Dash Cap ’78 280Z - Poor Fit

[LBO730]

I have the exact same problem with my 75 full cap. I've had it about 6 mos. (just installed yesterday) and when I ordered it they said it had to be "made up" as they didn't have one in stock. I'll have to look at the part number. It appears to me that the mold they are made from is simply off. The stems for the knobs are sitting against the bottom of the openings. I'm not sure how I'm gonna proceed. Probably some careful trimming.

Bryan

[bmuu]

Today I got a chance to talk to both Palco and Accu-Form. Here's what I learned. Both companies use roughly the same mold, which is not too surprising, considering that two former employees of Accu-Form formed Palco back in the late ‘80’s or early ‘90’s.

The man I spoke to at Palco (Dashtop) told me he has been producing the same cap for around 20 years and has had no complaints regarding fit on the 280Z. He used to produce two products for the 280Z, the 303D and the 303. Originally, the "D" version had a deep return and the standard 303 a shallow return (referring to how far the cap extended into the gauge openings). These days he only produces one cap for the 280Z, the model 303. Today's 303 is different from the original 303 and is somewhere between the original 303 and 303D.

Next, I called Accu-Form and spoke to a woman named Tammy. She was extremely helpful and quite knowledgeable. Tammy told me that Accu-Form still produces both the standard (303) and deep (303D) versions of the cap. When I explained my problem to her, she told me that she had another customer a couple of months ago with exactly the same problem. The solution was to switch to the shallow cap, which went on without a problem. She indicated that in addition to having shallower returns back to the gauge faces, the standard cap has slightly different dimensions (probably just a difference in mold tolerances) that allow it to fit better on some dashes. She was going to ship out a standard cap today and issue a call tag on the deep one. Hard to beat that kind of customer service! I don’t know if Accu-Form sells direct, but I purchased mine through American Dash Caps, who also provided excellent service.

I should have the new cap by the end of the week. I’ll let everyone know how it fits as soon as I get it. I hope that this will help Bryan (LBO730) and anyone else with a similar problem.

[bmuu]

I have the exact same problem with my 75 full cap. I've had it about 6 mos. (just installed yesterday) and when I ordered it they said it had to be "made up" as they didn't have one in stock. I'll have to look at the part number. It appears to me that the mold they are made from is simply off. The stems for the knobs are sitting against the bottom of the openings. I'm not sure how I'm gonna proceed. Probably some careful trimming.

Bryan

Bryan,

Just curious, what brand cap / model number is your cap?

Joel

Edited June 1, 2011 by bmuu

[TomoHawk]

I must have a shallow cap; the cap goes into the center gauge openings almost enough to meet the gauge faces. Otherwise, with the exception of trimming the holes for the dimmer knobs, mine fits fine, but the edge under the windscreen just won't lay flat (it's a little wavy) so I can't get the defroster grille on. Can you still mold it after painting (with Duplicolor vinyl paint?) I suppose I could drag mine out and straighten the upper edge with the heat gun. then I can bond it to the dash after collecting enough sticks for the job.

Edited June 1, 2011 by TomoHawk