Will we ever see correctly reproduced E Body dash pads?

Posted By: domingo

Will we ever see correctly reproduced E Body dash pads? - 06/16/10 01:34 PM

I really hate the repros out there. They are so off and they leave a lot to be desired.

Worst of all they stick out like a sore thumb when you sit inside of the car...you are staring at them ALL THE TIME and it drives me nuts.

Also its such a big and notorious part that I cant beleive nobody has attempted to meake a real good repro of these....specually the 70 Challenger dash pads with the stitching....the repros of those are just HIDEOUS.

psssst.....hint hint....MIKE AT BEA----You should try and make these instead of wasting time AND RESOURCES with the 71 cuda grille project.

You would sell a TON TON TON TON of these....

Posted By: domingo

Re: Will we ever see correctly reproduced E Body dash pads? - 06/16/10 01:36 PM

I know I would even swap the current repros in my cars with new correct repros if they were as nice as the originals....I wouldnt mind to spend money again to get that BIG detail right!!!

Posted By: jbsperformance

Re: Will we ever see correctly reproduced E Body dash pads? - 06/16/10 03:37 PM

The ones that Year One currently has is their own tooling. The repops that were out fit like junk so they started making their own. There a 70 Challenger with correct material and stitching. 70 Barracuda and 71-74 pad being made. All of them are the plastic back pads, but at least they fit nice!

Posted By: Morty426

Re: Will we ever see correctly reproduced E Body dash pads? - 06/16/10 09:00 PM

Quote:

I know I would even swap the current repros in my cars with new correct repros if they were as nice as the originals....I wouldnt mind to spend money again to get that BIG detail right!!!

I've got 5 1970 Challenger R/Ts with one good dash pad between them.

I'd pay more money to get a correct pad. The current ones are terrible. Original pads are soft - so one should do it right.

Posted By: domingo

Re: Will we ever see correctly reproduced E Body dash pads? - 06/17/10 06:48 PM

Quote:

The ones that Year One currently has is their own tooling. The repops that were out fit like junk so they started making their own. There a 70 Challenger with correct material and stitching. 70 Barracuda and 71-74 pad being made. All of them are the plastic back pads, but at least they fit nice!

Anybody else tried those Year One dash pads?

I always heard the plastic core ones are junk and they are all warped and dont fit right. I wonder if there is another manufacturer of plastic core dash pads other than year one...because if year one is the only one making plastic core dash pads, then all Ive heard about those is that they are junk!

Posted By: THESHAKERPROJECT

Re: Will we ever see correctly reproduced E Body dash pads? - 06/17/10 08:49 PM

Quote:

The ones that Year One currently has is their own tooling. The repops that were out fit like junk so they started making their own. There a 70 Challenger with correct material and stitching. 70 Barracuda and 71-74 pad being made. All of them are the plastic back pads, but at least they fit nice!

Really ?? I always thought the Year One pads were from Ultimate Rides. I have seen some of the 71 B-Body pads from Year one and they fit like crap !! The Just Dashes (recoverd OEM ) are the best other than a mint orig pad. The UR pads fit well except on the ends.

Posted By: domingo

Re: Will we ever see correctly reproduced E Body dash pads? - 06/18/10 03:00 AM

Quote:

Quote:

The ones that Year One currently has is their own tooling. The repops that were out fit like junk so they started making their own. There a 70 Challenger with correct material and stitching. 70 Barracuda and 71-74 pad being made. All of them are the plastic back pads, but at least they fit nice!

Really ?? I always thought the Year One pads were from Ultimate Rides. I have seen some of the 71 B-Body pads from Year one and they fit like crap !! The Just Dashes (recoverd OEM ) are the best other than a mint orig pad. The UR pads fit well except on the ends.

Still, they are a far cry from an original dash pad. An original dash pad IS MILES AHEAD IN QUALITY AND APPEREANCE FROM ANY REPRO E BODY DASH PAD. REPRO E BODY DASH PADS ARE JUNK!!! But its all there is, so all E Body owners are kinda "forced" into buying whatever is available.

I really would like to see good repros come out.

Maybe metro could surprise us once they are finished with their interior panel repros, which look real good in pics...I cant wait to try a set...hope they are as good as they look on the pics.

Posted By: jbsperformance

Re: Will we ever see correctly reproduced E Body dash pads? - 06/18/10 01:29 PM

The ones from Year One used to be from UR, but due to the fit decided to do their own.

Yes they fit different than the other plastic core pads out there.

Posted By: Barnabas_Kriss

Re: Will we ever see correctly reproduced E Body dash pads? - 06/20/10 06:10 AM

So far EVERY repro E-body dash pad I had seen is JUNK, regardless of who makes them! You can spot them from 20 feet away. Right now the only way is to look for a nice original, which I did for both my cars (70 cuda and 70 challenger). Paid about double the price of a new repro, I think it was money well spent.

Posted By: intragration

Re: Will we ever see correctly reproduced E Body dash pads? - 06/20/10 08:55 AM

I was pretty happy with my Just Dashes re-cover. Fit perfectly, looks great, only the slightest deviations from OEM. Pricey, but probably nowhere near as expensive as a mint original one would have been. I can't see calling them a "far cry" from an original pad.

Posted By: gtx6970

Re: Will we ever see correctly reproduced E Body dash pads? - 06/20/10 01:36 PM

I have a Yearone marked pad going on now as a matter of fact.( metal frame) but I have no idea when my customer bought it,,,i'll ask.

It's already mounted on the dashframe with no issues and I'll have the remaining bezels and cluster installed in the next week or 2 and will report back then.

Posted By: domingo

Re: Will we ever see correctly reproduced E Body dash pads? - 06/20/10 11:05 PM

Quote:

So far EVERY repro E-body dash pad I had seen is JUNK, regardless of who makes them! You can spot them from 20 feet away. Right now the only way is to look for a nice original, which I did for both my cars (70 cuda and 70 challenger). Paid about double the price of a new repro, I think it was money well spent.

Im with you here...

Whoever says that the Ultimate Rides and Just dashes pads are fine, they are really missing the boat.

Posted By: Anonymous

Re: Will we ever see correctly reproduced E Body dash pads? - 06/21/10 01:08 AM

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psssst.....hint hint....MIKE AT BEA----You should try and make these instead of wasting time AND RESOURCES with the 71 cuda grille project. You would sell a TON TON TON TON of these....

With that guarantee, "You would sell a TON TON TON TON of these...." I am sure you would be willing to front Mike the cost it would take to make these....right?! You would also have the satisfaction of developing a correct part for the Chrysler market. If I know Mike, he will pay more attention to commitment and involvement rather than a personal request for a single part. What do you think?

Posted By: Silver70

Re: Will we ever see correctly reproduced E Body dash pads? - 06/21/10 01:37 AM

After using an aftermarket on in a 70 I redid, mine will probally get a cap and be done with it... or else try to fix the 3 cracks. Either way it will fit alot better

I'm not building a show car, so I'm not one that's going to spend big bucks for an original thats mint or a high cost correct repop.

Posted By: anlauto

Re: Will we ever see correctly reproduced E Body dash pads? - 06/21/10 01:54 AM

I've used at least a dozen or so pads from ULTIMATE RIDES. Yes you can spot them a mile away from an original pad, yes there are certain fitment issues where they meet the plastic bezels, BUT In my opinion they are currently the best available on the market.
I have a mint original 3 spk pad in my bastment waiting to go into the Barrelcuda if and when I want HOWEVER I'm very fearful that the 40 year old pad will just crack as soon as it sees daylight, so why bother? I will stick to the UR pad that's currently in the car and save the original pad for my next 71 Cuda.

For what it's worth....Every ULTIMATE RIDES dash pad that I've bought and installed has been better then the last. Their quality has seemed to improve over the years.

If another company such as the ones mentioned above step up and bring a better product to the market, I will certainly give them a try, but I'm not going to bash the only option(s) we currently have.

Posted By: denfireguy

Re: Will we ever see correctly reproduced E Body dash pads? - 06/21/10 02:02 AM

When I bought my Cuda, it was three years old and had three nasty cracks already in the pad. I have stared at them for 30 years. I bought a core that I had Ultimate Rides redo for me in B5 Blue. It looks so much better than the old one and it fit with just minor trimming. Yes there are some grain differences but they are minor compared to the ugly, discolored, cracked, brittle OEM pad that it replaced. I have been watching for five years looking for another blue one. Black pads seem to be around but I have never seen an intact OEM pad in any other color, at any price.
Craig

Posted By: redwrydr

Re: Will we ever see correctly reproduced E Body dash pads? - 06/21/10 06:26 AM

I had a company in Oregon re-do a dash pad for me on my AMX...they did a great job, its the same process as used by Just Dashes, just cheaper...I will probably send my 70 Cuda dash to them as well...Dash Specialists in Medford, Ore. 541-776-0040, they quoted me $650 to do the Cuda dash...I think it was $950 at Just Dashes....if I couldn't find a good original, getting the one I have redone seemed like the best way to avoid the imperfect cap..(my

)
Phyllis

Posted By: domingo

Re: Will we ever see correctly reproduced E Body dash pads? - 06/21/10 01:42 PM

Quote:

Quote:

psssst.....hint hint....MIKE AT BEA----You should try and make these instead of wasting time AND RESOURCES with the 71 cuda grille project. You would sell a TON TON TON TON of these....

With that guarantee, "You would sell a TON TON TON TON of these...." I am sure you would be willing to front Mike the cost it would take to make these....right?! You would also have the satisfaction of developing a correct part for the Chrysler market. If I know Mike, he will pay more attention to commitment and involvement rather than a personal request for a single part. What do you think?

THIS IS NOT A BASHING CONTEST.

I agree that UR is the best option out there, I use those on my cars. However, they could be improved.

The grain is off, the fitment is not that great...it requires trimming exposing the underlying foam in order to install accessoriues like the light bar for instance, etc.

I dont see any need to trim or expose the foam on any original pad...

Sometimes I have had to lift the vynil a bit, scrape the excess foam and then reglue the vynil.

Because of all of that, and the issues, I think they are overpriced. But we still buy them because there are no other options.

If you have ever compared an original 70 Challenger pad against a UR repro 70 Challenger pad I bet you will agree with me in that they are OFF. The stitching looks real cheap on a UR dash pad.

The cuda ones are not that bad, but the 70 Challenger ones do leave a lot to be desired.

If somebody only made a good 70 Challenger pad they would sell like hotcakes. 70 Challengers are the E bodies with higher production numbers.

I would invest in such a project, but I dont have the right supplier or manufacturer to work with. I think they would sell real good.

Posted By: gtx6970

Re: Will we ever see correctly reproduced E Body dash pads? - 06/21/10 01:51 PM

The problem I see with 'YET ANOTHER " manufactuer for dash pads. Is the price point has already been established with any of the , what 3 or 4 or 5 different companies making pads.
So that establishes your target price. And you have to work backwards from there. IMO, making it rather difficult from the very beginning and for every 10 people who say they'll buy one, You might get 2 who actually does so.

So, is there market ? Sure, but a very small one and I have my doubts it would be a profitable one

Posted By: Silver70

Re: Will we ever see correctly reproduced E Body dash pads? - 06/21/10 04:06 PM

And you would think with how many of them making them they could get them right!

Posted By: MLR426

Re: Will we ever see correctly reproduced E Body dash pads? - 06/21/10 04:57 PM

Quote:

And you would think with how many of them making them they could get them right!

Yes I agree with that

logan426

Posted By: domingo

Re: Will we ever see correctly reproduced E Body dash pads? - 06/21/10 05:46 PM

They just dont want to get it right, because its such a necessary part, that even if its not perfect, EVERYBODY needs it, and you cant be too picky about it when thats all you got....either you get it or you keep your nuked dash.

And then if somebody wants to make a good repro, then its not feasible because the market is already flooded with half azz reproductions.

Now we are condemmned to use those things even if some of us dont like em.

Posted By: intragration

Re: Will we ever see correctly reproduced E Body dash pads? - 06/21/10 07:47 PM

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They just dont want to get it right, because its such a necessary part, that even if its not perfect, EVERYBODY needs it, and you cant be too picky about it when thats all you got....either you get it or you keep your nuked dash.

And then if somebody wants to make a good repro, then its not feasible because the market is already flooded with half azz reproductions.

Now we are condemmned to use those things even if some of us dont like em.

BINGO! That's it, they don't WANT to get it right, that's why all the repro dashes suck. Meanwhile, there was a terrible screw-up with my Just Dashes dash. They accidentally sent me this dash instead of a piece of junk. I was disappointed because it wasn't the horrible piece of crap I was expecting, but I installed it before they could ask me to return it.

Posted By: 70RT

Re: Will we ever see correctly reproduced E Body dash pads? - 06/21/10 07:52 PM

Guys I have been on Mike's case for years conc. the E-body dash pads. He knows they have quality issues and he explained to me the reason: It's the way they're manufactured. He says the factory process molded the foam and vinyl in one step thus you get a good tight fit of the pad over the frame. Let's keep talking to him b/c we definitely need an alternatove to what's available now!

Posted By: Morty426

Re: Will we ever see correctly reproduced E Body dash pads? - 06/21/10 08:59 PM

Quote:

Guys I have been on Mike's case for years conc. the E-body dash pads. He knows they have quality issues and he explained to me the reason: It's the way they're manufactured. He says the factory process molded the foam and vinyl in one step thus you get a good tight fit of the pad over the frame. Let's keep talking to him b/c we definitely need an alternatove to what's available now!

As I said before I need FOUR 70 Challenger pads - 3 black 1 burnt orange. I'm willing to pay more money for one. I think that there are a lot of us out here waiting for a better product.

M

Posted By: Silver70

Re: Will we ever see correctly reproduced E Body dash pads? - 06/22/10 06:34 AM

Did you install the rest of the pieces on your perfect dash? Sure they look nice and fit in the car fine... after lots you fit the trim and nothing fits right.

Posted By: Snoopy

Re: Will we ever see correctly reproduced E Body dash pads? - 06/22/10 07:00 AM

Does anyone know who did the dash pads for Year One in 1997? I bought one from YO in 97 for a 70 Cuda and have not installed it yet, it was built using an original steel frame.
Anyone have any experience with these pads?

Posted By: intragration

Re: Will we ever see correctly reproduced E Body dash pads? - 06/22/10 07:22 AM

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Did you install the rest of the pieces on your perfect dash? Sure they look nice and fit in the car fine... after lots you fit the trim and nothing fits right.

Yep, I installed all the rest of the pieces on the dash, and they all fit well. I didn't have a single problem.

Posted By: 44D6PAKCUDA

Re: Will we ever see correctly reproduced E Body dash pads? - 06/22/10 10:28 AM

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Does anyone know who did the dash pads for Year One in 1997? I bought one from YO in 97 for a 70 Cuda and have not installed it yet, it was built using an original steel frame.
Anyone have any experience with these pads?

Snoopy-I'm not sure who made them for Year 1 back then,but have heard from many people that they bought up,from the original Chrylser manufacture,the last of the original/correct vinyl.I was going to use one of them in my car til I came accross a mint original a few years back.

Posted By: domingo

Re: Will we ever see correctly reproduced E Body dash pads? - 06/22/10 02:33 PM

Quote:

Quote:

Does anyone know who did the dash pads for Year One in 1997? I bought one from YO in 97 for a 70 Cuda and have not installed it yet, it was built using an original steel frame.
Anyone have any experience with these pads?

Snoopy-I'm not sure who made them for Year 1 back then,but have heard from many people that they bought up,from the original Chrylser manufacture,the last of the original/correct vinyl.I was going to use one of them in my car til I came accross a mint original a few years back.

If Im not mistaken those were original Chrysler or in any case, they came off from the same manufactirer that did them for chrysler.

The vynil is the same , fit is the same, they are only the 71-74 style I think and they didnt have a recess for the model nameplate. Those are nice, but well, incorrect due to the abscense of the plate....

Posted By: Snoopy

Re: Will we ever see correctly reproduced E Body dash pads? - 06/22/10 08:15 PM

The one I have is a 70 only pad.

Posted By: domingo

Re: Will we ever see correctly reproduced E Body dash pads? - 06/23/10 12:50 AM

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The one I have is a 70 only pad.

70 only with the Challenger script and the stitching?

Posted By: Snoopy

Re: Will we ever see correctly reproduced E Body dash pads? - 06/23/10 04:26 AM

70 Cuda with inset Barracuda emblem.

Posted By: 44D6PAKCUDA

Re: Will we ever see correctly reproduced E Body dash pads? - 06/23/10 10:23 AM

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The one I have is a 70 only pad.

Mine also was a '70 Barracuda only pad.You might be thinking of the pads available thru Chrysler later on that were "universal" pads with no name plate recess and were designed and sold thru Chrysler to cover all 1970-4 Cudas and Challengers.I had one of those also and on mine the grain/pattern was totally different than original one.The Year One pads Snoopy and myself are referring to actually have "Year One" molded into the vinyl where the vin tag attached to.