I went to a local junkyard and came across a carpet dash pad for a Trans Am. It was very dry (it has just rained) and had no discoloration. I bought it for a few dollars, brought it home, washed and then vaccumed it.

My dash has no cracks in it at all, and I always use a sunshade, but is adding the carpet overkill, tacky, or am I to paranoid over my 20 y/o dash? Only other downside is that I'll have to velcro the corners and middle so it doesn't flap around. Pretty sure it washes off though.

Ellaborate if you'd like.
If it matters, I live in RI, but this Global Warming is creeping up :P

Id say use your dash while its there

Think of the carpet thingy like you would a car fascia bra
They commonly cover up damage and if there is none they damage the paint and likely in this case, the dashpad

The velcro wouold use adhesive to attach to your pad and the adhesive will be hard to remove if you ever took off the pad

I would have to see this if you do it, I couldn't imagine carpet on someones dash. When I read that you vacuumed your dash I got a mental picture and just couldnt stop laughing

i'd say dont worry about that untill the one you have now starts to crack. But still the thought of a carpet covered dash dosent apeal to me.

Go back to the junkyard & buy a dashpad that's cracked where the carpet goes & put that in your car, put your uncracked dashpad somewhere safe & if you decide you don't like the carpet you can switch them back & sell the carpeted one.

I'll post a picture of it. I have it secure w/out velcro and am still deciding if I like it. Its not a pile of carpet, its very low cut and smooth

It isn't velcro'd down yet, so just work with me.

Sorry but i'm not feeling this look...with or without the velcro. You can just as easily by a new dash pad and keep it on the side just in case. But thats just my opinion if you like it then go for it. Nothing wrong with being original.

It doesn't look bad. My wife has carpet in her Alero on the dash so I'm probably a little biased here. I'd say use it if you think you need it. If you take good care of your dash (sun shade, armorall, etc) then you shouldn't need it. But it's really your call.

see now I was thinking it was the type of carpet from your floor at home . Its not as bad as I imagined, but it should have been fit to reach all the way to the front of the pad at least. Still not feelin' it, though...

The thing being is what are you really saving the dash pad from? Same with seat covers. These people that put seat covers on and say "oh well I want to save my seats" well what are you saving them from? enjoy the seats and the dash! if they wear out they wear out. Why put a cover on it. It serves no purpose IMO.

If I was in RI then I would be hawking the yards for another dash pad. I have one small crack on a speaker grill and a near pristine pad in safe keeping. I am in Texas and a good one is hard to find. If I happen onto a good one it too will be in storage, until I find another Camaro to put it in.

I always thought about that myself. As much time as you spend in a car, why try to always be careful getting in and out of the car to not rip the seats, or get anything on the carpet. Thats why they make reproductions, replacements, or thats why they part out cars at junkyards, so you have replacement parts. I like being able to get in a car and not have to watch how careful I'm being with the upholstry or anything else. Dont get me wrong I do take care of the stuff I have, but I like to be able to use what I have. It's like the guys at Barrett-Jackson who spend millions on cars that will never see the road...

I hear what your saying but take me for example...my cars 21 years old and the interior is next to flawless...but i use seat covers and stuff to protect them...i do this so when i go to car shows i can take the covers off and show the original equipment without buying replacement parts. But thats me.

I use one in my GTA for extra insurance against cracks. I like it - and have never secured it with the velcro. Just slip it on and tuck the corners in.

hell I made my dash OUT of cheap walmart carpet and home depot styrofoam.
I'm abit of a weight ****.I wish I could've done it in black but nobody had any.Mine weighs all of 4lbs.It's still a work in progress but I think it came out nice.I did the same thing with my door panels to.

I drove around with the roof off at highway speeds all day yesterday and the pad didn't lift up once.
Now that I know I don't have to secure it and get adhesive on my otherwise prestine dash, I think I'll leave it there. I like to preserve what I do have. The rest of the car is immaculate- not even a door ding, I'm just trying to keep it that way.
When I have children, I hope at least one of them are into cars so that we can restore the T/A I have now- assuming that the next 15-16 years take their due toll on the car.

I'm not feeling it, but I've seen worse!

...I had two mint dashes. The one i gave to my aunt, and then a few days later I put my right knee into the corner of mine...

UV

I've used the velco style dash cover on my RS since 1991. I had to finally toss it a few years ago when the foam backing disinterated from age. I replaced it with the carpet style dash pad. I still have no cracks or any other damage on my dash pad. I can see where some people wouldn't like the look or snub it because they suspect the dash pad is there to hide damage. I feel the same way about bras on the nose of the car. I've had a dash pad on both of my trucks, my Firebird and my wife's car too. I'm just too lazy to hassle with a windshield reflector cover unless the car's going to sit for a while. I don't have any velco attaching my current dash pad. So, since you're asking for my opinion, I vote to use it.

Lon

I equate it to the plastic that comes on the LCD's and polished bits of electronics and emblems... what's the point of keeping it nice if you can't see it? Just be careful with what you got I say. Sure it might eventually crack, but will you really have this car for that long? My dash has seen 166k miles and remains in flawless condition. Only place I might consider it is in the southwest desert/texas... But I'd only use it when the car were parked.

I do plan on keeping the car until it is obsolete (when flying cars get invented) and some time over the next 2-3 years it will get a full restoration (what little it needs). I bought it knowing it was a TBI, but I'm finally getting into really good advancements for my career and can afford to take care of the car like I want to.

For now, I take off the carpet when I go to local meets and shows, but otherwise I think it'll stay on.

carpet needs to be below your feet not above them
but hey it's not my car don't worry about what other people think
rock what ya got!

Yea the carpet is stained, dirty and worn through in several places and the seats look like new!

i have one in my car, i love it, keeps down the glare and i like the way it looks, just my taste though.