Introduction & Dash Question

You guys may have seen a couple of my posts and I figured...before this one I would introduce myself...my name is T.J. and my user name Bad Ford is actually my old licence plate... I recently acquired an 87 Turbo Coupe that is completely stock and has 194,000 miles on it. The negotiated price of said beast was $250.00! He said, it needs a rear main seal...and the brakes don't work. Since I've had it (less than a month) I've made a few trips to the local junkyard...and have fixed quite a few things. Thanks to advice I received, I found the brake problem to be the front relay under the hood. Now I get to work on the oil leak...lol. Anyway...I plan to become a member as soon as $ will permit.

Now to my question...I have seen several people looking for 'dash pads' for these cars. My question is this...can you replace just a 'pad'...it seems to me that these things are all one piece?? Am I just missing something here or what...well enough rambling...I look forward to keeping this car and being here a long time!!!!

[This message has been edited by Bad Ford (edited 12-03-2001).]

Welcome T.J. !

The dash pad actually fits over the top section of the dash.

I have a catalog from Dash Cap and as soon as I can, I plan on getting one. The are less than $100.00.

------------------
Dan Eaves
88TC 5spd, Crower 5.5" Sportsman Rods, Short Wiseco Pistons bored .030" Over, Ported Head with Polished Combustion Chambers, Gutted & Polished Upper, Ported & Polished Lower, Polished T/B, Ported E6, SVO T3 .63AR Turbo, Bosch Bypass Valve, 3" DP w/No Cat, 2 1/2" DynoMax single cat back w/DynoMax Super Turbo Muffler, RR Cam, K&N in Fenderwell, Gillis Boost Valve, Centerforce I Clutch, Removed A/C, Polished Wheels, Polished Valve Cover, Polished Crank and W/P Pulleys, Walbro 255LPH HP Pump, Kirban Adj FPR, and the DAMN Heater Core is new too !

NATO MEMBER (Vice Chairman...if it's a vice...I deal with it)

I have a catalog from Dash Cap and as soon as I can, I plan on getting one. The are less than $100.00.

[/B]

Dan: can you elaborate a bit on these? Have you (or anyone else reading this) seen one? Just curious how far from the stock look they are.

------------------
1987 TurboCoupe; black 5 speed; all options except leather and moonroof; all stock.

I saw a Dash Cap installation on "Shadetree Mechanic" or a similar show. It's a neat product, it's a piece of thin plastic in the shape of the dash, with cutouts for sensors, etc.

They installed it by cutting the parts of the plastic that had cracked and curled up, cleaning the dash really well, and gluing the cap down with contact cement. It looked really good, at least on TV. Matched the factory color and everything. I don't think the material would feel as nice, but it's better than crusty old cracked vinyl!

Check out www.dashtop.com

------------------
Jeff Korn

88 Turbo Coupe: Intake and exhaust mods, T3 turbo at 20 psi, forced air intercooler, water injection, bypass valve, Ranger roller cam, subframes, etc., etc.. // 86 Tbird 5.0 (original owner): intake, exhaust, valvetrain mods, 100 HP nitrous, ignition, gears, suspension, etc., etc.... // 91 Escort: Bone stock winter car // 00 Windstar (wifes vehicle)

Is the factory dash pad a seperate removable piece..or is it glued down/molded in??

Personnally, I like the look of a carpeted replacement more. Autozone's got some nice fitting pads for less than $40 and you can have them embroidered for even less. I got a black one with "Super Chicken" embroided in red.

------------------
Blade

"Drive it like you stole it"

88 bone stock TC with 138k, 5spd, burgundy, almost all options. Soon to have a pillar boost guage along with new tires, zinc plated rotors and a custom paint job

I was going to ask about those carpeted mats.. I think I'd prefer the look of the velour mat, but I haven't actually seen one on a car. You can get them from www.saddleman.com (the manufacturer) for $42.95 shipped.

Do you have any pics of your dash mat, Blade?

My 88 TC had a dash pad on it from the previous owner (trying to cover up the cracks) He had glued velcro to the original dash to hold the pad on and when I took it off it tore litte patches of the dash off with it! My interior is the red leather and the matching red dash, by the way. The dash pad was fuzzy like the carpet in the floors, I like the slick look better so I took it off. It's in perfect shape if anyone wants it. It has the holes for all the vents and fits just fine, I just didn't like it. I'd take $10 for it, just because I'd have to go through the trouble of shipping it. If you wanted to come to my house, I would give it to you. But who wants to come to northern Arkansas for a dash pad! Anyway, later

Kev