dash restoration

[26th-Z]

I am going to try Just Dashes in California (www.justdashes.com 800.247.3274) for my dash. Found them in Hemmings. They vacu-form new plastic over the old foam. Not cheap ($800 +/-), but good recommendations.

[Z Kid]

Make sure either you or they remove all of the old vinyl/plastic covering, otherwise you will spend many frustrating hours trying to get it to fit. Mine was done by a firm in South Australia, and costs only about 400 dollars aus. It seems to be a good job, have a look in my gallery for pics

[Alan Pugh]

If memory serves correctly there was a post a while ago I think by Mike about Dashboard Restorations in Queensland, Australia, who were doing dashes for overseas clients for arround the US$450.00 mark. This included all shipping. They do a complete rebuild of the dash not just a recover, new foam as well.

http://www.dashboardrestorations.com.au/index.htm

Alan.

[mdbrandy]

I'm looking at a full dash cover for my 11/69 car, but I'm worried that it won't have some of the unique details that the very early dashes have. I can't justify $800+ for a real restore, but $450 with shipping might be doable. I haven't been able to find the post you're talking about from Mike - has anyone had experience with this place in AU? Especially anyone here in the US?

[Mike]

Ya, it wasn't a bad deal. Here's the original thread:

http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1330

And, make sure you get another quote because the exchange rate moves up and down all the time. Last week it was at .60 to our 1.00.

[MikeW]

Originally posted by Mike

And, make sure you get another quote because the exchange rate moves up and down all the time. Last week it was at .60 to our 1.00.

I would think that their price quote in AUS$ would stay the same. The exchange rate going up or down is up to us customers in other countries to deal with. If the rate is trending up or down it may be in your best interest (pardon the pun) to try and pay them sooner or later depending on which way it's going. However, chances are it's like the stock market and you have no real hope of making the right decision. In that case paying as late as possible is usually the way to go.

I wish there were a company here in the US providing this same dash restoration service. Somehow it's kind of scary shipping my dash 10000 miles and not being able to drive while waiting. On the other hand, it took 6 weeks to get my bumpers rechromed and that was just shipping them to Alabama - the next state over. Doing chrome is apparently nasty and toxic. I'm glad to know that Georgia has such high standards.

[mdbrandy]

Originally posted by Mike

Ya, it wasn't a bad deal. Here's the original thread:

http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1330

And, make sure you get another quote because the exchange rate moves up and down all the time. Last week it was at .60 to our 1.00.

Thanks for the link and the advice. I've never done business overseas, but I'm also not in a hurry right now (my daily driver is a boring Camry - the Z will take as long as it takes). I'll read the thread and talk to the guys "down under".

[Mike]

Originally posted by MikeW

I would think that their price quote in AUS$ would stay the same. The exchange rate going up or down is up to us customers in other countries to deal with.

Nonetheless, I'd still get a quote. Most quotes are only good for a certain period of time (usually 15-30 days).

If I was them... I'd always quote AU dollars to make sure they are always making the same amount of money no matter what the exchange rate is like.

[Mike]

One our local Z guys contacted them and asked for a sample of the dash material. I saw the samples and it appears that the material is much softer and will not crack with age (this is guaranteed). I wasn't able to compare the material to my original dash in order to see if the pattern was the same.

I'll ask Scott to jump in on this discussion.

-- Mike

[H2O-Z]

Yes I have had several emails with James Kirk....that's James A. Kirk to be exact...or Jim Kirk, as his emails are addressed...from Dashboard Restoration

www.dashboardrestoration.com.au

and have actual vinyl samples of their recommended paterns in hand. Neither are exact replica of Datsun, but the one close is what I would call 'inverted'...that is the 'raised' part of the material is the 'channels' around the 'dimples', where the original is 'channels' indented around raised 'bumps'.....for those of us that are anal perfectionists....otherwise, very good qualified replacement that I will be using myself. I had discussed with Mike posting these samples, but have yet to see if that would show detail enough or not.

They do BTW replace the foam core as well, with a much superior product...this is the reason old dashes cracked, they say, from foam core degredation...which I feel makes their option a well worth investment.

Also, their price of 'around' $400 (I'll have to check if I received a more definite quote) does not include shipping to their North American agent here in the states, where they ship to AU from. If you happen to be here in the NW you can deliver it to them right here in Vancouver WA though.

Good luck,

scott

[biker]

Nice when they use a Z dash as their banner advertisement on their website.

They have an export enquiry form that might be worth responding to.

If you are serious and wantto find out more, i can go there after work and make some enquiries for you about the costs. Take my Z around as it had a restoration but they only did a capping.

biker

PS The little Aussie battler (dollar) is rising every day. Now buying 0.65US

[mdbrandy]

I'm planning to do things as right as I can on this car, so I'd rather restore it than cover it. For $450 or so, I can probably swing it. If you can get any first-hand impressions of their facility/work/etc., that'd be great. Sounds like more than just me might be interested. My first order of business, though is rust repair. No sense sinking a bunch of money into other stuff until I'm 100% sure that the body can be correctly fixed .

Thanks for any info you come up with.

[biker]

Hi mdbrandy

Will get back to you over the next week or so. Have to wait for an excuse to be able to drive my car to work and justify the parking expnses.

Biker

[Mike]

Yea, I'd like to know what you think as well.... thanks!

[mdbrandy]

Originally posted by biker

Hi mdbrandy

Will get back to you over the next week or so. Have to wait for an excuse to be able to drive my car to work and justify the parking expnses.

Biker

Sounds good. Like I said, right now a week is nothing to me :classic: I'm in the first month of what is undoubtedly a year+ long project just to get it back on the road. And as we know, a lifelong project after that...

[St.stephen]

No need to restore the dash, just install one of those half carpet style dash covers and you are good to go!

[mdbrandy]

Originally posted by St.stephen

No need to restore the dash, just install one of those half carpet style dash covers and you are good to go!

:sick: :sick: :sick:

:classic:

[Mike]

I'm not in a huge hurry either. But, I do know that this is a VERY ideal solution for people that need to have something done about the dash-cracks. Me? I found a brand new dash from Nissan. Cost me $750. It was a left-over dash from that 240z restoration project Nissan put on a few years ago.

[mdbrandy]

One of my major questions for them is will they duplicate the details of my very early dash. I'm not planning on being really anal about every detail of the car, but I want to keep as much of it original as I can. If they just use a generic 240Z dash mould, they probably won't get the details right. But then again, a dash cap probably doesn't get the details right either. But that's a question yet to be asked...

[H2O-Z]

What these guys do is actually make a 'correct' mold replicating the dash you send them. So don't remove the damaged vinyl, just send the whole thing to them and they will...to quote..."restore" your exact dash with all spacefic detail.

[mdbrandy]

Ah - excellent! I was just talking to some body guys here about doing some of the welding that'll be needed on the car, I'm ordering stuff from Charlie Osborne at Zedd Findings tomorrow, and if this dash thing comes together, things are looking up! It's only money, right? :classic: Thanks for the info.

[26th-Z]

Thanks everyone for the discussion about the dash restoration company in Australia. I just contacted them ( www.dashboardrestorations.com.au ) about my dash and they said: send the dash with fittings, gauges, vents, etc. to the Vancouver, Washington bulk shipper and they would send it to Austrailia - six weeks - $582 US. Check out their website and fill out the form - they contacted me the next day. They also said they were shipping first week of July.

[Mike]

Whoa!! Wait a minute. They said send it with all the guages still in tact? Wiring harness, too? That's a DEAL!! Sounds like they will take out all the inside components, refresh the dash, and put it all back together again?

Hell, that's even better.

[26th-Z]

Check out the website. What they do is vacu-form a new skin and they have to cut out the holes for the gauges and vents and stuff. They want the accessories for the fit. For the particular restoration - like mine - the dash is original and not generic. I think the only thing someone might nit-pick is the texture of the finish.

[Mike]

So, looks like they also do colors. Go for hot pink man...