My last camaro (98z28) had like 40k miles, mint condition interior. I had to remove the pad and it shattered just like the pics above. I'm talking about the slightest amount of pressure and it just shattered to ****. Cheapest plastic ive ever seen. Had to replace it with a new one.
This was back in 2002

 

Some people in this thread:
A) have more money than sense if throwing away $300 is no big deal to them.
B) dont care if their stuff breaks, if so then they probably dont care much about the rest of the car.
C) dont know the difference between FORM versus FUNCTION. Please use google. An upper dash pad is a FORM piece unless you feel the need to count the vent for the defogger as the FUNCTION, which is really secondary.

 

^True words

 

I've owned my car for over 2 years. There were no cracks or damage at all when I bought it. The car has been garage kept since I got it. I don't use anything to clean the dash but a dry towel (since it's only dust), and I've never hit it with anything, put any pressure on it that would damage it, or removed it.

The explanation? The time periods where I had the car parked in a parking lot, the heat caused the plastic to warp and eventually crack. How difficult is that to understand? Especially in Texas where it gets around 106 degrees during the summer?

 

Youre a joke. You spend all that dough in a turbo yet you whine and cry about $300. Solutions were given, pick one and stop crying, dude.

 

And no wonder why you make the readers rides instead of the cover and a feature. Last time I checked a turbo has alot more function than a dash pad. It took me a year and a half of planning and saving before I did my turbo and motor so if I think $300 is a lot for a plastic piece that is my prerogative, if you don't agree feel free to stay out of the thread.

 

You two cant compare cars, Chaman has a car built for one purpose and yours is built for another... yours is probably one of the fastest and Chamans is probably THE cleanest.... and if you ask me, the dash pad is BOTH form and function. I dont know if you guys have ever tried driving without a dash pad at all... well I have and it sucks.. aside from the asphalt smell form the deadener and the glare from the paint, id say it serves a purpose on both sides...

 

Are you dense? Never did I don't have a problem throwing away $300. I DON'T however have a problem spending $300 to keep my interior looking nice and crack free. But, if you bothered to read my last post, you would know, that I don't really care if it cracks, because like I said, I don't have a problem repairing it and wrapping it. That way I at least know it won't happen again, and thats one less piece of my interior that I need to wrap. Its a **** or get off the pot situation...Either fix it or don't, but don't bitch about how much it cost if you do, and don't bitch about how bad it looks if you don't.

 

 

This is how I fix dash pads- Alot of time and patience. Most of the time when you handle a cracked dash pad it will just keep cracking so be careful. I try as best as I can to hold the seperated pieces together then i put epoxy on the underside and wait for it to dry. I do all sections that are cracked. Then I turn it over and put super glue on the top side in the cracks because there will be some spaces. Then i sand the super glue to blend with dash pad. Then i spray paint with black primer. Alot of time and work. The dash pads do crack by themselves in the heat. Florida and Texas dash pads are doomed.

 

Nope but you sure are a tool.I made the thread, several in here also find it absurd at the quality and cost of a dash pad, i was asking for pics of the pad cover. Thats it. so if you don't agree then state your opinion (which you did), and **** off.

 

They crack without being touched, period. Heat is the culprit. If yours has not cracked, good on you, I hope it doesn't. Let's end the debate, it is getting silly.

I looked into manufacturing a replacement in a superior material, but the cost to create a die is $10-50K. They could be manufactured for about $10 worth of material, but recovering the initial cost would be very tough. I feel a fair price is about $150, but I just don't have the capital to get started. You would think some off-shore company would jump on this...

 

[QUOTE=squee;15022526]What the hell do you people do to your cars to be having these things crack all the time?! My car was in California for 8 years, and now Louisiana for 3 and I've pulled it out 2 or 3 times at least with no problems whatsoever. Looks like its brand new...QUOTE]

Then you're time is probably coming. I had a 97 Camaro thats dash broke while I had it. I had to return home because I forgot my wallet, ran inside grabbed it came back out. Within the 45 seconds of doing that it cracked. Went in the house it was fine, came out and it was cracked 3/4 of the way throu the middle. That was a car with 130k miles, I had another 97 camaro not a single thing was different from the other camaro, with 270k miles, no dash crack ever. Luckily my 99 TA hasn't had that happen yet (knocking on wood as I type) It's alot about luck in this instance. I had that first camaro for 4 months, it happened within that time, 3 years for the second and no problems. I have 105k miles on my TA no problems, Oklahoma and Kansas kept so I'm sure it's coming with the dry heats we get. But there's people with 1/3 of the miles I have that have dash cracks. You never know it's coming until it happes

 

i'm going to put this on hold since now i need to focus on a cracked windshield

 

[QUOTE=JrodCamaro;15025324]Thanks for jinxing it...Now I'm gonna go out to my car tomorrow and the dash will be cracked. :lmao:

 

In a nutshell, here are some cliff notes.

Ive had my car for 7 years... Dash pad cracked about a year or so ago... Car is kept meticulously clean...cheaply made part...GM's fault... Cant justify $300 for a new one.... I deal with it till one comes along for cheap.

Have a nice day.

 

I keep a towel over mine and crack the windows when its real hot

 

paying $300 for a new pad that has a 50% chance of cracking again sucks, but its the only option out there for an OEM replacement.
But i have to argue that its an important part to have, if you like having a nice car. Who wants a car with a nice exterior and the inside is nice except it looks like tyrone biggums chopped up his dope on the dash and smashed it to pieces?

Has anyone contacted some of the retailers of OEM type parts for Fbody's, like OPG or Classic Industries? Maybe they can contact some manufacturers to produces these from a better type of plastic, and at a lower price.
Hell, i would pay $300 for an aftermarket replacement that looked and fitted OEM, and was made from a superior material.

 

My thoughts exactly.

 

Okay dude. No need for hostility....

Anyway I paid less for the pad, 4 years ago, near to $200 aprox.

I indeed noticed the replacement pad to be thicker and stronger. Maybe GM redesigned it??? I spent 20 to 30 minutes installing it, piece of cake specially in a t-top car.

I love this hobby, if it takes $300 to keep it looking good that's the way it is.