'67-'72 Dash Pads

[C10 - C90 Bill]

Looking to replace the Dash Pad on my '72 C-10.

Wondering if they are all the same quality or are some brands better than others?

Thanks

[Greg58]

I bought an Oer brand thru Classic Industries. it fit well and seems to be thick and strong.
It came with a molding line that I removed with a razor blade.

Greg

[SoCoC10]

Buy a Dashes Direct from Summit Racing or another vendor. DO NOT BUY A COUNTERPARTS dash pad. Ive installed 10 or more Dashes Direct dash pads and never had any installation issues. Bought my 1st and last Counterpart made dash pad and had horrible fitment issues. Had to redrill the holes in the dash to make it fit!

[Stocker]

^^ x2 on Dashes Direct, got mine from board member & supporting vendor Wes at Classic Heartbeat. Just installed it, no problems, perfect fit.

[C10 - C90 Bill]

Appreciate the replies.

Why I'm asking is because I am going to a Swap Meet on Saturday and the vendor there is supposed to have some for $60.

I'm not sure if they will be good enough and I do not know what brand they are, but I'll make sure to stay away from Counterpart.

Are there any other brands I should stay away from?

[HO455]

I got mine from Truck Parts at the Portland swap meet in April and it fit just fine. I don't know who the manufacturer was.

[C10 - C90 Bill]

Looks good.

Mine will be the same way.

Green dash with a Black Pad.

[Already Gone]

subscribed

[HO455]

Originally Posted by C10 - C90 Bill

Looks good.

Mine will be the same way.

Green dash with a Black Pad.

Thanks Bill. Mine is actually a gray pad.

[C10 - C90 Bill]

Originally Posted by HO455

Thanks Bill. Mine is actually a gray pad.

I see the difference now.

Never knew they made a Gray.

[cericd]

People on here used to talk about a certain brand having internal reinforcement which helped it hold up better/longer while several other companies made pads without the internal reinforcement. I think I remember reading that the more cheaply made pads looked worse even upon just being installed. I'm sure someone will recall or could do an in depth search to find the manufacturer/dealer of the good pads.

[GR8-68]

I also bought a counterparts dash pad and had to modify the mounting holes to get it to lay flat. Other than that it was fine.

[70STOVEBOLT]

Originally Posted by cericd

People on here used to talk about a certain brand having internal reinforcement which helped it hold up better/longer while several other companies made pads without the internal reinforcement. I think I remember reading that the more cheaply made pads looked worse even upon just being installed. I'm sure someone will recall or could do an in depth search to find the manufacturer/dealer of the good pads.

The brand was mentioned above, Dashes Direct. I bought one 15 years ago from GMCPauls. It has a metal core just like the original.

[cericd]

Awesome! Good to know.

[saxart]

Ack! This would have been great info to have before just receiving my COUNTERPARTS dash pad from Classic Parts.

Are there other issues with the COUNTERPARTS dash pads besides the mounting holes not lining up? (I'm trying to figure out if it's worth paying to send it back, or if I should just deal with the mounting hole situation) Are the CP pads OK other than that?

[DT1]

I need one too. Went to Summit but the only ones they had were Goodmark and OER.

[leddzepp]

I've used counterpart with no issues. Like most parts there are probably good runs and bad runs amongst the various manufacturers

[BrianG]

Maybe I just got a bad one, but I bought one of the Dashes Direct pads and I didn't like it. Mine didn't have the metal backer so it was as limp as a wet noodle. This made it not lay as flat as it should and from the outside looking in, it didn't look very good. It didn't look terrible from the inside. Also the pattern was not as nice as the original ones. Everytime I looked at it, it just couldn't let it stay on there. I think I'm in the minority here, but I'd never buy another one from Dashed Direct. I took it off and had an old one recovered in the same pattern as my seat and sun visors.

[C10 - C90 Bill]

Originally Posted by DT1

Went to Summit but the only ones they had were Goodmark and OER.

Is there anything wrong with the Goodmark and OER brand?

[davepl]

All I know for sure is that the LMC "Blue" dash is completely the wrong color for the 1970 DK BLU interior, so I woundup removing it, repainting it, and reinstalling it, and now it looks good.

Here you can see the color they give you to start with. It actually matches the seats, but should match the dash/wheel/console I believe.

[special-K]

I put a blue one in my '72 when I bought it in '01. The guy said it came from the same people LMC bought from. It was fiberglass base, no visible metal. I popped it in without ever putting the crews or nuts on. It sat there straight as an arrow looking good till I took it out to change colors about five years ago. I sold it to another member and it looked good as new. I don't think Dashes Direct was making anything for trucks in '01 yet.

[C10 - C90 Bill]

Originally Posted by leddzepp

I've used counterpart with no issues. Like most parts there are probably good runs and bad runs amongst the various manufacturers

Well between leddzepp's reply above and the deal I got, I went and brought home a Counterpart from the Swap Meet this week-end, lol.

The vendor brought some Dash Pads like he said he would and I looked it over and saw "Counterpart" on it. Oh no, lol. I told the guy that there are some complaints out there on how they fit. Besides being a real nice guy, he told me that he uses them on his projects and have sold many with no complaints. But that is not what sold me on it.

I asked him and he told me that if I was not happy with it, just re-box it up and bring it back to the next meet in August. He also gave me his business card with phone number and it turns out that he is from my neighborhood.

There is a steel plate in it and have to say that so far it looks real good. I'll let you all know how it fits within the next few weeks.

[markcurry]

I hope it fits well. Will be waiting for your feedback before I purchase one. Thanks!
towing san jose

[Dieselwrencher]

I got one from LMC probably 5-8 years ago for my 72. It sat in the box uninstalled for probably 2 years in my house. It has a steel reinforcement panel. It fit decent enough, but not even a year later after I installed it, it looks warped at places and looks like crap. So sometime I need to replace it. I'm not sure what brand they were selling then.

[sdailey]

Seeing this thread reminded me that I needed a dash pad for my '69 so I recently ordered a Dashes Direct pad. I had a new Counterparts dash pad at one time, but donated it to a buddy because he needed one sooner than I did. One thing I do remember about that pad was that it was stiff and hard with little to no grain.



Fast forward to yesterday when UPS delivered my new DD pad. I returned from lunch to see this. Our dashes are "curved", right.






Then I see where someone was kind enough to tape the box back together.




It doesn't get any better from here......









A new pad is currently on the way, with a UPS call tag being sent for the damaged one.



I can give a little feedback on the Counterpart and DD dash pads since I've held both now.


Counterpart was rigid and firm (almost like holding a 2 x 4) with little to no grain, but did have the metal strip for support made into the pad.


The DD pad is way softer and more pliable by far. As the pictures show, it has a metal strip formed into it for the mounting bolts to anchor to, but no other metal for rigidity. See the last picture above as to how limber the dash is.


I can't speak for fitment on either pad because I haven't tried to test fit them.


Here's a close up of the texture of the DD pad for reference.