Hi -

I removed the sun-baked, age-cracked, factory dashboard pad from my 1966 Ford F100. Surprisingly, the top of the dash is in good shape. It just took some patience to remove the old glue residue.

I'm too cheap to spend $500.00 for a new repro pad. Has anyone had good luck with an aftermarket dashboard cover for the 1965-66 Ford trucks? Preferably something less than $100.

Thank You,
Dan M.

 

less than $100.00 will be hard to come by and look good but some shops will cover the dash in vinyl and make it look great for under $250.00

 

Consider painting it like a custom cab and forget about the "soon-to-be-baked-in-the-sun-vinyl"...

 

Agree. And they simply look better post-removal after putting back the chrome trim. The padded dash doesn't provide much of a safety buffer in these trucks, either.

 

The repro padded dashes that Carpenter and etc are selling are actually made by Just Dashes in Van Nuys CA

Don't expect any bargains from Just Dashes, they wanted 800 bucks to refurbish the padded dash on my 1968 Galaxie XL.

I bought a dashpad cover from an upholstery shop for 100 bucks, installed it myself.

 

I aggree that leaving the painted dash is a good option. I had planned to put an after market padded dash on, but I liked the look of the painted dash, I left it. If you were able to get the old glue off, you are ahead.
http://i1145.photobucket.com/albums/...psf4b91b07.jpg


Rich in Colorado
www.photobucket.com/1966f250

 

Dan,

I moved my recently removed padded dash out of the driveway last night as the rains are coming, and gave it a once-over. Almost all of my foam is intact after removing, so I'm not going to scrap it. Later down the road, I may recover it with new thin vinyl straight over the top of the old vinyl. Seeing how expensive repros are, there are lots of online info on how to DIY recover a dash, and the ones I have seen deal with dash pads much more complex than ours.

$500 for a repro dashpad? Ridiculous. To begin with, the foam is very thin from the get-go, not a lot there to worry about. Some thin-vinyl material and 12 hours of spare time, and I bet I can restore mine if I want to. If I didn't like the look better without, I would be obsessed with it. I'm not always worried about budget, but I am watchful about when we are getting ripped-off and $500 bucks is a rip-off.

You can DIY, I know you can. For less than $100.