thirdgen4me

iTrader: (1)

Well as we all know the dash-pads in our cars crack... My question is where can I buy a new cover for mine that is a better material than OEM? I remember seeing something about a member on another forum recovering them, but I can do it myself and would be easier then trying to ship the large pad.

88TransAmFreak

iTrader: (15)

I don't know if I would ever try recovering one. I seen a member use vinyl and tried to recover theirs and it looked horrible, especially around the defrost vents.

Way I see it, to do it right you have several options:

1. Have a company like Just dashes recover your pad using the same vacum technology originally used with better materials and glues.

2. Buy a good used oem dash pad

3. Get a dash cap

4. Get a dash mat

5. Or get a repro pad, one of the major suppliers is offering these now for around $400 IIRC.

Mathius

Or accept the fact that GM made millions upon millions of these cars for 10 years straight using cheap materials giving the whole interior a cheap, boxy look, and build yourself a custom dash that is made better, looks unique, and allows you to use your creativity to its best.

Mathius

thirdgen4me

iTrader: (1)

Well my interior is perfect im 10/10 other than the dash pad. I guess I will have to send it out to have it professionaly re covered.

88TransAmFreak

iTrader: (15)

People will be saying the exact same thing about the 4th Gen F-body in another 10 years

Actually that interior is the sign of the times, the cheap, boxy look was cutting edge during that run and is what lends to the appeal of the third gen. Heck the whole car is "boxy"....putting a curved dash in a square car is dumb imo.

I'm a believer if you want a high-tech cutting edge dash, then buy the whole car to go with it. Even people like Foose leaves the original dash of the car alone and just improves the basic design.

Just my two cents

Mathius

You can believe whatever you want to. It won't hurt my feelings. But I've been posting here for 10 years and every year I watch more and more people swap to a 4th gen dash, or ask about how to add cup holders, or try to figure out how to cut up their dash for an in dash monitor for a computer, or add gauges for racing, or try to figure out how to add a new radio without using one of those crappy "kits."

Since tons of people are putting 4th gen dashes in their third gen, obviously not everyone thinks "putting a curved dash in a square car is dumb".

The idea that you should buy a new car to have an up-to-date dash is something that I find frankly... retarded. I like the look of a third gen camaro. I want my interior to be hi-tech and comfortable, with heated seats, heated mirrors, and all the trimmings. There's no reason the two can't co-exist except for a closed mind.

If everything Foose did was perfect, why would we have anyone else out there building and designing cars?

Lastly, if boxy and cheap was "cutting edge" it's no wonder GM is in danger of going out of business.

Mathius

Mr. Sting Ray

Have you tried dashtops.com?

IROCKET4U

To each his own but I personally love the boxy look of the interior. Cheap? I guess, but that is part of the appeal of an 80's car. Does it compare in terms of quality to a 4th gen or anything european...NO but it has an appeal that cannot be denied. PERSONALLY I would have passed up on any 3rd gens (regardless of condition, miles or cost) if they had put a 4th gen interior in that car. Just my opinion but again, to each his own (Im also not a guy who would ever want a cup holder in my car. My Porsche doesnt have one and neither does my BMW--whoever thought drinking a beverage in the car was a good idea anyway??).

88TransAmFreak

iTrader: (15)

Your obviously missing the point, there is nothing wrong with improving on the basic design, to add better functionality what’s already there. I’m a big supporter in those kinds of modifications as long as they look aesthetically pleasing.

What I’m personally not a huge fan of is taking the original design (for example; dash assembly) and trying to swap in a completely different style of dash. Like a 4th generation dash. I feel like if you want to sit and stare at that style of dash buy the whole car.


You Sir, are very correct in this assumption. That’s what makes everyone “different” and I simply expressed my opinion on what I thought of modifying a 3rd gen dash.

Not retarded, my opinion and I’m allowed to have that.

Nothing to do with buying a new car, because if your putting a 94 Camaro dash in a 88 Camaro…..buy a 1994 Camaro….it’s hardly a new car anymore. Again this is strictly my opinion and I’m simply expressing what I personally would do.

Hi-tech and comfortable is one thing, the dash serves no functional purpose other than housing the gauges and other controls we use in our cars, we have those same controls in any dash we encounter. I would say the dash protects you in an impact, but once you crossed the line with a swap all the years of safety engineering research and design is lost.

As far as a “closed” mind, you obviously haven’t looked at my cardomain page, I actually started to swap a fiber glassed 1994 “grand am” style dash in my s10 Blazer….but pulled it out because I thought the curves in the dash detracted from the square body style of the suv. I ended up putting an 82-85 s10 dash in instead. So I’m no stranger to swapping dashes. I decided to go for an old school look.
I’m all about custom cars, look at my 82 Corvette….it is far from stock, but still has the original style dash.


I never said Foose was perfect, but he does have an eye for detail and can build cars that flow very well inside and out.

I have never seen him take a 60’s muscle car and swap in a late model dash because it was “hi-tech”. He would take the basic structure of the stock dash and go from there to improve that design.

You have other’s out there designing and building cars because it’s a business market, no different than body shops. I simply mentioned Foose because I like what he does to classic muscle.

Never said the cars were cheap, but the boxy design was used throughout the 80’s in all makes and model of cars. This includes the big 3 and foreign makes.

Then in the 90’s + things started getting curvy inside and out.

GM is in danger of going out of business because of other reasons not related to this thread, and I bet you didn’t know that the materials GM (or any other) put in our cars isn’t made to last a lifetime. Eventually parts DO fail, dashes do crack, metal does rust…things you have to deal with when buying a 20 year old car.

If parts were made to last forever.... then that would be what is putting GM out of business because no one would never buy a new car, why would they?



Again simply MY opinion

92 Camaro

iTrader: (1)

Putting a 4th gen dash in just makes it look even cheaper.

88TransAmFreak

iTrader: (15)

And the original poster made this a topic about replacing the current materials on his stock dash pad to something better.....then this was turned into a debate over swapping dashes

Mathius

The OP wanted something that doesn't exist. An OE style dash pad made with better materials.

Mathius

Mathius

But I don't like the look of the 94 camaro. It's a completely different body style. That's why I said I find your position retarded. You can't just assume that because someone likes the interior they will like the exterior as well.

That's not true at all. Take the kia for example... corners of the dash house ducts that route right into the door panels to heat the mirrors and work as a defroster. Silverado dashes have extensions to their HVAC system that go under the seats and heat the back seat. Ion dashes have the gauges in the center of the dash instead of right in front of the driver. I don't personally like this, but some people do. Corvette dashes have HUD's in them. And MOST cars have a glove box on the passenger side. These are all functional things that are built into the car when the dash is designed. To just retro fit them into a third gen would just make it look like a hack. If you took the time to do it and make it look right, you'd pretty much be re-doing the entire dash anyways. No matter which way you look at it it isn't going to look like a stock third gen anymore.

Which is just the exact opposite of everything I stand for, which is individuality and originality and overall, function. I don't understand people who drop 40k into their engine bay, but then restore their interior to 20 or 30 year old crap technology.

It's also worth mentioning that Foose doesn't do interiors. Probably designs them, but he doesn't build dashes and he doesn't upholster. When you're paying someone else to do the work, it's often an afterthought.

Besides the fact that it's pretty much mainstream to just restore the interior and not give it another thought. Only the sport truck or sport compact scene is ever seen doing anything unique or different and muscle car guys often scoff and insult them.

Lastly, Foose's age has a lot to do with it as well. My dad looks at a '57 Chevy and he remembers seeing them on the road as a kid. He thinks the dash is neat and the interior reminds him of good times he had as a kid. It's nostalgic. I look at it and I see the chrome trim is neat, but also a PITA to maintain. I also see that anything I tried to do to it... add a cd player, etc. would have to be hidden or it would just look out of place.

I'm not a youngster myself. 30 is just around the corner. But there's nothing I remember positive from the 80's except the cartoons and action figures. I bought a third gen as my first car because I liked the exterior look of the car. But I drove that one for at least 7 years before I had to get rid of it and when I think of the interior I think of how dirty it always looked, the cheap plastic parts that always creaked and were easy to break, and that stupid wrinkle texture on everything. I remember the cheap plastic torx heads screws that stuck up over every interior panel, the way the door handle's always sagged below the elbow rest because the cheap plastic always got warm in the summer, and yes a cracking dash pad.

That's the kind of thinking that is putting the big 3 out of business. People who build for profit don't build things well because then they wouldn't be able to charge to fix it, maintain it or upgrade it. I understand a business needs to make a profit, but GM goes too far.

People are buying more foreign cars because they last longer. They cost less to maintain.

GM is getting there, but they may have jumped on the boat too late. They've ignored what the consumer wanted for a few decades and they're paying for it.

Mathius

scottmoyer

The domestic cars are better than the import cars in quality and mileage. The perception that the domestic cars are cheap is because their prices are lower. A less expensive up front price is seen on the used car lots also. There are also more domestics on the road than the imports so to know of 1 problem is known to many more people that own the same product.

People take better care of more expensive things. Since imports are more expensive, they are taken better care of than the domestic vehicles. Why is it that everytime I see a base model "newer" car of any make, that they are covered with dents, scratches and dirt? Think about it and you'll probably agree that you've seen the same thing. Very seldom do you see a newer, more expensive, car driving down the road in the same condition.

When JD Powers did a poll of warranty claims of the major manufacturers, the domestics had more warranty claims. This proves that the domestic are built with lesser quality, right? Wrong. It was found that Toyota repaired some cars under warranty and others under "good will". The domestics reported their "good will" as warranty claims and the imports didn't. When the numbers were adjusted, Toyota and Nissan had more warranty claims than the big 3 combined. Also, our media doesn't help by always claiming that foreign products are superior to domestic products.

My 70k mile Silverado has had no issues. I've taken it in for repairs of stupid little annoyances, but they didn't affect the vehicles performance in any way. My 2003 Monte Carlo is now 6 years old and has never had any repairs done except a brake job, replacement tires and batteries. My dad's 2000 Chrysler 300M has over 125k miles and has needed nothing.

What is really a misconception is that the imports are better in mileage also. Gotta love the media for this one. GM has more cars getting 30+ miles/gallon than any other manufacturer. The 2008 Corvette, with it's 450 hp gets 29mpg highway. The 2002 Camaro SS with the 345hp gets 28mpg highway. IMO, these cars are better than the crappy imports that are no fun to drive and get the same 28-29mpg.

It's all perception and misinformation. America builds the best products, but Americans don't want to spend good money on our own products. They think they are getting a better deal on the overseas product at the same price!

snowman383

i had mine done over with fiberglass..sand it and paint it cant tell the diff only cost about 30 bucks

Mathius

The point that I was trying to make is that the points you're making above are things that GM has done within the last 5-10 years when they started to see their market share dwindle away. Instead of being proactive, they were reactive.

Reputations aren't built overnight. In my parents generation, GM was the big dog. Ford vs. GM was the hot topic. Not so by the time I got out of high school. Why is that? These imports didn't get their reputations entirely because of consumer stupidity.

If you think GM doesn't purposely build things cheaper in places where maintenance suffers or they just plain want to make more money of of you for service charges, you have blinders on.

Take the silverado you mentioned. GM stopped putting greasable wheel bearings on them. In fact, my '76 Chevelle has something like 10 or more grease ports. My Silverado? 4 factory grease points. But back to the bearings..? Now I have to replace my whole hub instead of just packing my wheel bearings regularly on brake changes.

But really we're getting WAY off topic.

Mathius

92 Camaro

iTrader: (1)

all interior will fade and crack. 4th gen interior will too in a little bit in time. I find 4th gen interior to be far less attractive, looks cheaper, and there is nothing 'hi-tech' or advanced about it...except the cup holders. But I just use my arm rest for that

da.slyboy

iTrader: (1)

My 84 Camaro dashpad only has a little split on the drivers side corner but the rest of it is in perfect condition. It's not that GM made horrible products, it's the horrible people who don't take the extra time to take care of their cars.

92 Camaro

iTrader: (1)

Why are you singling out GM for this problem? New cars are trash
they all have negative perks

Mathius

I didn't single anyone out. ScottMoyer was defending GM for making a quality product. I addressed him.

But you can't ignore the fact that the imports have closed the gap considerably in terms of reliability. And IMO, they're doing a BETTER job of listening to what the consumer wants. And yes, I honestly believe that out of Ford, GM, and Chrystler, GM has done the least amount of listening.

While Ford and Chrystler were cashing in on the retro phase with the new mustang, the pt cruiser, the challenger, and charger, GM STILL doesn't have a Camaro on a dealer lot to sell and they first introduced it what? 4.5 years ago? But it sure didn't take them long to come out with an impractical SSR that bombed, or the HHR, which while solid isn't exactly flooding the market. At least not around here. The GTO crashed big time when they decided to stuff a LS2 into a Grand Am and put new badging on it.

I still don't think GM is doing a good job of listening to the consumer. They decided to keep GMC, Chevy, Buick, and Cadillac. Saab, Hummer, and Saturn are being sold off, and the rest of them are left in limbo for now, no new designs. Does anyone really think Saturn isn't one of the most versatile lines out there? They use platforms from all the other labels. And they spent all that time and money working on Saturn's image, getting their customer service up to par, etc. But they kept Buick? Why? North American Buick sales are horrible. But they sell an a$$ load of them overseas, so they're keeping them. That's looking out for the american consumer!

Mathius

rough

Located my perfect dash pad in a 100$ donor car i bought, well worth the 100$ Got seats, a 700r4 tranny, whole engine gasket kit, rims, and much more!

GL in your search, its not a fun one!

80schild

iTrader: (5)

I think when the time comes I'm going to get the OER one from Classic.

deadbird

*passes out tampons*

89RsPower!

See our interiors arn't that bad, it looks WAY better than that old porsche interior, personally I've always loved the 3rd gen maro interiors..

92 Camaro

iTrader: (1)

I think you are taking this conversation too far so I will just say that Buick is making a profit so what's the problem?

Mathius

Why the hell am I the one taking the blame for all the bs in this thread? The OP asked for something that doesn't exist. I offered another option.

I wasn't the one who started ranting about GM's trends, or how reliable their products were. Those were 2 other posters.

I'm also the one who pointed out how off topic this crap is. I'm honestly shocked it hasn't been locked already. None of this crap is third gen related, or tech related. My original suggestion was.

But you ask me what the problem is? GM is taking bail out money from the American government, but they're marketing 1/4 of their company to countries outside the U.S. instead of making what Americans want.

Mathius

88TransAmFreak

iTrader: (15)

Actually in post #2 I offered a valid solution to his current problem of having a cracked dash, because their wasn't anything available better than oem. He was just wanting a viable solution to replacing a cracked dash pad.

Your the person that started ranting about building a custom dash (post #3).....that's when the thread went south

He didn't want a custom dash.......

TIMMYS89GTA

iTrader: (28)

Thank you!

And for what its worth,Scottmoyer is also 100% correct!!
My 2003 silverado has over 100k on it and has had absolutely no work done to it other than brake pads and regular maint.

So thirdgen4me,buy a oer one,have your original repaired or find a nice used one.

I found one here from another member(RCAR7395) for under $100 to my door.

Mathius

Bolded part is the key here. He ASKED for better than OEM. You offered him a bunch of solutions that were OEM.

Thread went south because you're a stock **** who started complaining when I offered him another option.

You didn't KNOW he didn't have an interest in a custom dash at the time he made his post. Not until he came back and said he'd just get it reupholstered.

Just because every idea you had to fix his dash went down the road of "restoration" doesn't mean there aren't any other options.

I'm done with this thread. Continue b*tching about me on your own. This place is getting absolutely ridiculous the way you guys can't think of anything that GM hasn't already thought of.

Mathius

Camaroguy6984

iTrader: (2)

.......... wow.....

Chevy8588

iTrader: (1)

gotta jump the bandwagon lol my 1995 Cadillac has 162,000 miles on it and its the original powertrain, with the exception of brake pads and regular maintenance, i think i replaced the starter once? but seriously why dont we start a rant section where we all just fight and flame the pi$$ out of each other because in a good 4out of 10 threads i see around here is this, two people going COMPLETELY off topic to have a my F*cked up idealology is better than your F*cked up ideaology war. I swear sometimes its like listening to children fight over a toy you BOTH offered him solutions leave it at THAT, i am sure the OP is not going to be helped by your little battles.

acole88

theres nothing wrong with oem quality materials. like a previous poster said, its not the material....its the people who take care of it. these cars are old now. take a look at any other car of the same age. they all have their problems now. plastics dry out and crack. thats just the way it is and theres nothing anyone can do about it except to take care of it and make it last as long as you can. my car is 25 years old and it wasnt until a month ago that the dash finally cracked. thats pretty good imo. all the third gen dashpads are made of the same plastic so if mine could last 25 years, so could yours. like i said, its all in the way you take care of it.

now...what would i do? grab a good used dash pad and soften it up before it goes in the car. use a sun shade in the windshield of the car for now on, maybe tint he windows too. crack the windows open on hot days, and take the pad out of the car and put it in your house in the winter when you store your car. in general, try to keep the inside of your car from temperature extremes. youd be amazed at the difference tinting your windows will make by keeping the sun out.

Camaroguy6984

iTrader: (2)

alienbishop

No offense man but putting 4-th gen dash in 3-rd gen is just tasteless, only one thing is right, that materials of 3-rd gen could be better quality (but 4-th gen interior materials are also not great), as for design it fits exterior of car perfectly ofcourse it is ok to modify original dash, but it has to be done with sense of style of 3rd gen. I am sure that there are alot of people who are putting modern dashes in older cars, rims with ultra modern design on 80-s and 70-s cars and so on but thats just TASTELESS

p.s. sorry for my bad english

alienbishop

U are 100% right