tan dash pad?

[75coug]

Does anyone make a decent dash pad in tan? I bought a gray one for my Capri from 50resto a couple of years ago, and it was generally ok. The one in my McLaren is great except for the speaker grill, which is cracked.

I looked at 50resto this time around, but they didn't have any for sale in tan. Does someone else sell them, or am I left to buy another color and paint it? Or is there some crazy way to fix the speaker grill?

[negusm]

Options:

#1. Go pretty much anywhere that sells Dashes Direct Dash Pads. I thought they came in tan, maybe they stopped. They are the only manufacturer of repro pads. The current ones are allright like you stated. Don't hold your breath for the "new" Ford Tooled ones either. They are deficient in a whole other direction.

#2. Get a good used one off from ebay. Uncracked pads go for between $80-$125 before shipping. You may have to paint one. You can paint a repro one too and it would be fine.

#3. Attempt a fix. Get some JBWELD. It's a 2 part water soluable epoxy. Spear it in the crack and use water and your finger to wash away the excess before it sets. Use a dremel to gring out the speaker holes afterwards. If you only have a drill, use a bit much much smaller than the hole.

-Mike

[75coug]

Thanks for the tip. I will give Option No. 3 a try. If it doesn't work, the other options always remain. I will document my efforts and let you know how it goes.

[negusm]

Thanks for the tip. I will give Option No. 3 a try. If it doesn't work, the other options always remain. I will document my efforts and let you know how it goes.

Oh, you will need to paint your dash pad afterwards as the JBWeld dries gray.

-Mike

[svo413]

I'm in the same boat with the dash pad. The first round of reproductions are not so great. They are basically solid rubber on a metal frame and only come in black for $189. They don't have enough support to stay flat. The second generation seems much better and seems to be made the same as OEM. These should have been out for 2 years now but only recently appeared and price at $269 I think. The new ones come in red, black and grey. I've been told not to try painting the red.

Now the real problem. Where to get tan paint that is not too light and not too glossy. The only correct paint I've found is buy the quart and requires a priner. At $80 for the paint plus primer, plus someone to paint it, you are probably looking at close to $300. The spray can I used is too light and too glossy as I get a glare off the windshield. I suspect this is due to the raked windshield frame.

[negusm]

The second generation seems much better and seems to be made the same as OEM.

They are fine if you want a Fairmont dash pad on your Mustang. Stay tuned...

All repro dash pads come from Dashes Direct. They come in Red, Black, Blue and Grey. The 1st gen are exactly as you say.

I now have in my posession a 2nd gen pad. Stay tuned.

-Mike

[tfs2121]

i have been planing to fill in all of the speeker holes in my dash pad with bondo. i have the same problum that the only crack is in one of the grills

[negusm]

i have been planing to fill in all of the speeker holes in my dash pad with bondo. i have the same problum that the only crack is in one of the grills

If you made a pattern of the holes in a sheet of plastic, I bet you could redo the holes once you were done and make it look pretty good.

-Mike