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Palco Dash Cover with Pics

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Old Dec 17, 2007 | 07:16 PM
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aim4squirrels's Avatar
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Default Palco Dash Cover with Pics

I promised to do this a while ago and just finally got around to doing it. I'll post pics in concurrent posts then fill in the text for posterity.

I too suffered from the 2001 heavily cracked dash board problem. Here's what I was working with originally:
[IMG]local://upfiles/68540/9D5C6BE3B9D7435AA6C6B622EAAF4AB2.jpg[/IMG]
Note the crazy buckles in the El Cheapo Plastic DC used here. Unbelieveable!
[IMG]local://upfiles/68540/757A53C7663247FF932950108E53030B.jpg[/IMG]
Now that's Cherry!
[IMG]local://upfiles/68540/686B1DFB45D348CF951F2274E1CF2434.jpg[/IMG]
I bonded the cracks together with clear GE silicone II that I purchased at the Local Home Depot. I used vinyl gloves to smooth it down and work it into the cracks.
[IMG]local://upfiles/68540/8B47D69A0457429B97189B409BE5329A.jpg[/IMG]
I used the small tubes to make it easier to work on the dash board, not the big ones that fit into a caulk gun; too hard to manuver that thing in there. Cut the tube opening at a steep angle and put it flat down into the cracks. I put bricks wrapped in shop towels onto the dash to weight it down and seal the cracks together as closely as possible. I think this step really helped to get the new cover to fit as cloesly as it did.

 
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Old Dec 17, 2007 | 07:18 PM
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Default RE: Palco Dash Cover with Pics

I bought the Replacement cover from Geno's Garage. It's made by a company called Palco in Nevada. It took 10 days to get the dash delivered, apparently they are made on order by Palco. The dash came VERY well wrapped in a plastic bag and then packed in paper and had instructions and a tube of dash top adhesive.

[IMG]local://upfiles/68540/2FFB354C9E4E47ED87F0F225C14B30B1.jpg[/IMG]
Here's what it looked like painted. After numerous miserable attempts to match the old dash paint, I gave up and went with the Duplicolor gloss black dash and vinyl paint. Apparently my dash board is a different color grey than the Mist Gray door panels and pillars, so the Mopar interior paint Mist Grey did me no good. The dealership told me the only two greys produced that year was Mist Grey and Agate, and the parts guy was positive the Agate was too dark. He took a look at my dash and agreed that it was a different grey, but couldn't tell me what type of grey. I tried Dupicolor, Krylon Plastic, and some others, but couldn't get it to match, so black it is.
[IMG]local://upfiles/68540/D28821C569074DD1A22190ACB55EA21C.jpg[/IMG]
I drilled the side screw holes out so the cover would fit snug. You'll have to do a test fit measure carefully as the dimples on the dash cover may or may not be spot on.
[IMG]local://upfiles/68540/C6506B87BDA54C9F85FBE0074F72856A.jpg[/IMG]
Here I drilled out the holes for the Top Dash bolts. If I had it to do over, I'd have cut the whole back off the spot that covers the bolts on the dash cover( the spot that I drilled) with a razor blade, as I almost ripped the cover drilling thru with that large a drill. A shot or two of black paint on the dash bolts would cover the mismatch fine, just be sure to tape some newspaper to the windsheild to avoid overspray. Don't worry about the dash, you're covering it.
 
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Old Dec 17, 2007 | 07:19 PM
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Default RE: Palco Dash Cover with Pics

Here's what it looks like installed. The dash adhesive was just barely enough in my opinion. I had to redistribute and smear it on with a vinyl glove to get around all the vents and the edges. Also, the old dash must be cleaned thoroughly with simple green or something like it to remove all of the old grime or the adhesive won't stick. You should also scrape off all the excess caulk and high spots along the dash craks so that the dash top fits snug ans flat. I stuffed shop towels into the front between the wiindshield and dash top to get a good seal at the front and then put bricks wrapped in shop towels on the dash to weigh it down overnight. I strongly suggest you do a couple of dry test fittings to get the dash top just right because you'll only have about 10 minutes to get it set in the truck before the adhesive starts to set and doesn't stick as strong as you might like. Also, do this in warm weather as the dash and adhesive are more plyable and easier to get into the truck.
[IMG]local://upfiles/68540/6B12B6702CA142C88366FE43145271D4.jpg[/IMG]
The fit was pretty good, pardon the dust and the sipder webs it needs a little love, hehe.
[IMG]local://upfiles/68540/0BF58E2AF7324443A356BA188597CB4A.jpg[/IMG]
The only "bad" fit I noticed was a small spot by the passenger air bag panel, but It's way better than the old dash looked.
[IMG]local://upfiles/68540/1C146EC8CB6941618B12BC6761418D8A.jpg[/IMG]
I'm probably going to pull the Airbag panel and vents and paint them black too. Or maybe Ill tape off the inside and just paint the airbag panel in the truck so I don't accidentally set off the air bag. I think staight back across the top will look just fine. The wheel cover I have is a Wheelskin cover if you're wondering. Got that from Geno's too and it fits great and feels so much better than my worn out tacky/sticky stock leather wheel (the wheel was leaving black streaks on my pants when I got out of my truck.)

The whole deal took about a week. Old Dash prep, new dash prep, painting (3 coats), and finally gluing it down.

One other note:

The Duplicolor gloss black reflects a lot of sunlight and might cause some drivers to go nutty with all the reflections in the windshield. I have polarized glasses so it never bothers me, but it's something to consider. I bought a can of flat black, but that had a chalky texture that I thought would be too hard to wipe down. I understand that Plastikote makes a semigloss black that might be the optimal mix of easy clean and shine, but I couldn't locate any at any store I tried (I went to about 20+ paint stores, auto parts stores, and Hardware stores of all sorts.) I even went to Plastikotes website to find distributors but the stores in my area didn't carry the semigloss. Also, the dashtop comes black and I could have (should have) just stuck with that, but I tried the Mopar Mist Grey first and when it didn't match I couldn't get it off, so I had to paint it back to black
 
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Old Dec 17, 2007 | 07:21 PM
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Default RE: Palco Dash Cover with Pics

damn dude. that dash was destroyed!
 
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Old Dec 17, 2007 | 07:29 PM
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Default RE: Palco Dash Cover with Pics

ORIGINAL: motorbrreath

damn dude. that dash was destroyed!
What were you doing standing on your dash? That is the worst one I have seen.
 
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Old Dec 17, 2007 | 08:12 PM
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Default RE: Palco Dash Cover with Pics

I had to sleep up there a few nights when the old lady threw me out. No room in the dog house.
 
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Old Dec 17, 2007 | 08:33 PM
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Default RE: Palco Dash Cover with Pics

You guys must not have seen many then. There are plenty out there that have more plastic missing then attatched, literally.
 
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Old Dec 17, 2007 | 09:26 PM
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Default RE: Palco Dash Cover with Pics

Yeah, I've seen them, that's why the cover went on before I didn't have any dash left to glue the cover to.
 
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Old Dec 18, 2007 | 12:01 AM
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Default RE: Palco Dash Cover with Pics

wow my dash on my 96 looks close to the same way there. it just up and cracked since the truck has not been used in so long. i hope to get my dash in and replaced after the start of the new year.
 
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Old Dec 18, 2007 | 05:52 PM
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Default RE: Palco Dash Cover with Pics

That looks really good man, and seems to be a pretty nice fit. I've got one big crack in my dash which showed up about 2 months after I bought my truck this summer and if it cracks in more places like yours did I may have to look into one of these. Nice job and I like the black paint.
 
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