Restored Dashes Question

[Bambikiller240]

Just wondering how the members who sent dashes out to Dashboard Restorations really feel about the product that they received back. One person has vaguely mentioned some sort of dissatisfaction, wile another has indicated satisfaction.

This service is something that I may be interested in in the future, so I'd like to hear in more detail what has pleased (and displeased) the folks who have done business with this vendor. If anyone is dissatisfied, have you discussed this with the vendor?

I placed this thread in "Open Discusssions" as it doesn't seem appropriate to place it in the Vendors forum since someone may post dissatisfaction with the product/service.

[optimaxtech]

Having not owned a Zcar in years:cry: , I realize this is a major issue with the interior. Is the dash not availible after market complete? Perhaps NOS replicas?. Out of the 3 I owned, only one was cracked, and I personally could not stand having a thick piece of carpet in my line of site when cruising. Needless to say that one went unrepaired for it's life.

[Bambikiller240]

Originally posted by optimaxtech

Having not owned a Zcar in years:cry: , I realize this is a major issue with the interior. Is the dash not availible after market complete? Perhaps NOS replicas?. Out of the 3 I owned, only one was cracked, and I personally could not stand having a thick piece of carpet in my line of site when cruising. Needless to say that one went unrepaired for it's life.

OEM dashes are getting very hard to find and are very expensive when found, and they have not been manufactured for some years. One member has a fibreglass dash that he sells, but recommends it for race cars only (if I remember correctly). I have not seen or heard of anyplace else offering a dash for 240Z's

[optimaxtech]

With productas availible today, I would not be hard to start a basement business and reproduce them!:classic: The trick would be coming up with 1 perfect one to start molding with. Got free time, and some room? The hell with working for the "man", I need to work for myself!:classic:

[26th-Z]

Carl,

If you are talking about my "mild" comment, I shouldn't have been misleading. Apologies. I wrote some more about expectations in my thread about the dash cap I have for sale. I suspect "expectations" are everything concerning restoration work and I have no fault with Dashboard Restorations at all. I think it is appropriate to say that if I do another DR dash, I will send the frame with it "expecting" that it might save me some time and skill to have someone better than me fit the dash pad back on the frame. We all sent our pads without the frames because we mistakenly thought it would save shipping costs. Shipping for a dash is a matter of size, not weight. Size matters! Because I am in Florida, shipping cost me over $250.

Generally speaking, I am a satisfied customer and will consider doing my other series one dash as they are getting harder and harder to find and more valuable. The DR recovering is a very economical and thorough solution to the cracked and degraded dash problem. I'm still fitting the pad to the dash as I have high expectations and it is taking a lot of time to get it to my liking because I have never done this before. That's my only bitch

[MikeW]

I'm actually quite happy with mine. As expected, there were some negatives. By far, my biggest problem was getting the speedometer and tachometer back in the dash. Unlike the 3 center gauges which are installed from the back, the two bigger gauges are installed from the front. The new covering appears to be installed on top of the old covering instead of replacing it. Because of this extra thickness I found it impossible to install from the front. Instead, I was forced to trim some of the old and new vinyl and, after warming it up and applying some water-based lubricant ease the gauges in from the rear. It worked out perfectly but was a bit tedious.

Overall, DR did a great job matching the color sample I sent and the workmanship seems top notch. I agree with 26th-Z that it would have been less of a hassle to send the entire frame, but that would have left me without being able to drive for 4 months. After removing the dash and separating the frame I simply left all of the instruments and wiring in the frame and put it back in the car. I had to repeat that process once I got the restored pad back.

[inline6]

I have been PM ing a few individuals up until now with my DR experience as I haven't felt comfortable airing what I perceived to be unique issues to my dash. Having read these posts and a couple others, I feel I can bring some clarity to the discussion.

First, and foremost, I have contacted Jim at DR and he has been very understanding and did not hestitate to mention that they will make it right.

Here is what my experience has been:

Dash was extremely well packed and protected - no problems with shipping. :nervous: Upon removing the dash from the packing, I breathed a sigh of relief as the dash looks very good. I noticed a couple of very slight indentations in 2 places (one the size of a quarter - I guess the foam had a low spot there). Having done bodywork before and seeing a couple of imperfections in the new, factory series II dash that I have, I am ok with these as I think it unfair to expect perfection on a restoration.

Putting the pad back on the frame proved to be a problem. I noticed that I was having to put a fair of amount force on the pad to get it to line up with the anchor points. With each fastener, it seemed the pad was getting more stressed. I loosened all the fasteners and tried massaging and retightening, but the pad still seemed under stress. This is especially so at the lower two corners of the heater panel opening. The pads corners seem to be about 1 and 1/2 inches wider than the frame. Pushing the pad to the metal, I secured them with screws and moved on.

After all the screws were in, I noticed that the area of the pad under the speedo and tach was a little distorted or wavey.

Next came the guages. The three middle ones went in easily. However, the Speedo and Tach were a bitch. Now that I read MikeW's post, I see that I am not the only one. Believe it or not MIke, I was able to get them to go in from the front, but it took over thirty minutes and a lot of pulling and prying. Looking at the new dash vs. the resto, I see that the eyebrow area is substantially thicker-- making the roof of the gauge hole reduced in diameter. Once I got the gauges deep enough in their holes, they loosened up quite a bit and could be rotated to align them vertically.

Checking the fit of the heater panel in the center of the dash, I saw that the top of the opening on the pad did not fit the slight curvature of the top of the heater panel. The panel has a slight arc to it on the top edge as you look from side to side. The pad is perfectly straight from side to side. Because of this, the screw holes don't line up well with the captured nuts in the frame, and the fit at the top is not quite right.

Coming back to the dash after a break, I looked at the area under the speedo and tach, and noticed that one of the metal anchors had pulled loose from the pad. :sick:

That is where I stopped. In my communication with Jim at DR the possibility of a bent frame came up. Jim told me that they have a jig that they put the dashes on, that they destress them (as they sometimes have been bent in collisions or over time) and that they are recovered so that they fit the factory frame the way they should. So, in theory, there should not be any difficulty in putting the restored pad back on the frame.

At this point, I plan on sending mine to the US office when it gets up and running in Feb, and having it redone. I will send my frame along to be checked for bends/damage. I also will send my original pad (the one I sent them was from a parts car) with the restored pad. Finally, I will provide ample details with photos to show them what I see. I am confident that they will be able to fix the issues. :classic:

Hope this helps and is not disrespectful in any way to DR.

Garrett

[norcal z]

Originally posted by MikeW

...By far, my biggest problem was getting the speedometer and tachometer back in the dash...

<snip> The new covering appears to be installed on top of the old covering instead of replacing it. Because of this extra thickness ...

As explained in their recent e-mail to me, they strip off the old cover and pad, and replace everything. Perhaps it may be the case that the new pad is just a bit thicker than the original was?

Here's their correspondence:

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Gary, Quote #31058

As the exclusive North American Representative of Dashboard Restorations of Queensland, Australia, we thank you for your recent inquiry in regards to our dash pad restoration services.

Our USA services include the restoration of Dash Pads, Consoles, and Arm Rests. Molded Door Panels may be provided for your vehicle depending on make and model. All work is done in our facility in the USA. We have the training from Dashboard Restorations in Australia and use the same equipment and processes that they have used for the last 20+ years.

Our service will provide you with a genuine and professional restoration by qualified craftsmen. Your unit will be stripped, repaired, re-padded, reshaped, and recovered with the best quality foam and UV sun protected Bridgestone finishing material using our unique vacuum heat molding process. This process ensures that your unit will be finished to “as new” condition, in the color of your choice, at no additional cost!

We offer our customers a 100% guarantee against faulty workmanship and materials!

Our turnaround time is about 2 weeks, once at our shop. All units must be sent to us on the metal/plastic sub-frame – we are not able to accept the pad only. Any and all fittings such as vents, instrument surrounds, plastic fittings, and fitted gauges, etc. must be included to enable us to accurately size and refit these items following the restoration of the dash-pad.

Send your unit either UPS, FEDEX, or parcel post, prepaid, to the street address shown above. Upon completion, we will return to you either the least expensive method, or any carrier of your choice. We will bill your credit card for the freight only.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

And their contact information here in the US:

E-mail: dashrestoreusa@aol.com

phone/fax: 360-892-4075

[MikeW]

Originally posted by norcal z

As explained in their recent e-mail to me, they strip off the old cover and pad, and replace everything. Perhaps it may be the case that the new pad is just a bit thicker than the original was?

Well, I'm not going to peel off the new vinyl to find out. It may be that the old vinyl was just left around the instrument holes. I did trim some of the new vinyl and what appeared to be old vinyl back to get my speedometer and tachometer back in. I agree that the new vinyl is thicker and that might be contributing to the problem. I'm actually happy at this point so I don't want it to sound like I'm complaining.

[norcal z]

Originally posted by MikeW

...It may be that the old vinyl was just left around the instrument holes. I did trim some of the new vinyl and what appeared to be old vinyl back to get my speedometer and tachometer back in...

Ahhh, I see now - you actually found evidence of some old vinyl. Even though you are not dissatisfied, I would report this back to DR so that they can determine whether to modify their process or not (I was formerly a field rep for a mfg. company, and I was occasionally surprised to find customers who had irritating little issues that they never reported back to us that were then resolved by a simple process change at the factory).

It could also have been a QC problem (not removing all the old material as indicated in their sales info) rather than a process issue.

gary

[MikeW]

Originally posted by norcal z

Ahhh, I see now - you actually found evidence of some old vinyl.

Yes. From what I can tell, the old foam core may be part of the problem. I'm guessing that if you tried to peel the old vinyl from the core it would take clumps of the foam with it - thereby leaving a bumpy, uneven surface. Doing that to the whole pad might then make it hard to smooth it out back to the proper level with some kind of filler.

JimK, if you're reading this perhaps you can respond.

[Xargon321]

well at least when my dash get done ill i have to do is drive it there! they are like only 30 mins away from me.

kinda the same with z therapy they are about 1 hour away

Sorry had to say somthing when i saw that they had a north a us office and checked saw where it was!!