help to replace dash pad?
 

My Firebird has one of those crappy plastic covers on the dash presumably covering up some nasty original pad. I want to pull it out, rip the plastic off and recover the original with some foam and leather, maybe suede. How hard is it to take this pad off? A couple of screws or am I looking at pulling the cluster out and...? I just need to plan my time before I just start ripping into it. I do drive the car daily.
Thanks.

there are only a small amount of screws/bolts/nuts holding the dash in on 2nd gens, but there are a lot of wires & a/c & heat ducts to undo too.

there are 3 5/16 head screws under the top edge of the dash around the gauge area on drives side, then 3 small nuts on studs under the glove box area on pass side. 2, 1/2" head bolts down on the lower corners on each side of the dash near the kick panels. that is all that physically hold the dash in, the rest are wiring connectors to gauges, cig lighter, courtesy lights, small ground wire on underside of metal frame, & the heater core door cable.

you can pull the dash with most the gauges & accessories still attached but it makes it much easier to remove as much of that as you can to get to the screws & connectors etc, otherwise you have to get all contorted under the dash to get to everything. removing the bezel & gauges etc is very quick easy work while sitting in the seats. also good idea to take some pics as you go, & all the wire connectors are shaped to only go to one location, labeling is a good idea but pretty easy to see where each connector goes.

unless you are going for a custom look, most guys & future buyers will prefer a factory look to the dash, theres a member on here that has repaired these dashes with excellent results & a close match to the factory grain texture. there are also some companies that will restore the dash to like new but it aint cheap. they sell new repro dashes too but they are hard to get & can have a long wait. final option is what you have now, but some caps can look very good if they are installed right, but will always show an edge in some areas.

I recently had my original dash pad recovered by Al Knoch Interiors - was $259.

Definitely have your original redone. I have an aftermarket dash pad and while it's certainly better than the dash caps, it still leaves a bit to be desired.

$259 to recover a dash? seems extremely cheap compared to other places that recover/restore these dashes. did you forget a 1 in front of that number?

regardless of price, can you share some details of this service? is it a full recover/restore or just a cap of some sort? if this a good quality recover that looks & fits correct, he should be overwhelmed with work!

Yep - $259 - I shipped it and they wrapped it and sent it back done within 6 weeks.

https://alknochinteriors.com/product...ory/dash-pads/

oh, i assumed it was a 2nd gen firebird dash, guess i wasnt sure what year firebird "minellix" was asking about, my removal tips were for a 2nd gen.

& based on that year i thought you had a 2nd gen you sent off to be recovered... yours looks very nice but is nowhere near as big or intricate as a 2nd gen dash which i doubt would be anywhere near $259... looks like he charges $980 for 2nd gen dashes which is a good deal, other places like justdashes charge ~$1500+ for 2nd gen recovers last i saw.