In my quest to find my first Chevelle, I see a lot of people have those ugly carpet looking covers over a cracked dash. Why do people do this? Is it a tough job to replace the dash pad with a new one? I checked the prices and they're no more than $200, what gives?

I don't think it's overly difficult to replace a dash pad but simply placing one of those carpet covers over the cracked dash pad is easier and cheaper, so alot of people take that route instead of spending the money and taking the time to properly solve the problem.

OK, thanks. Just wanted to make sure if I bought a car that needs a dash pad replaced it wasn't going to turn into a nightmare. Thanks.

The difficulty of replacing one depends on the year, though. For example, for a 70-72 pad, all the screws (6 or 7) are easily accessible from the front of the dash. You can have one of these off in minutes. For 68-69, there are studs in the center of the bottom of the pad, and these have speed nuts on them. You have to reach up under the dash to get at them, which is more difficult.