Hello all,
I'm working on the rebuild of my '68 convertible's dash and I ordered a reproduction dash panel as it was the cheapest way for me to get the job done. Mostly I'm happy with what I got. The chrome is really good and while I haven't yet fitted the dash in the car I've been mostly happy with the finish.
Problems:
1) The biggest problem that I've had so far is that the peg that fits into the instrument cluster above the far left gauge (for me it's fuel/idiot lights) doesn't fit into the hole in the instrument cluster. That's not a huge deal as it's very close and I can drill it out a bit.
2) The back of the glove box door is not painted, it's chrome. It's not a big deal until you open the glove box and you've got two sizeable patches of non-factory chrome showing.
Here's the old one:
Here's the new one:
3) The paint used on the front of the glovebox door is very delicate. I forgot to put a towel down on my work table when I was transplanting the glove box lock mechanism and springs from the old to the new glovebox door and managed to scratch the front of the door a bit. It's not terrible and the rest of the car certainly isn't pristine but after spending a sizeable amount of cash on the parts for the rest of the dash restore I'm not ecstatic about it either.
4. I'm using what I think are the stock bolts/screws to attach the instrument cluster and when I screw them down there is an alarming pop and the mount posts tend to crack somewhat. They still hold the bolts very well but it's worrying. I bought an interior screw/bolt kit but it doesn't have those items unfortunately.
I'm working on putting in a new dash wiring harness in currently so as soon as I get that sorted out I'll have some more information on fit.
I've fitted a wood grain decal kit to the dash panel and it's fit isn't the greatest. I think it probably has to do with the wood rain kit rather than the new dash panel though. The decal kits tend to be pretty poorly proportioned. Of course my original dash decal wasn't perfect either.
Hope this helps somebody determine if this is worth the money.