1970 Camaro OER dash pad with a big bulge

[knightmoose]

70 camaro dash pad has a bulge & there's a gap space between the dash pad & the firewall seen through the windshield. I bought NPDs exclusive dash pad waiting to be shipped today. My concern is any fabricating or holes that need to be drilled; Shop Labor is expensive where I'm at. Does the NPD ac/ dash pad come with everything predrilled with tabs so you can mount both the dash bezel & the instrument cluster? Also the mounting clip set shows 5 clips ? Is it 5 clips or 6 clips to mount the "NPD Exclv. dash pad", for the 70-73 Camaros?

 

[Green hornet]

Bolt in no fabrication needed. I installed one about five years ago. Take your time to and it will go smoothly. Some have had difficulties. Do a search here you will find a lot of information and little tricks and issues some have had.

 

[knightmoose]

Bolt in no fabrication needed. I installed one about five years ago. Take your time to and it will go smoothly. Some have had difficulties. Do a search here you will find a lot of information and little tricks and issues some have had.

"shop labor is expensive" but this is going to a shop as i will mess it all up and the cluster tabs all of it are a pain in the tyailpipes for me. I cant do it i have zero patience. I did search all over nastyz28 and the comments about their pads are quite old "5 yrs or more old". I have specific questions about their dash pads-- do their pads suck or not .. if Oer and NPD have the pads made in tawain whats the difference?

Does the NPD ac/ dash pad come with everything pre-drilled with tabs so you can mount both the dash bezel & the instrument cluster? Also the mounting clip set shows 5 clips ? Is it 5 clips or 6 clips to mount the "NPD Exclv. dash pad", for the 70-73 Camaros? ..

 

[80WA7113]

what do you mean take your time? I stated above the "shop labor is expensive" meaning this is going to a shop, I did search all over nastyz28 and the comments about their pads are quite old 5 yrs or more old. I have specific questions about their dash pads

Does the NPD ac/ dash pad come with everything pre-drilled with tabs so you can mount both the dash bezel & the instrument cluster? Also the mounting clip set shows 5 clips ? Is it 5 clips or 6 clips to mount the "NPD Exclv. dash pad", for the 70-73 Camaros? ..

It takes 5 clips. How picky are you about "fitment perfection"? That's where you could end up spending more. The dash pad itself fits nicely in the car against the cowl. The only fitment issues you will run into will be with the alignment of the lower dash parts to the upper dash. For me, I wanted everything to align perfectly, so I assembled everything on the bench first, giving me the ability to align all of the sections to my liking.

The gauges and gauge bezel will mount in easily and align as it should with no issues. The RH lower dash needed shims to align properly and the LH side required alignment work too as the mounting tabs for that section of the lower dash aren't perfectly aligned where the OE tabs were.

Believe me, I've done an OER dash and the new and improved NPD dash (bought from Camaro Central) and the new NPD dash is 1000% better than the floppy/spongy OER dash. It's a really solid, well fitting piece.

Here's my NPD pad with everything installed, off the car:

 

[COPO]

Dealers charge $200/hr and who knows what a shop will charge. I’d be doing this install myself unless you have a money tree.

 

[knightmoose]

thank you Dave for your help;

When you mount the instrument cluster & dash bezel are there just empty holes or are there "metal mounting tabs" that you screw into like on the OER im replacing? Are you able to install it with just the "4 screws" going directly into metal tabs- you can screw into or is it just a hole requiring you to go find special clips/fastners to screw into at a hardware store for the instrument cluster & the dash bezel?

** i have to take the car to a shop to do the work & i'm worried about modifications that may make the bill shy rocket as its $150 per shop hr. I've tried looking at the videos that NPD posted on youtube which only focuses on the dash itself removal & install itself & doesn't show the mounting of the dash bezel or the cluster at all.

im hoping the NPD pad fits & will hold up the heavy instrument cluster so my gauges will work properly as everything gets messed up once cluster tabs and the flubber where the screws go into rip and tear causing the cluster to sag down -- what a huge pain this has been for me and im not even sure the shop i use knows what the heck they're doing & they are a classic car only repair shop in phoenix . I hate seeing a gapping gap where the dash bezel hangs down from the top because the cluster isn't secured properly. Thank you for you help and the pictures; your assembly looks awesome compared to my junk .

 

[knightmoose]

Dealers charge $200/hr and who knows what a shop will charge. I’d be doing this install myself unless you have a money tree.

its 150 per shop hr where im at in phoenix - im hoping the job can be done within 6hrs by a shop thaty knwos what they are doing BUT the pad holes how it aligns etc are questions i have about the NPD pad.

 

[80WA7113]

Thank you for the compliment. For the gauge bezel, you will need to get 4 extruded nut clips for mounting it as those are just 4 metal tabs with holes. As for the cluster mounting tabs, you will be pleased to know that those are reinforced so that there will be NO sag once the gauges are mounted. The whole pad has been reinforced and you will immediately notice how solid the pad is. The bezel will fit snugly on the opening and you will no gaps anywhere.

I ran into the same sag problem on the OER dash I installed in my 73. Those rubber mounting tabs were horrible. To overcome that upper gap, I ended up using longer screws for the bottom mounts that protruded further inside the dash, and then fabricated metal brackets that I attached to those screws to lift the cluster and close the gap at the top.

Here was what my 73's looked like with that modification:

I was able to get the entire dash to line up nicely, but I put in a solid 10+ hours of pre-install bench top fitting adjustments to get everything to align right. Here are a couple more shots of the OER pad I used, and how I was ultimately able to get the lower dash aligned:

I'm glad NPD came up with their new dash pad. I would have hated going through that alignment marathon I had to go through with that OER pad. It worked out, but not without a GREAT deal of effort.

 

[krabben1]

I installed the OER pad years ago.I had inherited it with my car.
Wasnt bad,took me a few hours,maybe 3.I had to add a stud and V notch my dash metal near the vin if I recall.
I just prefit the bottom pieces and just put it in.
Looks good,but that front seam line where it hits the metal isnt great.
Not for nothing,but this is a predominantly DIY site.
If those guys at the shop are going to gouge you a little on install,there's nothing really you can do.Except install it yourself.

 

[unrestored72Z]

It takes 5 clips. How picky are you about "fitment perfection"? That's where you could end up spending more. The dash pad itself fits nicely in the car against the cowl. The only fitment issues you will run into will be with the alignment of the lower dash parts to the upper dash. For me, I wanted everything to align perfectly, so I assembled everything on the bench first, giving me the ability to align all of the sections to my liking.

The gauges and gauge bezel will mount in easily and align as it should with no issues. The RH lower dash needed shims to align properly and the LH side required alignment work too as the mounting tabs for that section of the lower dash aren't perfectly aligned where the OE tabs were.

Believe me, I've done an OER dash and the new and improved NPD dash (bought from Camaro Central) and the new NPD dash is 1000% better than the floppy/spongy OER dash. It's a really solid, well fitting piece.

Here's my NPD pad with everything installed, off the car:

View attachment 154648


View attachment 154650

Once bench assembled like you did, are you then able to install assembled as one large piece?
Or did you assemble out of car to ensure the puzzle pieces fit together, and then broke it down and installed piece by piece?