Tried to buy a dash pad, ended up with a 1976 Y82

[BinaryBo]

I was looking for a dash pad for my 1979 Trans Am restoration project/ '77 Bandit replica. I found a 1976 car with a perfect dash pad, and a few other goodies but totally rusted out. It looked interesting, so I bought the whole car for parts.

It turns out to be a Y82 / 400 T-Top car (1 of 533) that has been parked since 1985. Now I don't want to part it out. But it is WAY too much work to restore. It is rusted out from the ground up.

The car is literally the Holy Grail for my Bandit replica. For now I am using it as a research model.

I am looking for ideas on what to do with it. As tempting as it might be, I don't want to rebody it. I have been in the hobby long enough to know there are way more horror stories than success stories (like zero) involving a rebody.

 

[melsg5]

Seems to be me based upon what you stated above, sell it to someone who appreciates it as much as you and has the cash/time/resources to restore it.

 

[BinaryBo]

Fair enough. But I still need a dash pad...plus a few other parts. I will finish my research and documentation and then look for a potential buyer.

 

[melsg5]

Ames has a pad but it needs changes to the radio area to fit a 79.

______________________________

 

[BinaryBo]

Are you sure it is still available? The Ames' latest catalog says "discontinued". I know NPD is working on one, but no idea when it will be available. Just Dashes has a long waiting list.

This car I found was the result of a 18 month search for a nice dash pad. I am about 2 weeks away from being ready to install the dash.

 

[melsg5]

You are correct their current online catalog no longer shows a complete dash.

 

[BinaryBo]

OK. Thanks for the original suggestion. I was hopeful there might be something there.