New OEM Dash

[Gearbox]

Ok, finally got my 1971 911S ready for paint, so I bit the bullet and ordered a new dash from Stoddard along with everything else I needed $$$$$$. Went through all the trails and tribulations of getting one recovered by Just Dashes or finding a good used one which was near impossible. Given the hike in prices of the Just Dashes and the less than satisfactory finished product as expressed by many on this board, the new OEM was the only way to go. I figure many of us will be going through this same thought process so I decided to post the pictures of the dash that just arrived. Overall, it looks good. Not sure on fit yet, but will chime in after I get to that. Maurice from Stoddard told me that you may need to trim the foam on the very front edge under the vinyl, but some will just pop in, we'll see. The only thing that I was not crazy about was the speaker grill that had an octangular pattern rather than the rectangle that I assume was original to my car. But it fits flush with sharp edges unlike the Just Dashes restoration. Take a look at the dash and let me know what you guys think. Thanks Allan

[kenikh]

Damn that's nice.

[WM711]

good luck, may the Porsche gods be smiling on you, I hope you didnt get one of the 3 dashes we returned...
http://www.early911sregistry.org/for...=stoddard+dash

[WM711]

you might want to measure the vent cutout, compared to your original, the one pictured looks long. Trimming the foam off the front is bull sh*t. you trim foam off the front, and the plastic snaps wont go in the holes. Stoddards needs to send the whole lot back. These are a frigging grand!

[WM711]

is your speaker grill glued in?

[Gearbox]

Speaker grill has the sheet metal screws with the quick nuts like the original. I'll measure the vent slots tomorrow. I see what you mean about the foam. looks like you can do some serious damage to it by removing the foam. Maurice at Stoddard said that the dash was thier latest run and better than its predicesors, and as far as he sees it, it was modeled after a 70 for the entire range of years, so I had a chance that it would fit without modifications for my 71. I did notice slight bumps on the top of the dash where the snaps are placed (you can see it in the above pictures). Not terrible, but not what you expect for 1000 bucks. But what other alternatives are we left with?

Unfortunately the original speaker grill is toast, was thinking of clamping it in my millimg machine and carefully drilling the remaining holes, but that may be too anal, but I'm funny that way lol. I'm on the other coast so Scott won't be convienent. I'll make it work, but you figure they should had gotten it right the first time, especially when they do sell alot of these.

[jtkkz]

Where is the best place to replacement dash (that fits well) ?

[Gearbox]

From what I have gathered from others on this board fitment is a big issue for some cars. To summarize, here is what I have found out so far:

1) New OEM dash from Porsche - Dash was modeled after the 1970 911 but application superceeds all 1969 to 1976 911's. Possible fit problems due to excess foam that may require some trimming or sanding. Stoddard told me I may have to trim some of the foam from the front edge with a sharp knife (between the vinyl and metal frame), but from what I have seen here, I believe the problem may be too much foam where the pad meets the front of the metal dash superstructure causing the pad not to push all the way up to the edge of the galss and properly surround the defroster vents. Location of the bayonet pins and/or screw studs may not be correct for you specific application requiring drilling some holes in the superstructure of the car. But the current part has been redesigned to fit better than the early editions, but still suffers from some fitment irregularities.

2) Recovering your old dash - Just Dashes - From what I gather from experiences of others, company has a very very long turn around time, vinyl does not match, creases/edges not sharp especially around the speaker grill and the step running along the length of the dash, not Porsche friendly ( I get the feeling that they may feel Porsche guys are too picky, 90% of its business resides with the muscle car crowd) and they just raised its pricing for 911's to $700 for the dash and $150 for the speaker grill "because the value of our cars went up" Hmmmm....., totalling almost a new OEM dash. But if it came from your car, it should go back in.....albeit 6+ months later.

Bottom line, it's a trade off. I just got a PM from someone who just installed an new OEM one in his 73, what he did was measure the thickness of his old foam and drilled out the new foam to match. His experience was that it wasn't that bad. Since I had to fabricate parts from raw materials for many of my cars, I didn't see this as being that daunting. Plus I'm thinking that if you contour a rotary grinding disc to the correct diameter, grinding the foam should not be that difficult. But we'll see, I'll have the car painted in a few days and I'll get to the headliner, weatherstripping, and dash at that time and post back here with my findings. Hope this helps you out, Allan

[Gearbox]

Just measured the vent cut outs, 10.5" x 1.75" on both the original and new dash. If only my luck holds out. Just finished wet sanding the primer in 400, got the white primer smooth and shining like paint. I see the light! Allan

[Gearbox]

Had the whole week set, just finished painting the car. Had the headliner fitted up and waiting for it to stretch out before gluing. And figure I'd start on the dash. Was told all I had to do was remove foam, so the dash would sit further in, towrads the front of the car. First I trailed fitted the dash. OK. studs not exactly correct, so I drilled new holes. Fitted up the dash and found it was sitting way to far back. No problem. Started to sand off the foam. Still way off. So I noticed these 1/4" rubber washers on the front facing studs. Ok, lets take them off. and grind more foam. And more, and more. Was down to the aluminum plate holding the studs and was still 1/2" too far back. Started to trim everywhere I could think of, but it still wouldn't move forward. The gap on the driver side isn't great, but I would have accepted it. The passenger side gapped by 1/4"-1/2" and I was down to the dash's alloy frame so there was no where to go. Boy does this blow. Do I send it back for another one and did anyone finally get an acceptable one? I don't mind all the trimming to make it work, but there was no way it could have. The subframe of the dash had to have been suspended in the foam too far from the front of the dash causing it not to sit correctly. Did I mention that this really blows?