Dash opinions please

[p.smitty]

I'm doing the most tedious and trying part of a restoration on my 72, non-sunroof E9......the interior. I bought a beautiful wood set from Bela, seat leather and carpets from Gahh, and now trying to find the best dash re-finisher, I want to do the 3 main dash pieces, but I'm not sure of which vendor. Just Dashes, CoupeKing, or have them covered in leather/vinyl by a good upholsterer. I know the last option is not "stock" in finish, but still an option. Any suggestions?
Car is malaga and tan, lowered, GutRag 265, and 16" restored, vintage BBS RS wheels. Other than that, original.

Thanks For Any Suggestions,

Pat

 

[sfdon]

There is a shop here in town that has done 3-4 sets for my clients. He keeps the original German vinyl in stock for me. Does French seams too for the AC sides. Let me know if you want an introduction.

 

[bimbill]

Pat,

I just installed mine last week after it was redone by Just Dashes. The quality is very good and fit, aside from being a little tight where the instrument binnacle fits over the wood surround, was pretty good. About $1500 plus shipping. Turnaround was about one month.

As an alternative, the upholsterer who will be doing my headliner has done several early 911 dashes in leather. I saw one in his shop and it looked good. I don't know how his price would compare to Just Dashes or Don's source but he is in Kirkland, so convenient for you. PM me for more details.

Attached image with Bela wood. This was a big day as I was very concerned about getting all these pieces to fit together.

 

[bela22]

dash

Your dash looks really nice !

 

[Luis A.]

Bill, Looks good. Could you post some more up close up pictures of the dash? I'm considering re-doing the dash on my 323i and Just Dashes is the only place I've found that does it.

I'd be curious to hear how the prices compare for JD vs Don's shop.

 

[bimbill]

Bela, it was nice to see your parts finally installed.

Luis, here are more images of the install. I'll take some more closeup shots in a day or two but these show some of the process. The first strep is to assemble the vertical and horizontal wood parts along with the bright trim piece at the top of the vertical. The next shot shows the upper dash and binnacle cover initial installation. You can see the gap between the binnacle cover right side and the horizontal wood section. The next two images show the screws being tightened to pull the binnacle down snug. This was where the clearance problem was most evident. The newly recovered binnacle was a little "plump" with the result being that it didn't want to be snugged down easily. There is still a small gap but I'm going to give it a few days to compress and then try to pull it down a little more.

The last image shows the little clip that secures the outer end of the plastic defroster vent to the upper dash on the underside. This needs to be done after everything else is in place and requires some serious patience.

I hope this makes sense. I know I don't have anything like deQuincy's gift for explanation.