im wondering if anyone knows a place to buy, or a way to fab up a cover where the heater and radio is. im going to be racing this Z so that stuff isnt needed. id like to replace it with instrument gauges if possible?

Fast answer: Plexiglass available in 12"x12" sizes at Home Depot. You can get it in real thin to thick styles. Get a thickness strong enough that it does NOT wobble and you know that your instruments / switches aren't going to be vibrating and making it hard to read. You can cut it by scoring it numerous times and then flexing the plastic along STRAIGHT lines (curved lines are better done with a scroll saw).

Biggest advantages are that it is relatively easy to cut and can be heat formed. That it is transparent allows you to see what's back there.

Biggest disadvantages: It's transparent and is very susceptible to deforming under high heat.

Plywood although a bit harder to work with (and I'm sure some will argue that, and I can see their point) is relatively cheap, can be painted and is quite strong. One disadvantage is that it's heavier than plexiglass.

Metal overcomes a bunch of objections above, but the biggest problem is securing it firmly to the dash so that it won't come flying off in violent maneuvers.

Enrique

you could fiberglass over the exisiting plastic and mold it to what u want it to look. You could reinforce it with some mdf board.