Looking for a better source for a 70 Chevelle SS dash. Most reproductions I see on the web are good, but not great. I think what bugs me is that the lettering for "wiper" and "lighter" are not painted in silver - a dead giveaway for a reproduction dash.

Those reproductions available from OPGI and other sources seem to get them all from one Asian factory. I have looked all over the place for perhaps another reproduction that looks better, but to no avail.

Any recommendations? I would attempt to paint these letters myself, but the letters are not raised enough to do a neat job.

Thanks.

A junkyard. You will never be happy with repros.

Regardless of who sells them, all of the repro dashes come from the same place - Dynacorn. In truth, unless you are going for a concourse restoration, the quality is not all that bad. For a repop, they are well made and fit good. The graining is very good and all original parts interchange without issues (with one exception). The two major drawbacks are the fit of the glove box door and the crappy silver vinyl tape used to color the bezels.

Yes, you are right about the weight of the lettering for the wiper and lighter. It's a dead givaway for anyone into Chevelle restoration but it's not THAT bad. If you go to cruise nights and local car shows, I doubt if 99% of lookers would know the difference. BUT, think about this: Even if you use an original dash carrier, unless you send it out to be vacuum plated to look original ($700.00+), you are still going to have to use a silver paint pen so it's still going to look like a home-made restoration job to anyone who knows restorations. There's nothing wrong with that, but at the same time, I doubt that the weight of the lettering of an original dash carrier will make any difference.

If you can find an unmolested original dash carrier that doesn't have the radio mounting area all screwed up, and you can get it for a reasonable price, by all means go for it. But keep in mind that by the time you invest a lot of time and materials in "restoring" that original dash, it might have been more cost effective to install a repro and be done with it.

I've got both a repro and the original dash for my '70 SS which is a very clean and acceptable driver. I take local car show trophies with the Dyacorn dash with regularity and no one points at my dash with disdain.

If you are going to go the original dash carrier route, spent the money to have it redone properly. If you are going to use an original dash and DYI, make sure that the purchase price offsets the restoration costs because the end result won't look much different.

Should you have a change of heart and go with the repop, my only advice would be to peel off the silver vinyl tape and use the silver paint pen.

Thanks for the response(s). Yup, you said what I was thinking about all along. I have the repro dash in my 70 Chevelle, and I agree with everything you said. Thanks for the input....just wanted to see if other people are seeing what I was seeing.

Funny you said the glove door doesn't fit quite right.....mine does the same.

:thumbsup:

Thanks for the response(s). Yup, you said what I was thinking about all along. I have the repro dash in my 70 Chevelle, and I agree with everything you said. Thanks for the input....just wanted to see if other people are seeing what I was seeing.

Funny you said the glove door doesn't fit quite right.....mine does the same.

:thumbsup:

What do you do to get the glove box door to fit right?

What do you do to get the glove box door to fit right?

Great question. Mine does not fit well either. In fact I believe this is the worst fitting part on the car and one of the most noticeable.

Will an original glove box door fit better on the reproduction dash panel? Or what exactly is the problem? I bought the repro dash but didn't buy the glove box door thinking I would use my original one. What do you think? :confused:
Thanks

It's the same with my repo dash.I used the glove box door that was on my Malibu dash so it's not the door thats the problem.I can't seem to adjust the metal catch in the glove box that lock attaches to.The door will close and lock but it bows out the top sides of the door.If I remove the catch and close the door fits perfect.Now I'm not sure what to do,leave the door so it's not perfect but functional or I was going to put a small piece of velcro so the door will stay closed and look right.
The only other problem I had was with the ashtray.I ordered a repo but I could not get it fit right.Bought a good used one off ebay and fit with no problems.

Regardless of who sells them, all of the repro dashes come from the same place - Dynacorn. .

Well said, Why don't people understand this simple fact? THere just is NOT enough business related to the repop market to support MORE THAN ONE vendor tooling up for most parts. Once someone jumps in and does something like the dash THAT IS IT...nobody else is gonna do the same part. All the sources are just distributors / resellers of product from THE SAME SUPPLIER!!!!!

I see this all the time .."Best supplier for..............."? In truth the best supplier is the RESELLER with the best return policy. best price and best service. The PRODUCT is likely the SAME no matter where you buy it.

I didn't have any issues with the repro dash housing when I put one in my 70. I had to wrestle it a little to get one screw in, but that's to be expected. I don't have an issue with closing the glove box door either...mainly because there's a CD player in there :D. Seriously though, I've had the radio out of the car and had the glove box closed, never had a problem with it latching or releasing.

Good luck finding one in a junkyard. Good luck finding an SS chevelle in a junkyard in the 1st place, and if you do, it will most certainly be stripped already. The repro dashes are the best bet unless you find one used off craigslist or ebay or a classified ad someplace.