Safety pad replacement (91 Sedan)

[tardis24]

Hi. Does anybody have experience replacing the vinyl, padded area on their dashboard? The one on my car (91 sedan) is brittle and cracking in a lot of places, so I've been wanting to replace it for a long time. There seem to be a few obstacles, though.

One of my concerns is finding a good source. I visited a few junkyards in this area, but I was too chicken to ask for a price. Plus, several of the dashboards were exposed to the weather, and i wasnt sure if they wouldn't start cracking, too. Anybody know whether there are good places to look, or of what kind of price to expect? I live in the San Francisco area, by the way.

Also, the dash pad appears to have a rigid structure when it's installed, but what happens when it's out of the car? I guess i'm worried that a replacement would crack also, if it were too flexible.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

[homeguard]

you mean the dash top?

[tardis24]

Ya, that one. Chilton manual says something like "safety pad."

[homeguard]

i replaced mine on my 88 corolla about a month ago. it wasnt too hard, but you have to take part everything almost. i bought mine from the junk yard for only $10. there are 5 main bolts to the dash top there. four on the sides and one behind the gauge cluster, both times took out the dashes i broke the one off behind the gauges.
once you get the thing out you will have to take the AC tubes/vents off the back of your old one and put it on your new one. i can give you a bigger pic of the one i posted before if that helps.

[tardis24]

homeguard,

Glad to know it's not too hard or expensive. I just hope I don't go crazy like the last time when I replaced the radio and the front speakers. That was a really SMART design they had there, let me tell you. When you get a chance, could you post that picture you were talking about? Thanks for all of your help.

[Flashmn]

You could make that part out of fiberglass or better yet, carbon fiber (YUM!) .

[homeguard]

Originally posted by Flashmn
You could make that part out of fiberglass or better yet, carbon fiber (YUM!) .

i think the backing behind the soft cover is fiberglass
the host is going to resize it for me

[Flashmn]

i think the backing behind the soft cover is fiberglass

Its not fiberglass, its some sort of plastic, maybe HDPE or ABS.