Dash Color

[rcazwillis]

Cleaning up Zane's 71, notice the dash from the dash pad to the windshield is painted brown. Originally, thought it was dirt. The interior is saddle. Is this normal for the space to be brown or interior color?

[DA71Grande]

Good question.. I think the previous owner of my truck painted that space black, I thought it should be the color of the vehicle but when i had the defrost vents out they were saddle on the underneath side. Curious to find out the answer.

[rjs53]

Mine is saddle, and it looked like dirt. Far as I can tell its original and should be that way. I dont think I'm wrong but I could be mistaken.

[rustytruck50]

FWIW....my '72 is sprayed body color behind the dash and up to the firewall. It's just not a solid coat because of the area and not needing as good a finish as something easily seen.

[flashed]

My 72 is body color .

[Stocker]

My '72 K20 is body color. Its interior is all original paint.

[Linz]

My 72 is black all the way through from dashpad to windshield!! Sorry not sure how to rotate the picture

[special-K]

I didn't know some came with body color in that area. I'm used to seeing a matte version of the vinyl color painted there. I changed my '72 GMC from blue interior to saddle and that area is still dark blue.

['68OrangeSunshine]

I spray painted the dash under the windshield with flat black for anti-glare. Touch it up occasionally. The summer sun is harsh here.
My original dash pad was a dark silver gray, and the area in front was sort of charcoal, so I'm not far off with the black.

[rcazwillis]

Took a pic of the dash with the pad off. Dirty, but looks original. Feels like a flat finish. Not sure if that is sun fade or painted that way originally.

[Metaldoc]

They used flat paint so the sun doesn't reflect off it. It's right.

[cleszkie]

My 72 Blazer is ochre. The dash pad is sandalwood vinyl and the dash is painted flat sandalwood. The steering column is painted gloss sandalwood and the steering wheel is sandalwood plastic.

[68 P.O.S.]

Originally Posted by Metaldoc

They used flat paint so the sun doesn't reflect off it. It's right.

x2

[randy500]

That area is always painted the color of the dash pad in a flat sheen. Never body color.

[randy500]

There is a also a rule on dash pad color...matches interior color except if tilt column then black dash pad, unless Cheyenne super, then some or maybe all get dash pad color that matches the interior color....someone can probably clarify this rule....

[Stocker]

Originally Posted by randy500

That area is always painted the color of the dash pad in a flat sheen. Never body color.

That makes perfect sense. I said mine was body color because it appears to be, just very badly faded -- which I attributed to being outdoors all the time for so many years.

I've said before, if you don't learn something every day, you're not paying attention! Thanks for contributing to this old man's continuing education.

[kolle_hond]

My interior is tan, and it was black from the factory. This is a picture I found showing it prepped for paint (I had my interior painted century gold):

[davepl]

Also, if you have a blue truck, for example, the flat blue they use on the dash isn't a great match. They used the same flat blue in 69-70 for pretty much every shade of exterior blue regardless, I think.

[Metaldoc]

Mine was a darker flat blue but not after I painted it the factory outer blue.

[rharris]

Is there a paint reference for this? I need new defroster registers and would like to paint them to match.

[Metaldoc]

I'm not sure if this helps. I think the dash vents are color coded to match when you buy them.

[demian5]

Mine was vinyl when I bought mine, had 4x6 speaker holes. I had to cover them again with flashing and painted it satin black.