Thread: Dash caps. pros and cons?

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I have pondered what to do with my old cracked, and dried out dash. The usual sun damage. Fortunatly it's restricted to the upper dash area only, but the cracks are pretty bad. I had thought about simply filling them and them painting it, but question the long term result. I expect it may just crack again in the same spots. I would like to keep it as stock as possible, as it remains eligible for collectors plates that way.


Now I see new dash caps for sale on ebay, and elsewhere, and wondered about this route. The ones available for my dash are a complete cover, going down below the steering column, and glove box.

Questions.

Do they fit half decent?

Are they easy to install? Problems I may be expected to incur?

What adhesive do you use?

Is there more than one manufacture of them, and if so, are some better than others?

Thanks! Bill

I've used the Accuform (spelling?) on several vehicles over the years and was always happy with the results. They are held in place with a clear silicone applied in a few places to the old dash.

Normally, I just buy the black ones and re-spray them interior color (I add a flattener to the paint to cut the gloss and a bit more of a factory appearance.

At a glance they will pass as stock

I ordered one for my son's Duster from J.C. Whitney. Installation wasn't difficult but you have to put a little thought into applying pressure to it while the adhesive that holds it onto the old surface sets up.

In answer to your questions, fit is good and they send you the adhesive. I really don't know whether there is more than one brand or not.

I bought an unpainted one and "Kryloned" it to go with the interior of the car and it looked great, then it developed a crack right in the center. I took pictures of the problem and sent them to the manufacturer and got a quick response telling me that they had discovered a design problem with the tool that formed that partucular part and that another one was on the way.

Tearing the cracked one out was a pain in the tail but the new one has been in the car now for five years and it still looks fine. I plan to buy another one for my F100.

Jim