Hey guys, I have a few cracks in my valance (that's what the GM service manual calls it), the front-most piece of dash trim, and I'm thinking about replacing it. I checked the links in the FAQ about this, but they are broken so they weren't helpful.
Here is a pic of what I'm talking about:
The FAQ in this forum said this was hard to remove, is that correct? The service manual says it just pops out so I'm confused... I don't want to just start prying...
The dash comes in 3, yes THREE shades of gray for this year apparently, which are graphite, neutral, and pewter. Does anyone have any idea which shade this is??? I had to google each of those to find out they were all gray... I'm thinking it's graphite, but I am not certain.
Thanks!
That piece doesn't just simply "pop" out...it's all one piece with the lower dash (under the steering wheel and glove box) and the sides where your fuse panel is...the whole assembly is bolted to the firewall.
In order to replace it, you have to remove the upper dash pad, bezel that goes around the cluster and radio, remove the radio, instrument cluster, HVAC panel, steering wheel, airbags, all hvac plumbing, and then some. Then replace with a whole new framework assembly. Set aside at least a day to do this, maybe 2 days if working alone.
However, there is a company that makes a plastic "overlay" for right at the windshield that covers that whole panel that would like replaced. I forget the name of the company and site, but search and there is a link somewhere here on the ORG.
And yes, it looks like you have graphite.
Holy crap, that doesn't really sound worth it. It doesn't look that bad, so maybe I won't worry about it.
I've seen those dash covers, but I sort of thought they went out of style sometime in the seventies
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ok is it the same as a sunfires cuz it poped right out on my sunfire
evil lives wrote:ok is it the same as a sunfires cuz it poped right out on my sunfire
No. It is attached to the lower dash where your glove box is and under the steering wheel.
The place that make the covers is called coverlay.
13.520 @ 98mph! 220whp 234tq
Jason Metcalf wrote:I've seen those dash covers, but I sort of thought they went out of style sometime in the seventies .
You might be thinking of something different, the ones Coverlay makes are meant to look OEM, and from what I've seen in post from people who have them, they look pretty good.
Oh wow, yeah those are definitely not the ones I was thinking of. That looks pretty good, and a lot cheaper than a new part would be, though not nearly as cheap as it would be from a junk yard... Hmm... Does anyone know off-hand how well the colors match? I'm thinking a dark gray or black might come pretty close to my existing dash, but if it's not exact then I'd have to paint it which would be a whole new issue.
Would you get one if it was your car? I mean the dash isn't that bad, it's just those 2 cracks, I didn't even notice them when I bought the car
... The rest of the interior is in great shape except for some wear on the radio buttons. Would you pay $160 + vinyl paint to fix that?
you have what is known as the "Crack of death" ... it happens to like 80 % of all cavaliers...
it takes me 45 minutes to pull the dash.
2 days to fix the dash (using lord fusor 2 part expoxy, ($40 bucks for a 12" tube) and to paint it
45 min to reinstall
Here's mine! 2000 Cavalier....mine actually has turned into a hole! Yet the dash on my 97 Z is without any cracks...
At this point and time, I don't even care about it anymore...lol.
Aaron
97 Cavalier Z24 @ 85k
00 Cavalier Base Coupe @ 152k...rollin on 14's!
97 Grand Cherokee 5.2L@ 260k
this is how bad mine was...
yes thats a big section on the floor...
Yeah I'm waiting on a color swatch from them. If it's a match I'm pretty sure I'll go ahead with it. If it's not, then I need to look into how much paint would cost. Anyone have experience painting vinyl and want to share some tips?
its not vinyl, its plastic
tip one: Do not use krylon fusion.. it is not a high heat paint and will not last more than a couple years
tip two: invest in a can of Bulldog plastic adhesion promoter...
Now what you want to do:
--- clean the surface as best as you can, and make sure you are in a dust free environment, if you are not in a paint booth, soak the entire area around where you are going to paint with water, to trap all the dust to the ground.
--- First bulldog the entire surface to be painted... You will probably not see any reactions, however if you do, skip the priming portion of the next step and read what it does if it reacts.
--- get a good filler primer and prime it. If you have any sort of reaction (fish eyes, etc), you will need to sand it down, and you may end up losing the texture (IMHO no texture looks better.. but its a son of a bit to sand out)
--- after you prime, bulldog the surface again, and base it with whatever color you want. Make sure that rain is not in the forecast, as if its going to rain or raining, you're going to have a bad time.
--- allow plenty of time to dry, if you have a translucent mid coat, or need to paint a fade, or whatever, do this now. You want to bulldog again before midcoating...
--- allow plenty of time to dry, bulldog surface again, then clear with a high temp clear. You'll probably need two - three coats of clear.
--- give it a day to dry before installation...
basically bulldog between every step, not every coat.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edited Tuesday, May 25, 2010 4:00 PM
^^^ i couldnt tell ya... but i can say that my 2000 plastic was easier to break than a potato chip... we built it up with the fusor and made a new surface...
My original dash is a 95 and it has not happened to it, as well as one I got out of a junker was a 95 without a crack.
Now i'm searching for a 00+ and having a hard time finding one that isn't cracked.
FOR SALE
that would be a son of a bitch ... as soon as you take the strip off the dash will fold in half... ... the dash has really bad integrity problems...
I have never thought about that, however I may look into doing this. It can't hurt anything i've been a few weeks now without a dash and looking for a new one.
This just may work. The key is to find a junker that is willing to deal on the price since it is broken and so far they don't like to deal.
FOR SALE
is it the same procedure to replace on 95-99 as 00+
Yep, it's all the same. Just the bezels/sizes are different from 95-99 and 00+.
FOR SALE
Quiklilcav wrote:Out of curiosity, has anyone ever had this happen on a 95?
I only ask because I've had two 95 Cavaliers, and neither of them ever cracked, yet it seems most people here have this problem. I'm thinking GM might have changed the composition of the plastic at some point.
My 95 with 190k on it, has NO cracks what so ever, and my quad vibrates the car pretty good. also the other guy in town with a 95z has no cracks on his dash either, and neither of the two 95 Js i found at the junk yard have cracks, which i found amazing for a WRECKED car.
scott (section8cav) wrote:Quiklilcav wrote:Out of curiosity, has anyone ever had this happen on a 95?
I only ask because I've had two 95 Cavaliers, and neither of them ever cracked, yet it seems most people here have this problem. I'm thinking GM might have changed the composition of the plastic at some point.
My 95 with 190k on it, has NO cracks what so ever, and my quad vibrates the car pretty good. also the other guy in town with a 95z has no cracks on his dash either, and neither of the two 95 Js i found at the junk yard have cracks, which i found amazing for a WRECKED car.
+
Put me on this list too. 95 was a good year.
