dastine

I have a late '85 with a badly cracked dashpad. I have see the replace vinyl dashpads that you place over your existing dash. Has anyone ever had any experience with these? Do they look nice? Are they very difficult to install? Also, what are my other options for getting rid of this unsightly dash? I want it to look as close to factory as possible.

Thanks in advance,
Dave

jdoc7

Unfortunately, the only way you will get a stock appearance is to replace the entire dash with a new or used dash in good condition. I ordered a Coverlay dash for my 87 951 and it looked BAD! You could tell right away it was an overlay and the plastic was cheap. I sent it back and ended up with a black carpet like dash cover from Coverking. I had a the 'PORSCHE' insignia professionlly embroidered in the right lower corner and it looks GREAT! Certianly much better then the Coverlay and at only $25.00, fit like a charm.

johnmshaw

plastic ones suck

Matt O.

That is not the only way to get the factory look!!!

I ran into a Marine with a 944, with 195K miles but in GREAT shape. He purchased a material that is soft, like the modern day dashes, took out his dash, and covered his dash with it. He said it was $40 a foot (or yard), and I can't remember the name of the material but I will find out. I don't think I will be able to use it, because I have a blue dash (although I could just cover it in black), but I touched it and it felt great. Looked really good too. Looked better then factory, not tacky at all. And not like those stupid plastic covers.

I will find out more and let you all know. This may be something we could bulk order.

-Matt

TLMikey

I can probably add to this post a bit. My dash on my 87 was horribly cracked so at a recent swap meet I found one that was recovered for $100. The guy had shaved off the old material(vinyl?) and installed a newer, softer vinyl with a 1/4" foam pad underneat it(the pad and vinyl were adhered together from the factory). Anyways, the fit is great, the stuff stretches really well and I think it looks pretty good. I would still rather have a factory dash and the black wasn't quite as black as the rest of the interior, but its a vast improvement and easily worth $100. Besides, once you pull your dash apart, chances are you won't want to do it again.

Devildog2067

IMHO, the coverlay looks great on the early 944/924 style dashes, because of their much blockier styling. There's a contour like that it follows all the way around, and it looks flawless. On the late model dashes it's ugly because the dash is so swoopy that it's easy to tell there's a cover on it. IMHO, anyway.

--
Semper Fi
Cpl SH Won
Wpns Co, 2nd Bn, 24th Marines

michael2e

My insurance co is replacing a cracked windshield so I thought it'd be a convenient time to do something about my cracked dash also. How much of a pain is it to R&R the dash in a later 944? Those of you with good results from recovering the dash what kind of material did you use and how did you bond it? Thanks
Mike

TLMikey

Mine was an 87 N/A and it was horribly difficult, just a very long and tedious process. You basically have to remove everything, which considering how dirty the interior was, allowed me to clean a bit. There is a great instruction sheet on paragon's website.

paragon products

I'm not really sure where the material for mine was purchased but it was glued to the back, from the little corner i peeled back when installing i would say it was a spray on adhesive, but that's just a guess. Sorry can't give you anymore info than that.

Sean

My 944 dash is an atrocity against the fine name of Porsche. It cannot be allowed to stand.

Are Coverlay dash covers really that bad?

Some people swear these things look OEM; others say they look awful. Anyone have photos of one installed on a new style 944 dash?

What about dash covers made by Palco (which is apparently a Coverlay competitor)? Are they any better?

<a href="http://www.dashtops.com/dashboard/autodash.cfm/176" target="_blank">Palco Porsche Dash Covers</a>

FormulaOne10

I have an 84 with a few nasty cracks in the dash. I'm also interested in one of those dash covers. I'm not expecting perfect at all, just something better than what I have. Do they really look that bad? I can understand they might not look good on the curvier(is that a word?) style of the 85.5+ dashes but what about the early style?

rfuerst

Has any one ever taken a Coverlay or similiar product and cover it with vinyl material?It would seem to me that if you could do this it would be easier than removing the factory dash.Just a thought. <img src="graemlins/beerchug.gif" border="0" alt="[cheers]" />

Sean

Performance Products has a 25% off sale now on Coverlay. My current dash is a major eyesore. How bad can Coverlay be? It's gotta be an improvement. And I like the idea of covering it with vinyl or leather.

Does anyone have photos and/or experience with these things installed?

Mark-87-951

Ah but no dash cover for those of us with passenger air bags :-(

tifosiman

Coverlay dash covers suck. I have one for my 85.5 that I can give to someone for $30 plus shipping, if they want to go thru the headache of trying to make it fit. I bought mine from another Rennlister, so I am stuck and can't return it to coverlay. It doesn't fit right and is about 1/4" too short on the passsenger side. I'm glad I checked the fit before I got excited and started glueing. I put my carpet dash cover back on instead, I'll live with it until someone comes up with a better solution.

Tifosiman

Medfordrick

Hi...I have been reading posts re: the overlay replacement dashes and can see there was a bit of disappointment in fit and appearance. These posts are dated 2001-2002. Can anyone say if there has been improvement in appearance over the past 12 years? My upholstery installer says he has installed caps (approx. 1/16 thickness) that he felt looked really good. Any preferences as to suppliers to the current manufacturers? Thanks in advance for any replies.

Rick