer dash, the top is basically held in by the defroster vent cover. All of the studs on the newer dash lines up with the holes from the older dashboard. Its a nice upgrade in my opinion.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Otter74

Occasionally I notice a pre-86 car that has an 86-up upper dash pad in it. It is obvious that it is a newer dash on an older car either because of the information and context in the post/photo/etc., or the older lower dash vents are obvious.

How is this done? How involved is it? I know that '86-up dash pads cannot be installed as-is on older cars - center vents are larger (though maybe the hole in the structure is the same, I dunno), mounting locations and method at the windshield are different and it can be removed without taking the windshield out, etc. But clearly some people have made the retrofit.

Otter74 · 03-24-2016, 05:24 AM

Well, those are two pretty divergent answers! If it was not excessively difficult to do, it seemed like something worth doing if you had to take the windshield out and replace the dash pad anyway, as it looks nicer and saves you having to remove the windshield again.

wiggle_puppy · 03-24-2016, 05:34 AM

I'm glad that I found this thread. I was looking at 964 dash vents on eBay on Tuesday and dying to ask this question. The early center dash vents cheap the look of the interior a bit and I'd love to do the retrofit.

Can anyone else chime in? I assumed that the center vent would fit easily after a little trimming (but would require a new dash pad). I wasn't sure about the side vents.