On a 65/66, between the full deluxe pad (reaches the base of the windshield) and the base (reaches just to the speaker grille), what if any differences are there in mounting?
Will the full pad simply fit over the metal portion of the base dash? Or is that portion missing from the deluxe dash?
Any thoughts?
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65 Laurentian post, 67 Grande Parisienne 4 door HT.
Being as I'm a guy with a few 66's and my brother has a 65 you'd think I'd know this but I will have take a look tomorrow to see if I can see any difference. Also, it just occurred to methat I have a parts book form that era so maybe I'll check on that tonight to see if they were the same part number.
Yes, Custom Sport only and Canadian cars only. The US models never had a vacuum gauge in the dash in 65.
And by the way Mark, I'm not sure about 65 but on 66 the only dash pad I've ever seen that was padded all the way to the windshield base is on the A/C cars.
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars
Looks like the deluxe full width pad is also the actual entire upper dash pan. I don't think it's an overlay.
I'm now thinking that to use the deluxe, the metal top on the base model would have to be removed? But that smaller top is part of the windshield base.
Hmm.
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65 Laurentian post, 67 Grande Parisienne 4 door HT.
The pads are somewhat interchangeable. AC pads require a little work as they use a different vent and may be other issues with where the map light is located on the dash chrome bezel, but don't recall. In the US , the Catalina got the half pad and the Bonneville/Grand Prix got the full pad. You will also see that 65 pads are squared off on the edge where as 66 is rounded.
I still don't get the half pad with half metal. My 66's metal portion is a permanent part of the dash and windshield base structure.
Were all USA big 65/66 cars all open on top of the dash?
I assume you mean your 67?
And yes, the whole metal top piece comes off on the 66, and likely the 65, Canadian or US models.
I will check tonight when I have a minute. I know I posted some pics of the dash with the top removed when I did my optional (US) gauge cluster swap into the black 66 Grande Parisienne that Tom bought.
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars
Mark, if you scroll a bit over 1/2 way through this thread there's a few shots (not great angles though) that show the dash pad removed when I worked on that 66.
Mark, if you scroll a bit over 1/2 way through this thread there's a few shots (not great angles though) that show the dash pad removed when I worked on that 66.
Those shots are no longer available for some reason (at least on my pc) Carl.
But at the risk of sounding like a broken record here, I cannot see how this works. My dash metal top is a permanent welded in component. It cannot be unbolted. So it can only accept the half pad right? The full can't just sit on top of that pan can it?
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65 Laurentian post, 67 Grande Parisienne 4 door HT.
Mark, I was just thinking about it some more. I think your dash top has to come off. Do you remember seeing the guy selling the 65 complete dash face on Kijiji? I'm sure it looked just like the 66 piece with the speedo/gauges/controls etc. (Except of course the gauges are round)
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars
I wish 65wagon would see this thread. He has played around with 65's for years, and I bet he knows the answer to this in a heartbeat. I'm sure he can solve this mystery.
I'm super curious now to see if 65 is different in that way vs 66.
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars
'64 Parisienne CS "barn find" - last on the road in '86 ... Owner Protection Plan booklet, original paint, original near-mint aqua interior, original aqua GM floor mats, original 283, factory posi, and original rust.