[scottydl]

Some years back, the metal border around my ‘69 Executive’s dash HVAC controls started to come loose. It’s gotten worse over time and torn in a few places (see attached pic). Anyone know the best way to fix or re-glue this?

[HoovDaddy]

I just did the dash carrier on my Firebird with brushed steel vinyl wrap for car bodies. If you do the entire area and the control panel it will al match. I've also used instant transfer lettering to duplicate the labels. Then clear coat it. Wrap and lettering is on Amazon. Just order a big enough piece so the grain is in the right direction. If you want I can send a link later.

[north]

Those 69 controls were a disaster from a quality and material selection point of view. The quick fix is to use a glue stick on the back of the foil but the oil way to fix this properly is to find a NOS control head or a really nice used one (very unlikely). If you were to go with the in-between idea of a laser cut piece of aluminum sheet it would be very tricky to get the dimensions exact and there are two other issues; first is to remove or install the overlay you need to remove the knobs from all the control lever, they almost always break in the process. secondly the lettering is not painted but actually cutouts in the aluminum to let the backlight to shine through.

The aluminum bezel trim around it on your car looks really good, they usually warp and come unglued leading to kinks and a mess of glue when previous owners try to repaste them. The dash quality decline from 65-68 to 69-70 was so disappointing.

[scottydl]

Backlighting cutout letterings… yes, that’s the issue that seems to prevent me from getting a printed replacement made. I mean it’s not a total dealbreaker as the car is rarely driven at night anyway.

I’ll try a glue stick in the meantime, and I even ran across a stronger “craft” version in my glue/tape box the other day. Thanks for the suggestions, and keep ‘em coming if anyone has others.

[north]

Yours isn’t suffering from the other issue which is they turn a ugly golden tobacco residue type color. I thought it was smoking related but I now think it’s a UV issue since it seems far more common on ragtops even if they have ashtrays and lighters that indicate never being smoked in.

[scottydl]

And my Executive has spent 95% of its life in the garage, so I’m sure that’s helped with anything related to UV damage.

[north]

I have a 69 executive, 4 door sedan, voodoo green with gold vinyl interior, no vinyl top. Standard engine, hydramatic, AC, PS, power drums and pretty well optioned with power windows, seat, locks, AM/FM and 8 track.

What is yours?

[scottydl]

Originally Posted by north

I have a 69 executive, 4 door sedan, voodoo green with gold vinyl interior, no vinyl top. Standard engine, hydramatic, AC, PS, power drums and pretty well optioned with power windows, seat, locks, AM/FM and 8 track.

What is yours?

Mine’s a hardtop coupe (Champagne color) with a factory vinyl top (Dark Fawn, i.e. brown). Updated my sig!

I don’t know what my interior color is called…. Could be gold as yours has. Basic powertrain and underhood features are the same as yours, but A/C hasn’t worked in years and light on other options. Manual everything except locks, which were converted to power/remote through an aftermarket alarm system. No 8-track but I had a custom center console built many years ago, sits on the floor hump and houses a CD player and speakers. I used to have a pretty awesome stereo installed (rear deck 6x9 speakers too, and amps/subwoofers in trunk) but removed it when I wanted to reclaim trunk space. I still have all the components & ought to put some version back in sometime.

[north]

I love champagne on GP’s and big cars, especially with a dark top.

There was only one gold interior that year but it has some green-brass to it.

[scottydl]

My interior is an odd-ish color, that I might describe as a Dijon mustard color haha. It’s all in really good shape, but slight different shades between the seats, door panels, plastic kick panels, and carpet. I’d imagine from uneven fading over the years. I don’t think they ever designed this stuff with a 50+ year lifespan in mind!