I'm at that point in my resto where I'm beginning to plan out the interior and have run into some surprises.
1. I just got off the phone with just dashes and they now want $400 to redo a '67 dash! The person on the other end also claimed that '67-69 dashes were the same so I have some reservation about working with them.
I know that in the last year the repro dash has been redone and is supposedly much better. Does anyone have experience with the repro for a '67?
2. I spoke to Mr. G's about rechroming my plastic a pillar moldings yesterday. I spoke to this outfit a year ago about something else and my impression of them hasn't changed. They rattle off a bunch of extra fees and make no guarantees and emphasize that becuase the original product was of poor quality that I cannot expect any better from them. They also do not guarantee that I will get my parts back so that while I've gone to the trouble of collecting good parts, I may get something patched in return. I understand that the repros have also been improved over the last year or so.
So does anyone have expereince with the 67 convertible reproduction plastic chrome pillar moldings?
All I know is a few of my friends have done theirs by "Just Dashes"...all very happy....I saw a 69 recently ,very nice ,wish I had gone that route rather than buying an OER... the OER "looks" good out of the box ,just doesnt install well (on a 69 at least)
$400.00 is exactly what just dashes quoted me on my 69 Firebird Dash, last year. That appears to be their going rate. I wouldn't take much stock in a phone conversation, maily due to the fact that you never really know who is on the other end of the line. I myself try to get in touch with the person in charge whenever possible. As for your plastic chrome plating, I have always used Advanced Plating in Tenn.. They do excellent work. I had them plate a few plastic parts for my 92 Firebird and they turned out great. The only problem I had come accross was a fit issue with one of the parts. Advanced Plating actually puts a layer of metal over the plastic and then plates the metal. The finish is concourse quality, but the plastic looses it's flexibility, and it becomes a little bit thicker with the added metal. I brought this to Advanced Platings attention, and they made modifications, and replated my part at no charge. They do give a one year guarantee on their work. They do all types of plating, and powdercoating. Their # is 1-800-588-6686, I personally recommened them if you are looking for 1st class plating and service. (www.advancedplating.com) Good Luck.
Bjorn: I'm no stranger to spending too much money on my car but $400 versus $189 is a bit too much even for me. I think a further thing that has me doubting is that Rick's (the Ames of the Camaro world) describes the '67 reproduction as "Show quality", the '68 as "Quality" and the '69 gets a perfunctory description regarding its manufacture process. Ames notes that the quality of the '69 is "Fair," while there is no comment on the others. The '67 is now made like the original, steel backing, foam core and vinyl vacuum molded over the top. If the '67 repro is indeed "Show quality" why not save a couple hundred?
Jerry: I'm calling Advanced tomorrow. I've been looking for an alternative source. I hear you about the phone conversation, but this is the second time I've tried to deal with Mr. G's only to be read a laundry list of disclaimers and potential added fees. If one feels the need to greatly lower a customer's expectations than they have doubts about the quality of their own work or ability to deliver. At least that's the way it works in my business.
May I ask what Advanced charged? Also, did they also refinish the ferules? Mr. G's said they leave them rusty and that the metalization eventually falls off (how do they get business)?
What are they doing when the redo the dash? Are they recovering it with vinal? $400?!!?
If they are simply putting a vinal cover on it, I need to start redoing dashes. I had mine done by one of my coworkers, a professional upolster. He did it on company time in a few minutes. He charged me a couple of, well it would be equivalant to a beers.
All you do is use vinal material, a heat gun, and glue. Of course it isn't the same process as factory, but it looks factory.
Is the redo a peice of vinal stretched over the dash? If so, take it to a local trim shop or diy.
If you check out advanced's web site they have a few pages of price listings. I had a total of three small plastic parts and the total was $70.00 which actually wasn't too bad. They are by no means the cheapest game in or out of town, but the quaility is far superior than any other plater I have used. I remeber reading in their litature that they said something like, if you are looking for just plain chrome plating, you might want to go somewhere else, because they only offer quaility chrome plating. You will definetly want to call them before you ship your parts. They get pretty busy, especially the closer it gets to car show season. I had them do a few alluminum pieces for me as well and they shine like mirrors. You would have to ask about the ferules, like anything, the more work involved, the higher the price. Definetly check out their web site. I'm curious to have something plated Black Chrome, I bet that finish looks sharp. It should, it cost double the price of regular chrome.
According to just dashes web site, the do a full restoration to your dash. Replace Foam, Vinal, and then vacuum seal it, or something like that.
I bought an OER for my 69. It fit like sh**. I even came up with a sheet metal work-around for the OER which was a huge waste of time and effort.
I then took my cracked, broken, pieces missing dash pad to Just Dashes (they are local) and it came back looking perfect or better.
I will gladly take pictures of the dash (on or off the car) for anyone who's interested.
They grind off the existing vinyl and about 1/8" to 1/4" of foam. They then injection mold new urethane closed-cell foam onto the frame and then heat wrap a new vinyl skin with the correct grain over the new foam. The new urethane foam is stronger and more resilient thant the original foam.
John , the $400, are you sure its for 67,68? Since you said :"to redo a '67 dash! The person on the other end also claimed that '67-69 dashes were the same...." Maybe you spoke to the wrong person...? sounds like it...for a fact the 69 should cost more ,its also larger , longer...would be more work... and I can attest to Q`s answer ..I threw my old away (NEVER, NEVER do that!)when my OER came in and looked so good...fit is like %#$@* like Q says..it has no stl backing inside and therefor 'dimples' when you tighten it down ,also mine did not fit right at the upper corner on the right side of the dash...had my buddy (car restorer) spend several hours 'fixing' it ,adding some mtl brackets etc....if you do it yourself and do not value your time ,yes it will be less money ,but lets say you had to pay someone to install it (to be the correct looking way) it would cost lots more than the dfference of the $400 less the OER... again, I dont want to say thats true for a 67! only for 69,....maybe you need to call them back one more time??
if you want pic of the installed OER I can get you some!
OK you guys are scaring me. I picked up a OER 69 dash but have not installed it yet. Bjorn - why didn't it fit right in the corner? If it's not overly tighted or a little loose would it still dimple? A pic would be great.
John, as I mentioned in the email reply, all the 67's that I have seen in Repro look very good. The previous owner had replaced mine before I bought it and it looks and fits great!
I've heard horror stories about the 68's and especially the 69's... but have never heard any problems with the 67's? They are much easier to install and should be easier to repro?
Amervo, Just Dashes takes your original dash, and sands away almost all of the foam pad and then they reproduce the dash pad in much the same way the originals were done, in a heat mold process that forms the foam to the original metal backing.
Quite labor intensive, but again, I've heard nothing but good results... but at a price!
John, I'd got with a repro, OR, definately buy the one from Ike! That sounds like the best bet!
David69bird, I dont now why it didnt fit...it just wasnt right...I eventually (after my friend had "played with it" for hours and got it better,did file down some of that upper dash corner....the OER dash just would not fit around it,too tight....the corner would lay outside and not close up... I dont think you can leave it loose enough not to dimple...we loosened mine up , but to get it too stay down ,it dimples, want pics? I can take tonite...
From what I've seen, all the repros have metal backs now. I'm pretty sure there was a fire sale on the junk dashes over a year ago and everyone got rid of their stock. Now the lesser expensive dashes are urethane (one piece of molded rubber) or vinyl that is heat and vacuum shrunk over a foam core as Brett described. The '69 is only available in urethane, but the '67 and '68 dashes are available both ways.
Bjorn: I challenged the guy at Just Dashes and he kept reverting to his price book which said $400 for any '67 to '69 dash. I made the point that the '67 should cost less, but he wouldn't give.
As Brett says, the '67 is much simpler than the other two years, plus Rick's talks it up and calls it "Show Quality." Rick's is pretty accurate in their descriptions so it has me thinking. Plus they are good at taking things back if they're no good so the only risk is not great. I'm really leaning in this direction.
I spoke to Advanced Plating and they are not interested in doing the interior parts any more. They have had too much difficulty in fit like Jerry refers to above. I did find a place called ChromeTechUSA in WI that wants $100 to redo mine, but the ferules are my problem again. They told me how to remove them and suggested I paint them. At least I am comfortable in working with this company versus Mr. G's.
David69, I did exactly the same thing when I bought an OER pad from Ames for my 69. Put it away in the rafters for when I was ready to do the interior(about a year later). Didn't even take it all the way out of the box. When I did I almost threw up. I knew right then I wasn't going to be able to use this piece of ...Had to return it. $186+ oversize shipping two ways,+ 15% restocking fee. Then shipping on my dash to JDs(two ways) and $400 to rebuild it. Man, I got alot of dough in that pad. Haven't seen the new ones, if they have remade the OER ones, but the old ones are non-useable.
John, well, if its metal backed ,at least the 'dimple' effect should be taken care of...I`ll go ahead and take a couple of pics of mine ,so if you want to see them email me...I can reply with them...
Bjorn, I appreciate the offer but please don't bother. From what I can determine, there may be hope for the '67 repro but the '69 is still lacking to be polite. I'm sure you could find a used '69 dash and have it rebuilt. It shouldn't cost you much over $500! Wow - $500 for a dash pad?!?
John, sorry I sent you down a dead end road with Advanced Plating. I didn't realize that they no longer plate plastic. That bites... I am glad that you found an alternative plater though. Good Luck With Your Project.
Jerry, no apology necessary. They still plate plastic, just not interior plastic. The explanation was that the underhood plastic is more amenable to plating and there are fewer fitment problems. The guy I spoke to was very pleasant and I believe I could've convinced him to do my parts if I had really pushed him.
John, I just bought an 67(OER) dash from JeffW01, who is a member here on our site. He had posted a topic, in which he stated that he had several dashes in all colors. I tried looking up the topic, but no luck. I just contacted him about a week ago, and he still had a 67 bright blue, which is the one I bought from him. I should be receiving it this friday. I can tell you the quality when I get it. I just fowarded you an email at your other site address. This is a pick of the one he was selling me. Check with him and see if he still has more. Hope this helps.
Carlos 1967 Coupe 326 1967 Conv.326 carlito121@msn.com
John, OK , yeah I see , only $500 for the pad to replace the one I already bought and spent money/time on...its gonna be more like $1000 total....no, I`m stricking with my 'dimpled' one....took pics last nite ,so IF you want them I have them...
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