Don't Buy a Plastic Dash Cover

[dstuart]

I recently ordered a "Molded Plastic Dash Cover" for my '67 F100 from a popular parts supplier. It cost $120 plus $50 shipping (oversize box) and tax ($180 + on the final bill). This is glued with silicone over the old, cracked padded dash. Please do not waste your time and money on this product. I followed all of the installation instructions carefully, but it was a complete waste of money, time, and energy. The cover is not a snug fit, and I had to get very creative to figure out how to keep all the edges pressed down until the silicone cured. It was all for nothing. I live in Texas, and the heat through the windshield did a number on the dash. I'm posting two photos of how things looked within a few days of installation. To their credit, the parts company gave me a refund for the $120.

Dash 1.jpg

Dash 2.2.jpg

[jzjames]

Wow that’s surprising. I thought that was a good piece.
Do you think a different adhesive besides silicone would have worked?

[dstuart]

I don’t know if another adhesive would work. The instructions said to use clear silicone. Also, I cleaned the old padded dash completely following the instructions. All I know is that the heat of the sun warped the plastic and the silicone wasn’t strong enough to hold it together. It failed not only around the edges, but around the cut outs for the defroster vents, too.

[cep62]

I'm trusting my memory , but the 79 Broncos were titled as a station wagon , so they some safety devices the trucks didn't have.
I believe they have a strip of metal that screws down under the windshield to help incase of an accident.
The windshields are the same from 67-79 , you might be able to use that to hold the cover down.

[basketcase0302]

=dstuart
I recently ordered a "Molded Plastic Dash Cover" for my '67 F100 from a popular parts supplier. It cost $120 plus $50 shipping (oversize box) and tax ($180 + on the final bill). This is glued with silicone over the old, cracked padded dash. Please do not waste your time and money on this product. I followed all of the installation instructions carefully, but it was a complete waste of money, time, and energy. The cover is not a snug fit, and I had to get very creative to figure out how to keep all the edges pressed down until the silicone cured. It was all for nothing. I live in Texas, and the heat through the windshield did a number on the dash. I'm posting two photos of how things looked within a few days of installation. To their credit, the parts company gave me a refund for the $120.

Dash 1.jpg

Dash 2.2.jpg

Does not surprise me one bit, you're not the first to say this.

I remember more than a few members here actually taking it to bare metal, (removing the dash pad completely).
Also I toyed with the idea, (believe I saw one guy here do this over the years) that "grafted" the plastic defrost "ducting" from a dent era, (done from under the dash) to the bump dash. Our bumps always had poor airflow via the two rectangular grills and I always wanted to do that but it's a lot...of work basically having to gut everything under the dash and pull the windshield to rework the metal.

[DisneysPatB]

What did you do as far as prep?