WANTED 1970 Polara Dashpad

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Finding a good used pad will be a long shot. I got lucky and found mine in a wrecking yard in northern NY state. Southern climates or extremely cold climates are not kind to the pads. I had my 68 Monaco by these folks and was very satisfied. They are pricey.
http://www.justdashes.com/
 
Finding a good used pad will be a long shot. I got lucky and found mine in a wrecking yard in northern NY state. Southern climates or extremely cold climates are not kind to the pads. I had my 68 Monaco by these folks and was very satisfied. They are pricey.
http://www.justdashes.com/
I will be more than happy if they can do it , how much did you pay for your 68 pad ?
 
I researched this very question over the course of the weekend. There actually exist multiple dash pads for the 1970 Polara: early vs. late (see @polara71's post here, summarizing the consensus reached on the Yahoo Board); A/C vs. not; and radio/cassette/no_radio.

The attached photos, provided by Dave and edited for emphasis by yours truly, show the differences between early and late pads (it's the hood above the instruments; it was extended starting about January 1970 to reduce glare on the windshield at night -- compare pics 1 and 2) and between A/C and non-A/C cars (compare pics 1 and 2 with pic 3).

early 1970 dash pad.png

late 1970 dash pad.png

early 1970 dash pad ACcar copy.jpg


Your FQ3 convertible has a build date of October 31 (tag here) and thus has the more recessed instrument hood. It has an R22 radio, so its pad should have 3 openings for speakers (it'd be great if you could post a photo of the pad showing the openings, to confirm). Finally, it does not have A/C, and so there are no vent openings on the dash fascia.

So...you're looking for 1 of 12 different types (there are 2x2x3 combinations). Add to that the fact that you are looking for a black pad, not blue/green/orange. Note that the 1969 dashes are slightly different (stitching, no wood), so there is no help there. I was told by several people that the likelihood of finding a 1970 pad, let alone the correct one for your application, is very small.

Bottom line, unless you can wait months or years, a solution like Just Dashes -- who have done a pad for @MrMoparCHP (AC, no radio) and have a picture of another (no AC, AM radio) on their website -- might be the way to go. Dash Specialists in Oregon might be an alternative, but while they are said to be cheaper there is no guarantee that they do repair this specific pad -- you'd have to ask them -- whereas there is AFAICT clear evidence that JD does a good job with 1969 and 1970 dash pads. The cost seems very high, I was told around $1.5k.

These threads have more discussions of various options:

Dash Pad Repair/Replace? in which @1978 NYB and @rexus31 share their positive experiences with JD while @74Monaco CHP talks of his friends' experiences with DS;

Dash pad repair in which @F Preston relates his positive experience two decades ago;

WANTED - 1969 Monaco / Polara Dash Pad in which @MrMoparCHP relates his positive experience with a 1969 pad repaired by JD.

PS; @MrMoparCHP was kind enough to send me the link to photos of the dash that JD fixed for him. There are pictures on his website: MrMopar.com!
 
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Although my 69 had no radio, the dash pad had the speaker perforations, it was my choice to not put the perforations in the restored dash.
I know in 69 there were at least three different pads (I have personally seen)
No AC / Single speaker
AC / Single speaker
AC / Three speaker
Is there a No AC / Three speaker, no idea.


Alan
 
There is -- Tobias' FQ3 Polara is one of them!

Yes, there is R22 and R35 cars will have that dash.
As Alan stated, if you find the correct early single speaker pad you could add the two outward speakers. Im certain however the pad wouldn't last the effort

The early pads also has the wood grain stop at the ends. The later pads the wood grain wraps around the corners..

These differences were pointed out to me by Frank ( my 70 Monaco) in 2004 at Moparfest.

We were able to determine the mid year changeover by SPDs. I have no early pads after 12/31/69 and no later pads before 1/1/70.
 
Ballpark just north of 1K when all was said and done. I've seen other vendors referenced on this board that all do good work cheaper. Maybe someone else could advise you?
1K is okay to me , I’m so used to B Body prices that everything in the c body world seems cheap
 
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