Where is the best place to buy the NPD Dash Pad?
- Thread starter Carlo C.
- Start date
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badazz81z28
Veteran Member
People need to stop comparing the decade plus old OER dash to NPD. OER truly has a newer dash out and I heard it fits better. Who’s got a comparison on that?
Problem with ordering OER ,is,1,will you get the new design?Or will you get old stock shipped out to you thats been sitting(more likely,especially,if they keep the same part number)on the shelf for awhile.
And 2,did they really produce new tooling,a new piece?Or is that something that was just put out there?
I went thru this recently with them(OER) on a stale part that was supposed to be new,and improved,and they(ordered twice,returned twice,3 weeks wasted)were not.
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Robbie - First, I want to thank Rick for being an active member/supplier who regularly engages with the community on product issues. This is rare in today's world of "faceless businesses". He took the time to speak with me personally regarding dying issues on his pad and for that, I am forever grateful.
As for a comparison between the NPD pad and the new OER pad, I have installed both. IMO, they are both very good, but in different ways.
I installed an NPD pad in my 70Z in 2020. That car retained 100% sheet metal including the upper dash. The fit of the front pad edge to the body upper dash panel took a little effort, but the end result is very nice. The center portion of the dash where the lower dash meets the upper dash required some shimming between the tow to achieve a nice fit, but again, the end result was very nice. The driver-side edge does not fit the a-pillar molding well...required some creative trimming and I am still not happy with the end result. Compared to an OEM dash pad, the NPD dash is approx. 3/16" shorter in overall length which causes issues with the a-pillar moldings having enough overlap to cover the gap.
I Installed the new OER pad in my 72Z in 2024. The car has had significant sheet metal replacement including the upper dash panel. The fit of the front pad edge to the upper dash panel was really super nice with almost zero effort. The lower dash attached with no shimming or fiddling. The new OER dash has the white "bathtub" screw retainers, however I find that BOTH require pre-drilling to get an accurate placement of the retaining screws above the dash bezel. The new OER dash is even shorter than the NPD and I could not get enough adjustment out fo the a-pillar moldings to even come close to covering the gaps. My solution was to pie-cut the lower section of the a-pillar moldings, re-weld with a filler slice. Once done, results look OEM.
In my opinion, both the NPD and new OER dashes are great alternatives and a huge improvement over the original old OER dash pad. Both would be very nice is they just didn't trim them so short. What everyone needs to understand is that dimensionally, each individual car may be similar, but never exactly the same...the above is just my experiences installing one of each in two separate cars with different sheet metal issues. Hope this helps.
OER uses a different PN for their new pad, it's priced higher and YES, it is significantly different than the old OER pad as it has an over-molded rigid inner core like the OEM pads.
bkmont
Veteran Member
I see OER does offer colors in their new and improved dash pad made in USA. I wonder how close their tan is to my original saddle?
I think you're heading off-course, OER's "new" dash pads are only available in black, and made in Taiwan just like ours are. The colored pads made in USA (Las Vegas specifically) are the "old" pads.
Rick
NPD
I appreciate the honest and detailed appraisals of both dashes.. And also, your comment/notion that not every installation is going to be identical. Even at the factory, tolerances of the cars being bucked/welded together were tight, but not exact. There was a range of acceptable "standard deviation", as this was way before robots were involved.
Anyhow, my REAL motivation for this reply was to notify everyone that I've sent yet another two used/original pads to our manufacturer, with the goal being of modifying our tooling to cure the odd "jagged" LH end profile, and to achieve the original width/reach of both ends side-to-side. I've yet to receive any test-samples yet, I'm just patiently awaiting.
I too have seen and inspected the new OER pads, and they are indeed a nice effort. Them being so short is indeed an issue. And I firmly believe that our finished sheen is more-O.E. (theirs is a bit glossier), and our stitching surrounding the instrument panel area is also truer to original.
My goal from the outset was never to re-invent or improve-upon 70-78 Camaro dash-pads, but to emulate NOS original as directly as possible, making it virtually "impossible" to tell one from the other once installed. I'm still chasing that goal LOL!!!
