Hi,

I have a '92 Camaro RS convertible and i have been replacing the speakers. I managed to replace the ones over the armrests in the backseat, but now I need help with the dashpad.

I removed the screws from under the dashpad that run the width of the dash. Apparently there are also some screws in the defroster ducts. I started to try to remove them, but the plastic form that hides the screws started to crack. Am I going to have to take my chances with ruining an otherwise pristine dashpad, or is there a better way to do this?

Comments/suggestions appreciated!

Thanks,

Steve

 

make sure your removing the screws and not over tighting them, take your time, go nice and slow to prevent cracking but if it does crack there is nothing to do but get a new dash pad but you can pick those up at a local junk yard. you got 4x6's in the front if you do i ran into the problem of getting the new ones to fit because of the magnet size difference plus you don't have much wire to play with up there so becareful when installing.. good luck man hope to hear good news on the progress.

 

Lefty loosey
Righty tighty

Just remember, even the "youngest" of the F-bodies are 11-12 yrs old. That's a lot of time for plastic to begin to breakdown and want to crack easy.

I'd recommend spraying some silicone spray at the screws to allow them to slide out easier.

 

Agreed.

 

I don't know if you guys are aware of this... but the dashpads aren't plastic, they're vinyl-covered fiberglass. Get some Blue Magic vinyl & leather cleaner or something similar and use it on the areas around the screws. It will soften the vinyl so it doesn't crack when you take the screws out. When it's finally out, clean the whole dashpad and use some vinyl/leather moisterizer when your done. It's like brand new and better than Armor-All.

 

Dash Pad Removal --- UPDATE!

Hello Everyone!

Thanks for the posts to my topic.

Well, the dirty deed is indeed accomplished, and I have learned something. The weather was nice today, so I put the top down and proceeded to nuke out this problem. Here is what I found:

My dash pad has a plastic cap over it. The plastic cover or cap, was covering the bolts for the defroster ducts. So I peeled the cover off and proceeded from there and put in new speakers. I attempted to install another dash pad that I had from my '83 T/A, but found that the two are NOT interchangeable, as the '83 is not wide (or deep?) enough to fill the whole dash area. So I installed the old dash pad and cover and I am done.......for now!

I just knew I was not dreaming about about that plastic..........

Thanks again,

Steve

 

I don't know what kind of dash you have, but mine's plastic. A real cheap flimsy plastic, but plastic. It is not vinyl. It's some sort of composition plastic.

Anyway...

shipfitter_sjd, there probably are enough differences from '83 to '92 that will make a difference on the fit. But glad to hear you got it off OK.

 

Maybe I have an aftermarket dashpad... I know I got it from a car that was in a previous accident, and then rebuilt. I'll have to check out the other dash pad I have.

 

Steve,

I have been considering the purchase of a dash pad cover just like the one you described. They're called "dash pad caps".

Have been checking the yards, and I can't find an "uncracked" pad, so ths may be the next best thing.

What do you think of the cap? (Besides the fact that it covers the screw holes---maybe I could drill my own holes to match up with the factory ones???)

Thanks,
Dean

PS: Anybody know what kind of repair shop might tackle repairing a broken corner on a dash pad?