Repop interior parts..fit and finish?

[MadScientist]

Hi all,

I am in the process of preparing to do my 70-500 interior and I am looking for some feedback on repop materials out there.  I bascially have to redo the whole interior and wanted to hear both good and bad about the various parts out there as far as fitment, material quality, price, etc

For example, I have heard about repop dash pads not fitting well on these cars, etc

Also,

Carpet:  Mostly good fit
Headliners: ??
Console:  plastic better than fiberglass ( I already have an original)
Gauge refacing/calibration
plastic chroming: ??
Recovering dash pad, door pads: Just Dashes, good, but $$$$
Interior screw kits:  ??

I know this is a broad question, so any information would be great.

thanks

MS
Th

[694spdRT]

Out of the repo parts I bought by far the biggest piece of junk was the repop dash pad for the '69. DO NOT buy one unless you see it first. I did not use Just Dashes for anything so I have no input for you there.

I have no complaints on the carpet, door panels, headliner, rear inside window trim, seat covers, arm rest bezels, or weatherstripping I bought from Legendary. The gauge refacing decals from Performance Car Graphics worked fine too. 

[bill440rt]

Out of the repo parts I bought by far the biggest piece of junk was the repop dash pad for the '69. DO NOT buy one unless you see it first. I did not use Just Dashes for anything so I have no input for you there.

I have no complaints on the carpet, door panels, headliner, rear inside window trim, seat covers, arm rest bezels, or weatherstripping I bought from Legendary. The gauge refacing decals from Performance Car Graphics worked fine too. 

Any chance where you got your repro pad from?? I've seen two types. One is just a moulded urethane rubber blob with a metal core. It looks good from 3 feet away, but up close you can see air bubbles, mold lines, etc. It's not even covered in vinyl, just a rubber blob. I got one on Ebay, and ended up returning the PoS.
The other ones I've seen are covered in vinyl, but are floppy with no strength. Once bolted on they're probably OK.
Just Dashes charges $300 to do a pad. If you find a used one chances are it's gonna be brittle and just a matter of time before it cracks. I found a decent one on Ebay, fixed a small 1/8" crack in an invisible area & dyed it. Now I'm keeping my fingers crossed in doesn't crack in a year.
Just Dashes charges $200 to restore EACH upper door pad.

[Troy]

We've had several threads (recently) on the consoles. Many of the companies that do plastic chroming just ship the parts to CV Vacuum platers so you may want to start there to see if you can get a good price. Auto Instruments supposedly does a fine job on complete gauge cluster restoration too. Good luck on the pads - I haven't heard anything wonderful yet (at least not for the price). I saw 41husk's upper door pads from Just Dashes and they looked nice but I think the price was $700+ so be prepared. I don't remember having problems or hearing complaints about the carpet from ACC or headliners, seat covers, seat foam, door panels, or most other interior pieces from Legendary. The interior screw kits are made by only one company I believe. I haven't used mine yet to see if I had any issues. I do have to say that I haven't seen any arm rest pads that I like yet.

Troy

[MadScientist]

Thanks for the replies.

So far you have all confirmed what I have heard (read).  Im probably going to have to bite the bullet on the pads and save up for that part of the resto.  This job aint gonna be cheap, thats for sure.

MS

[694spdRT]

Out of the repo parts I bought by far the biggest piece of junk was the repop dash pad for the '69. DO NOT buy one unless you see it first. I did not use Just Dashes for anything so I have no input for you there.

I have no complaints on the carpet, door panels, headliner, rear inside window trim, seat covers, arm rest bezels, or weatherstripping I bought from Legendary. The gauge refacing decals from Performance Car Graphics worked fine too. 

Any chance where you got your repro pad from?? I've seen two types. One is just a moulded urethane rubber blob with a metal core. It looks good from 3 feet away, but up close you can see air bubbles, mold lines, etc. It's not even covered in vinyl, just a rubber blob. I got one on Ebay, and ended up returning the PoS.
The other ones I've seen are covered in vinyl, but are floppy with no strength. Once bolted on they're probably OK.
Just Dashes charges $300 to do a pad. If you find a used one chances are it's gonna be brittle and just a matter of time before it cracks. I found a decent one on Ebay, fixed a small 1/8" crack in an invisible area & dyed it. Now I'm keeping my fingers crossed in doesn't crack in a year.
Just Dashes charges $200 to restore EACH upper door pad.

The pad came from Legendary but, it is not made by them. I got the floppy one with no strength. I had it in the car and it irritated me so much that I waited several months until I found a nice original before putting the interior back together. The pad was wavy even after being bolted in the car, the mounting studs showed through the top, and it is about an 1" to short so the sides that meet the window pillars had a big gap.

The used pad I found was stored in a garage for 25 years and is perfect. I gave $200 for it which is $20 more than the repop...no regrets on that purchase. Here is a pic of the repop and my old original that needed to be replaced. There is no metal support at all with the repop I bought.   

[8WHEELER]

I bought an upper 68 dash pad from the Paddock, I had it died blue to match my int before I notice it
was a limp noodle. But I installed it anyway hoping it might get re-enforced being bolted in. No luck,
it is still floppy, so I waited and found a sweet blue one on ebay and lucked out on it, just need to
put the new one in.

Dan

[MadScientist]

OK...note to self:  either find a mint original dash pad and re-dye, or send to Just dashes for refurbishing.  Do not get the repop!

Cool 1 item down. Lots to go

MS

[MadScientist]

AS a side note, I went out and got an estimate at an upholstery shop to do my seats (have covers already), headliner and vinyl roof ( have those too) =$1500.  I thought it was semi reasonable for the labor.  Anybody have it done cheaper?

MS

[Neal_J]

I bought front seat bucket covers from Legendary and carpet & floor mats from ACC and they're top quality. Very happy.  BTW, mine's a 69.

Labor to cover the two front seats was $300 for the pair (SF Bay Area prices) about three years ago.   Vinyl roof replacement cost, about five years ago at different shop near SF, was about $500.

Cheers

Neal

[MadScientist]

Neal,

Im in the South Bay Area (sunnyvale)  where did you have your work done?

MS

[694spdRT]

I put my own seat covers on. The upholstery shop wanted $65/piece so that would be $130/bucket seat and $130 for the rear seat. The vinyl top and headliner labor cost was $300. I removed all trim and reinstalled it instead of paying them.

[JimShine]

I went with the dash cap. It isn't horrible, but I wont keep it. Imagine having a similar piece of plastic as the A pillar trim on your dash.

[MadScientist]

I thought about doing the headliner and vinyl top myself, but the prices I was seeing werent too steep and I can just picture my self ripping the headliner.  As for the seats, my foam is toast and I need someone who knows how to build it up the right way.  since its a 70, its got the high-back foam that no one is making yet, so it'll have to be custom I guess

Great input everyone, keep it coming....

MS

[burnt69]

the interior screw kits are not that good ,about 30 or 40% of them are wrong shape or not long enough.

[MadScientist]

Interesting...I had a feeling about those kits....  I guess if I only need the 60% to work, I'll be OK I guess.  Can I ask where you got it from?

MS

[Neal_J]

Mad:

Sure-Fit in San Leandro did my top and Hank's Trim Shop in Alameda did my seats.

Cheers.

Neal

[MadScientist]

Neal,

Thanks.  I'll add those to my list.  Getting close to teardown.....

MS