Just dashes

[mr. fix it]

it held the brake pedal up to keep the brake lights from staying on while I drove the car...
I replaced the braking system shortly after taking this photo

I installed power brakes & a dual drum MC when I did this upgrade.

 

[azblackhemi]

I texted Bob Baker to alert him to this thread so we can hear the other side of the story.

 

[saforwardlook]

I will withhold judgment until I hear from Bob. The way you wrote the first sentence makes it sound like his reproduction is the first pad you see in your post that is all cracked badly, which at the end you say is the original pad - pretty misleading at the outset. First you say it was $700 and now you are saying it is $565? And you are saying it is wrapped in vinyl, not formed in a mold like all the other pads I have seen of his - why would he even spend the time to do that? And you are also saying another winter will kill it - you mean it isn't killed yet? I'm sorry, but this doesn't add up. I will find out more when I can get hold of him.

One other thought, it looks like you subject your pad to brutal conditions - do you ever use a protective shield available at most all parts stores? And it seems to me what might be said by Bob is that by not having your pad firmly attached to the dashframe with the proper clips, that under intense heat or cold, the pad is expanding and contracting excessively, leading to the problems you are apparently seeing? It just might be that silicone isn't enough to keep it in place so it does not expand excessively.

I was able to email Bob to get his side of the story. He said he felt the failure of the dashpad was due to not having the proper clips support the pad properly and prevent it from distorting due to silicone that does not hold the pad under extreme conditions, allowing it to pull up and bend at the spots where the silicone does hold and where an adjacent area does not hold. This leads to the small cracks that you see. Rumpfox told him he used silicone since he broke his hand, and couldn't install the pad properly. So you see a distorted pad that could not withstand the extreme stresses when it twisted at areas where the silicone gave way. Nevertheless, Bob told Rumpfox twice to return the pad and he would replace it for him, but Rumpfox had to use the correct fasteners to have him stand behind it next time. According to Bob, Rumpfox said he didn't want to return it and so Bob did not send him another pad.

I believe that Bob's reproduction pads are the equal of Chrysler's original ones in terms of quality and durability since I have actually installed one myself. And even with an original NOS one, I would use a sun shield to protect the pad as long as possible. Given the daily extremes of temperature that Rumpfox subjects his vehicle to, why wouldn't he use such a protector? I believe Bob did what he could reasonably do and made an offer Rumpfox did not want to take him up on twice, so what more can he do? I still would not hesitate to buy one of his pads if I needed one. Bob is a pretty fussy guy when it comes to quality, and that is why this whole saga seemed strange to me in the first place.

 

[azblackhemi]

Bob said he will post some pictures Thursday when he gets back home.

 

[rumpfox]

you seen the pics i posted of the pad i got from bob. i don't what hunt you have in this but onestly would you put this pad in your ride. me an my son did tryed to use the clips but the bottom wouldn't even line up to get all the clips started let alone the top(a mile off. thats when i told bob the only way to put this pad on with the clips was to take the windshield out. you can see in the pics how distoted this pad is. i put the old pad back on in about 10 min.

 

[saforwardlook]

you seen the pics i posted of the pad i got from bob. i don't what hunt you have in this but onestly would you put this pad in your ride. me an my son did tryed to use the clips but the bottom wouldn't even line up to get all the clips started let alone the top(a mile off. thats when i told bob the only way to put this pad on with the clips was to take the windshield out. you can see in the pics how distoted this pad is. i put the old pad back on in about 10 min.

So you put a new reproduction pad on incorrectly with silicone, it warps in the sun to the shape in your photos because it is not properly secured, and where it remains tight it forms a bend that stresses the cover and causes small cracks and pulling away of the vacuum formed vinyl cover. You say initially that you didn't have the strength to mount the pad properly with clips so you just glued it in place with silicone (which is really not a glue anyway) - all this because you didn't have the strength to push the clips in place because of a broken hand apparently, but never said anything about the clips not lining up in your first rendition of your claims at all. Why not take Bob up on his willingness to supply a replacement pad and have it professionally installed rather than your poor attempt and maybe even protect it a little with a sun shade, and then report back with how well it looks and performs. Then I would have some respect for any dissatisfaction. Because you and your son can replace the heated, cracked and shrunken original pad in 10 minutes doesn't mean much to me. I would like to hear from Bob whether others have installed their 66 Fury pads properly and whether there are any others having problems that he is aware of.

 

[saforwardlook]

I received a follow-up email from Bob saying he has sold nearly 20 of those 65-66 Fury pads and no one has complained about inability to mount the clips or warping or any other problems with the pads except for Rumpfox.

 

[rumpfox]

those big folds around the speedo housing were created by the silicone and the hot sun beeting down on it i guess. that is my bigest complant and if i would send it back$100 shipping you mean the old one would be 10 times better. i bougt alot of reformed dash pads (mostly for chals.) from a place in el paso tex. for $585.that looked orig. till the gov. put them out of bis. so this isn't my first dashpad instal. you guys act like i'm a 20 year old kid with my 6 year son . i'm 58 and my son is 18. i've prob. restored 15 cars in my auto work. auto teck for 35 yrs. till arth. got to bad(neck,spine probblems) to still keep on keeping on. so building cars is my hobby not golfing, bowling or chasing road queens

 

[rumpfox]

if you would have looked at the pics you would have seen the foot of snow on the ground. bob said it was to cold like i couldn't run the heater in the car to warm it up and heat the pad up real tosty in the house before atemting the install. the warping and disfiguring is were he'd pulled the vin. to tight when we'd glued it dowh and dis. when the vin. shrunk back because of being in the cold.

 

[65sportfury]

65/66 Fury pad

I haven't heard from you in over 4 months. We use a thicker vinyl so it needs to be warm because the vinyl gets stiff in cold weather. Since it is COMPLETELY new it has to stretch some until it gets fastened in place. Some guys install them the easy way and take the car to a glass shop, have the windshield removed and remove the speedo cluster to get full access for proper installation. Much easier to align the clips if the glass is not in the way. Steel core pads don't have this issue, just these. I'll bet the factory installed the pad and then put in the glass. I still stand behind the offer to replace it.

 

[70bigblockdodge]

I would say the dash pad went on the dash, then the dash went into the car as a whole assembly, then the windshield goes in, at the factory. The only way on a slab side is windshield must come out, your wasting time and energy any other way, which is not that hard with lots of lube, I use hand cleaner(no pumice or any other grit), non chemical, non greasy, and cleans the gasket well.

 

[polarus]

Last week I spoke with Bob over the phone for about 15/20 min. great guy. I doubt there will be a 72-73 dash pad anytime soon, he has other projects lined up, but he is looking for a decent core to make up a mold. I'm sending him the best one I have but it has a lot of cracks. Anybody with a good pad should give him a call, let him know people are interested.

 

[saforwardlook]

Last week I spoke with Bob over the phone for about 15/20 min. great guy. I doubt there will be a 72-73 dash pad anytime soon, he has other projects lined up, but he is looking for a decent core to make up a mold. I'm sending him the best one I have but it has a lot of cracks. Anybody with a good pad should give him a call, let him know people are interested.

I already gave Bob a perfect 72 pad. I guess I need to call to remind him! And I recall explaining to him that the demand for these pads would be high because even low mileage pampered cars with these factory pads usually have cracks in them. On the other hand, it is hard to find a cracked 69 or 70 Chrysler dashpad that is cracked. But he reproduced the 69-70 pads that are not selling that well, probably because people can still find decent ones.

 

[polara71]

I already gave Bob a perfect 72 pad. I guess I need to call to remind him!

I thought I read that here

 

[saforwardlook]

OK, I just got off the phone with Bob, and he does have my pad but the one I gave him was a stereo setup since that is the version he wanted and the one I want. He said he wants to get a nice non-stereo version to make sure there are no significant differences between the two pads. So if anyone has one of those, maybe they could help out by sending him one as a core to copy. If I look hard enough, I might even have one that is nice myself. In the distant past, I took off every one of these pads I could find (if they were nice) in junkyards because I knew they would be scarce due to cracking in the future. But that was more than 20 years ago.

Bob said he is presently focusing on getting some A and B body pads reproduced since apparently one of the manufacturers of these pads ended his business, and now there is a shortfall of nice repro pads out there for those models, and Bob would be more likely to get his investment back soon so that he could invest in making the 72-3 Plymouth/Dodge pads, which are significantly more expensive to make. He has a limited budget to work with too. But Bob also said he still wants to make the 72-3 pad and is aiming for the second quarter of next year to start production. He is also pursuing reproducing the C pillar plastic trim for the 2 door hardtop fuselage PDC models (I provided him a nice set of those to copy too). So we have to be patient. I am confident he will get them done in the not too distant future. He said he has had 4 requests for the 72-3 DP pads but would like about 15 requests to be sure to start production. So write him a note if you really want one, not just dreaming, and it will speed things up. Don't call him since that will slow him down, just let him know through an email if you are sincerely interested. I will do my best to keep you updated on his plans as best I can since I see him usually once every two months or so, and he will be at the Fall Fling out here in So. California this weekend.
Steve

 

[polarus]

I'm sending him the best (non stereo) pad I have but it has a lot of cracks, if anybody else has a decent pad it's time to ante up.

 

[rumpfox]

bob i might do that this winter and take the windshild out and take the pad back off and send it back to you. i said that at the start that the only way to put this pad on was to take the windshiel out and you told me no you don't now you tell me i do. the fact. put the pad on and then the wind. in acording to the broadcast sheet. i'm going to quit beating on this suject and bob thank you for still making your offer good. like i've said i've bought alot of stuff from you, top notch stuff and i'll continue to buy stuff from you.

 

[MrMoparCHP]

On the 69 Polara stereo pad it looks like someone took a 3" hole saw and put a couple holes in the pad, the speaker grills float on top of the pad, no depressions.
So I do not see there a need to do anything different. I cannot say this is the case for other years.


Alan