I go out to my 84 Firebird this morning to leave for work and I look down to see a crack in my dash pad. DOH!

After 23 years it finally cracked.

Its a small crack that runs from the speaker housing to the defrost vent. So it's only like an inch, but it's a crack non-the less.


I had a good run. What about you all? How long did it take for your dash pad to finally crack?

-bill

 

12 years now and nothing yet...... Knock on wood I even used armor all for the first 11 years.

 

Mine got a small crack the other day, but it was induced ( I accidentally hit the drivers side corner of the pad with my knee while getting in. I'm only 5'9" so I dont know why I put my knee up so high. Guess I was still half asleep when I got in or something, haha. It was very cold in the morning (temp. was somewhere in the 50's), the vinyl was hard, so it got a crack almost 2cm long right along the top edge.

 

very cold in the 50s lol mine is still crack free and original from 84 car has 98,000 miles on it , oh and its 18 this morning lol

 

my bro did the same thing to his 84 camaro a few years ago. He was getting in and smacked the corner with his knee.

I put armor all on the dash quite a bit during my high school years (about 10 years ago). I used to wash and detail my firebird every weekend. Now it's lucky to get a wash once a year.

-bill

 

15-years old and just like brand new!

 

Mine was good till i smacked the corner of the pad with me knee! lol...i was so pissed when it happened...it was shortly after i got my car so i think it was from being so excited when i jumped in and out i went a little too fast...

Needless to say i got another one.

 

Wow, you summed up my feelings exactly! My 89's dashpad just cracked about a month ago in almost the exact same place as yours. Mine now has about a 2 inch long crack between the driver's side speaker grill and the windsheild. Nobody else even knows it's there, but just like you, I know it's there! Btw, I've always been WAY careful getting in and out after seeing how many of them get messed up on the corners. I make sure everyone who rides in it is aware of that too! My timing couldn't have been better though. I just walked into a local junkyard about a week ago, and found the first flawless one I've seen in the local yards. On top of that, he only charged me $40 for it! I figure since the crack in my original one is so small, I'm just going to keep that dashpad in it until I get the car painted all nice and pretty. I'll throw the perfect one in it at that point.

 

Ya me too a few months ago, i found a mint pad i couldnt believe it, only cost me $20 or so.

 

Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you guys what else I found in the same car. It was an 84 Camaro, and whoever owned it stuck an original 82 Indy 500 dash emblem in there. The junkyard owner let me have that for free, and it now resides on my dash panel. I wonder what an original pace car dash emblem would be worth on ebay? Hmmm...

 

I bought mine with the cracks already in play, but local Upull it offered one intact, a bit dirty, but crack-less for about $15

 

Trying to find a early third gen bird in any pick-a-part in my area is very hard. They are just hard to come by. If I finally find one, the parts I need are usually in worse shape than what I've got.


-bill

 

I feel your pain. The Firebird ones are even harder to find, especially the earlier design. A lot of guys with the early Camaro style end up going to the newer style since they're a lot easier to come by.

 

I've got an 84 T/A here and the only cracks were my fault (pulled it to put new speakers in and tore a corner). So far so good otherwise!

 

I've gotten lucky around here. There are a couple of junkyards with plenty of 3rd gens that I've taken a bit out of....The only thing I have not had luck finding in junkyards or even the internet is the Trans Am/GTA front speaker panels. Not the ones with the vertical bars, but rather the more "mesh/honeycomb" style grille...

 

18 years and all is well.