The dash pad on my 911 has seen better days (big surprise), and I can't justify the $1500 USD (something like $1,000,000 CDN after conversion) for the replacement. I'm investigating other options like having mine rebuilt. I'm intrigued by Just Dashes and their ability to restore classic car dash pads. Has anyone else used them and if so are you happy with the results? I have a call into them and waiting for a response to see what they charge for this service.
I've worked with JD on several projects and I'm a fan of their work. But they're NOT a budget solution and they don't like to work on the 69-73 dashes as their process is not well-suited to the form of our dashes and the results are less than perfect.
About 6 years ago I had my '68 dash recovered by Just Dashes. The work they did on my dash was perfect. They were certainly not the cheapest, nor the quickest, but in my opinion, they were about as good as one could hope for. I asked them to shorten the width of the overall dash by 1/8 inch on each end, hoping two things: 1) the first was that with 1/4 inch of the overall width removed, I'd not be able to see the difference, which, as it turned out, was a correct assumption, as you cannot tell the dash has been shortened; and 2) with the width being shortened, there would be less side-to-side pressure on the overall dash, thereby eliminating the chances that the dash would crack (where all the '68 dashes crack, at the point where the dash transitions from being above the instruments, to directly above the radio.) As it's turned out, this also has been the case, as the dash is still perfect. The one thing that I didn't like about JD was that they offered a faster turnaround time, if you were willing to pay them an additional 25%. This didn't sit well with me because I felt that if I had elected the "normal" delivery time, and then someone a little later on elected to pay them their additional fee, that my delivery time would be further pushed out.
Steve Meltsner
I actually like the fact that they offer an expedited service for 30% more (I think that's what it was). I look at it as getting a discount if I decide to wait (which I never do, of course). Lots of vendors do this. Harvey Weidman offers this option as well.Originally Posted by Jetjok
I agree with Steve that JD does a good job on SWB dashes. It's the LWB dashes that cause problems.
When I visited them many years ago, they were evasive when asked about a warranty. There were also customer comments that the grain varied based on what they had in stock. Hopefully they have upped their game. Seems a cool place to work, as the employees are always playing basketball outside...
techweenie.com
My parts fetcher: 2016 Tesla S | Currently building: 73 RSR tribute and 69 RS tribute
I talked to JD today and they confirmed what has been said here already. It's surely not a budget fix at $1200. I was expecting somewhere around the $600-$800 range to be honest. At $1200 that makes it hard to pick which direction to go. Reading mixed reviews on all the new pads available, even the OE one so not even sure what to do there.
I asked whether the LWB dashes caused any difficulties for them and he claimed they don't pose any issues.
Besides JD is there anyone else out there that has the ability to breathe new life into an old dash? My car is a driver and will never be a concourse show car so not worried about it having the wrong texture, just as long as it's close and doesn't stand out like a sore thumb.
You can repair your dash with bumper cover repair material you can get auto parts store
Alternatively AAIR recovers dashes. I had them do one for me it turned out very well
techweenie.com
My parts fetcher: 2016 Tesla S | Currently building: 73 RSR tribute and 69 RS tribute
If JD could honor their specified delivery date to me, while expediting your dash, I'd be perfectly happy with their technique at blackmail. Otherwise, not so much.
Steve Meltsner
You should call back and try to get a little higher up the food chain. The frontline phones guys will give you that answer. But if you talk to someone higher up they'll come clean. Same thing happened to me. They absolutely have issues with the LWB dashes. Boyer73S can also chime in here from experience.
More info here: http://www.early911sregistry.org/for...well-com/page4
If you're not concerned about the seam, I had a dash done by AIR for one of my 74's and it was really well done for a very fair price.
When I spoke with them they were upfront about the fact that non-expedited delivery times were soft dates. I looked at it as getting a discount if you were willing to wait which seemed like a nice option for someone on a budget or who wasn't in a rush. Sorry if that wasn't the experience you had.
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