Review of Palco dash cover
07-25-2016, 09:20 AM
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Review of Palco dash cover
A couple months ago I bought a Palco brand dash cover for my wife's 1987 IROC. Her old pad was badly cracked. On my 1985 Z28 I have an early design Classic Industries urethane dash that I love, but I didn't want to spend $600 on that (they were about $400 when I bought mine years ago) for her car so I shopped around for dash covers. There were several companies making the molded dash covers, and my internet research indicated they probably all used plastic from the same supplier of moldable plastic.
I saw numerous complaints about the plastic warping immediately when exposed to sun / heat, and one guy had fixed that by gluing the entire pad down as opposed to the gluing just the corners, which is what all the manufacturers recommend (supposedly to allow for expansion, but who wants their pad to expand and warp?). I decided to glue the whole thing down.
I bought the pad off an online auction site for about $150. Later I discovered it from another supplier for about $100. It looked very good out of the box. I prepped the old dash pad by lightly grinding down the high cracked areas, then quickly scuff sanded the underside. I used cheap clear 100% silicone caulk from Wal-Mart (about $3.50 per tube). It took 2 tubes, but I probably should have used a little more. I spread the silicone on and spread it around thin with my hands, then immediately attached the Palco cover. The silicone dries very quickly. I spent a few minutes pressing the cover and old dash together by hand, then clamped the edges and left it overnight. It looked great. Put it in the car and temps were in the 80's the next day.
The two speaker grill portions warped noticeably that day. I had not used any silicone in that area because I was afraid it would plug up the speaker holes and be hard to clean out before the silicone dried, and because the speaker vents on the old dash were so cracked there was not a lot of surface area to silicone the cover to. I had two other spots about the size of a nickel that swelled up a bit, probably because I didn't get enough silicone there (hence the reason to use 2-3 tubes). Over time the speaker grill warping went down a little and overall I'm fairly happy with the way it looks. I looks 100% better than the old cracked dash, and the finish is very similar to original texture. It fit like a glove on top of the old dash, and the corners and vents look great. The only way you can really tell its a cover is the slight warping still there, but not too bad really. The urethane dash from Classic is definitely better, but at a huge additional cost.
I would recommend the Palco dash cover, but use lots of silicone to hold it down and be willing to accept some small imperfections. Attached are some pictures from before with new cover next to it, during prep, and immediately after I installed it in the car.
I saw numerous complaints about the plastic warping immediately when exposed to sun / heat, and one guy had fixed that by gluing the entire pad down as opposed to the gluing just the corners, which is what all the manufacturers recommend (supposedly to allow for expansion, but who wants their pad to expand and warp?). I decided to glue the whole thing down.
I bought the pad off an online auction site for about $150. Later I discovered it from another supplier for about $100. It looked very good out of the box. I prepped the old dash pad by lightly grinding down the high cracked areas, then quickly scuff sanded the underside. I used cheap clear 100% silicone caulk from Wal-Mart (about $3.50 per tube). It took 2 tubes, but I probably should have used a little more. I spread the silicone on and spread it around thin with my hands, then immediately attached the Palco cover. The silicone dries very quickly. I spent a few minutes pressing the cover and old dash together by hand, then clamped the edges and left it overnight. It looked great. Put it in the car and temps were in the 80's the next day.
The two speaker grill portions warped noticeably that day. I had not used any silicone in that area because I was afraid it would plug up the speaker holes and be hard to clean out before the silicone dried, and because the speaker vents on the old dash were so cracked there was not a lot of surface area to silicone the cover to. I had two other spots about the size of a nickel that swelled up a bit, probably because I didn't get enough silicone there (hence the reason to use 2-3 tubes). Over time the speaker grill warping went down a little and overall I'm fairly happy with the way it looks. I looks 100% better than the old cracked dash, and the finish is very similar to original texture. It fit like a glove on top of the old dash, and the corners and vents look great. The only way you can really tell its a cover is the slight warping still there, but not too bad really. The urethane dash from Classic is definitely better, but at a huge additional cost.
I would recommend the Palco dash cover, but use lots of silicone to hold it down and be willing to accept some small imperfections. Attached are some pictures from before with new cover next to it, during prep, and immediately after I installed it in the car.
The following users liked this post:
lonesomeloser (01-13-2024)
07-26-2016, 01:10 AM
#3
09-01-2016, 07:47 AM
#5
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Update 09-01-16
Update on this.
It has been a few months now and the dash cover has developed two small cracks by the left vent under the windshield. The plastic itself cracked. They aren't very noticeable, but I am very disappointed because it's only a few months old. The cover came with a "lifetime warranty" against defects from Palco and I registered it with them when I bought it, but I don't think I will bother to warranty it because I suspect a replacement will just do the same thing.
At this point I would not recommend the Palco dash cover. It still looks so much better than the old original dash, but I bet some of the other brands out there are better for the same price. I would be interested in trying the Accuform brand. Their website claims they have perfected the plastic mixture and don't have problems with cracking. I am a little skeptical because I read elsewhere on the internet that all the dash cover manufacturers use the same supplier for plastic base stock. I have also seen other forums recommend the Coverlay brand.
It has been a few months now and the dash cover has developed two small cracks by the left vent under the windshield. The plastic itself cracked. They aren't very noticeable, but I am very disappointed because it's only a few months old. The cover came with a "lifetime warranty" against defects from Palco and I registered it with them when I bought it, but I don't think I will bother to warranty it because I suspect a replacement will just do the same thing.
At this point I would not recommend the Palco dash cover. It still looks so much better than the old original dash, but I bet some of the other brands out there are better for the same price. I would be interested in trying the Accuform brand. Their website claims they have perfected the plastic mixture and don't have problems with cracking. I am a little skeptical because I read elsewhere on the internet that all the dash cover manufacturers use the same supplier for plastic base stock. I have also seen other forums recommend the Coverlay brand.
The following users liked this post:
lonesomeloser (01-13-2024)
09-01-2016, 03:39 PM
#6
Supreme Member
iTrader: (11)
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: MICHIGAN
Posts: 4,637
Received 751 Likes
on
577 Posts
Car: 1988 Trans Am
Engine: L03
Transmission: 700R4
Axle/Gears: 10 Bolt 2.73 Open
Re: Review of Palco dash cover
That's an odd place for a crack. I would have thought it would have cracked around the screws.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post