My 72 f250 is fighting NOT to leave thein paint shop i am pressing for it to do so so I can have it for my birthday and drive it to the family Thanksgiving dinner and my birthday celebration at my sister's place. i ordered a gang load of parts from National Parts Depot in like February. Robert the body shop parts installer who I gave my phone number to last week so HE could call me himself if he ran into ANOTHER parts problem..just called me. The dash pad from NPD National Paris Depot is not a pad at all its a CAP COVER. I want a complete dash pad not a cap. My current very sun split dash pad is BLUE. All the companies who sell this dash pad are EAST COAST BASED so they are closed. National Parts Depot has a California outlet that verified they have a WHITE dash pad that is dye able in FLORIDA for $528. plus shipping.. .DENNIS CARPENTER according to the online store has one in White that also can be dyed $425. MAC'S has one listed a "Neutral" (White Dye-able?) for $430 ...LMC has a WHITE dash pad for $469. Has anyone dyed(spray painted) one of these pads? Any pitfalls to avoid? I went to the Automotive Paint place a few days ago and picked up a spray can of blue paint fot vinyl to do my door panels its blue has more red in it than my factory blue does and I was on the fence with using that spray bomb can..also the door panels actually cleaned up so well that I was tempted to let them stay as they are ..the driver's panel is somewhat sun dull compared to the passenger one so I was still debating. Since the replacement dashpad will need to become blue,I think Ill go get a pint of custom mixed blue color matched special for vinyl paint from them tomorrow to be ready for the new pad to arrive and have blue color put on it and to refresh the door panels also....is there any tricks to spray dying the dashpad and door panels?. Has anyone bought a DASH PAD from Macs or CARPENTER? i cant imagine there is a difference in quality between them all is there? NPD is a $100 MORE than ALL the others WHY?

 

I'm looking for a dash pad as well. It seems hard to find because everything is a Pad-Cap. They word it so it's hard to tell what you're getting.

 

Exactly...the parts companies often word their parts descriptions really really S#$%TY! I am sure I ordered that dash cap not realizing at all it WAS only a CAP not a full dash pad all those months ago....I spent about $2000 in bumpers, interior parts.seat cover, carpet, emblems,tail light bezels and lenses etc so the cost of the dash piece kinda just flew under the radar.PLUS I had everything shipped DIRECTLY TO THE BODY SHOP so a quick look in the box for that dash piece a few days after all of it was delivered in February was a real mistake........Im betting the answer to what item you are actually getting has to do with how much you have to pay meaning if the dash piece costs over $400 it is a " Padded Dash "FULL ASSEMBLY'.like what came from Ford originally...if it is in the $160 cost arena it is a CAP COVER. TO COVER YOUR OLD DASH PAD..(SEE A CLEARLY WRITTEN DESCRIPTION CAN BE OFFERED)..Ill know more at 5 am San Diego Time TOMORROW when I call Dennis Carpenter and MAC's and then National Parts Depot.... I want to see what they ALL say about their quality and if IT is A FULL PADDED DASH ASSEMBLY OR WHAT...??? time is getting close to get this truck out of the paint place before Thanksgiving....It JUST needs these items put on to be ready: The Dash(needing to be dyed blue now. 2-3 days to get a good dry time etc..) The door panels(also now needing a refresh in dye should be done at the same time as the dash so no additional time delay there) The new windshield to arrive(Thursday).installed AFTER THE DASH PAD..... the body shop dropped and broke the nice one originally on the truck..OOPPS....All the NON Stainless steel body side moldings, now all polished to a very nice near blinding brightness, to be clear coated to slow tarnish(2-3 days to have the clear coat dry etc) and installed...The seat to be removed from the truck have its new cover put on and then reinstalled a few days there. Maybe Ill take a day off of work to go get that seat and push that along The grille to be installed.... all the hood latch guts to be re-installed...The west coast mirrors now all polished to a mirror sheen to be installed....then a nice final buff....so if last minute parts like the dash pad and front windshield get here...its possible b4 Turkey day.....

ALMOST READY...the things(incorrect last minute parts) that fell through the cracks are keeping me from getting this truck out of the paint shop...ARGH!!!
....

 

Some (all?) of the repro parts sellers are buying their repro padded dashes from justdashes.com located in Van Nuys CA

Just Dashes also repairs padded dashes, but they're not cheap, so be prepared for "sticker shock."

 

Your truck is coming out beautiful!

 

Sigi my Paint and Body shop owner friend did ETHYL *THE* ToolTruck also 3 years ago His work is stellar...his time management is NOT...

tail light forward view...prior to new wheels and tires....

It needs the bumpers,grille, mirrors hung. Needed are the hood latch stuff, new DASH PAD and windshield. The seat needs to be covered. all the freshly polished moldings reinstalled after getting a coat of clear coat...11/15/19 is the deadline I have set
Yes that is very true.It was a very clean truck to start with so it was a great platform for this restore.....but my friend does such good work his business has exploded (he did Ethyl*THE TOOL TRUCK also 3 years ago)...he is so busy all of a sudden that he is unable to manage the workflow effectively..things like finding I had ordered wrong parts keep happening at the last minute.....I have gone right to his worker guys to have them call me directly when something is not going well like finding out last week that the F O R D letters for the hood I ordered and they received last Feb were WRONG..I only found out about the letters when I showed up to check on things two days ago....the guy doing the work found the letters were incorrect two weeks before and no one had called me......this "little last minute" stuff is bad for MY DEADLINE....I want this truck in TEN DAYS by 11/15 so I can do little things to it that week and then drive it to our family EPIC PRE Thanksgiving celebration my sister does every year on the Saturday prior to Turkey Day.....My birthday is the 27th so its my present to ME also....LETS get it DONE...Im going to micromanage from this point or it wont get done....

 

Here's an FTE thread on the subject of dying vinyl:
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/8...-or-parts.html