My son has a 2000 Cav Z24 - Gotta love this car, runs like a champ. When he bought the car the plastic piece between the top dash and windshield, about 2 - 3" wide is broken in a few places and the center section of the trim is just missing. What the heck do you call this piece - where do you find one and most importantly, how hard is it to replace??
I have read the instructions how to remove the instrument panel and don't see that being a problem but this is right on top and the whole dash appears it will need to be removed to replace this thinkgy-ma-bob.
Please let me know if you have any answers to these questions. Thanks a bunch!
join the club thats a cavalier thing
a cracked cavalier dash and cavalier go together like spagetti and meatballs
your best bet is to find a 00-05 cavalier dash from the wrecker thats not cracked and replace it but when doing so don't put that screw back in where the other 1 cracked just put a small piece of foam (kind with adesive on the back side of it) to prevent it from making noises
on the sunfire that piece is replaceable (but also never cracks) but on the cavalier its part of the lower dash assembly
JBO since July 30, 2001
If mine ever cracks I'd probably just do the cover.. its expensive but its less work then finding a entire dash assembly to remove from a junker and swapping urs out.. unless ofcourse the car is already being worked on and tore down then its not really a issue..
http://www.coverlaymfg.com/index.php?crn=207&rn=498&action=show_detail
My 03 is still fine.. for some reason I dont think I've seen a 03+ with this dash crack.. but i've never looked for them either..
As stated, that's basically part the whole (large) dash. To change is not as easy as you think. I ended up vinyling over mine with some similar colored vinyl.
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- Sold my beloved J in April 2010 -
Yep, that's what I will have to do, cover it up using a cap. The suggestion to cover w/ vinyl is a good one, but mine cracked in two places at first causing a somewhat 7" middle piece that has over the next two years broken down to smaller pieces and now is a gap... the cap will cover no problem.
Hey Quicklilcav, I may have an answer to your question about 15 year older parts holding up better - Over the years since sometime in the late 60's the EPA has been investigating major pollution issues, one being the plastics and another big one the paint industry. GM contracts out to smaller shops and get moulded parts and paints from them. Over the years, time to time these smaller shops would be somewhat "bullied" into testing and adjusting their recipies to produce formed product and paints. Have you ever seen a white 1990-1992 Chevy/GMC truck (and other vehilcles) that had their original paint on the hood? Almost everyone right down to primer. The EPA, being the protector of the enviornment, forced chemical makeup chenges and the GM counter-parts didn't get it right the first time. Yes ozone and acid rain did most the damage but the paint wasn't strong enogh to withstand the elements. Srange named chemicals like Xylene (sounds like zylene) mostly used for drying purposes were replaced by weaker chemicals to meet VOC (Volatile organic compounds) requirements. I AM NOT AN EXPERT IN THIS AREA - All I know is what I read in papers many years ago and put their 2 plus my 2 togeather from experience. Years ago before CAD, I was a design drafter who drew ink on vellum. The simple bottles of ink used to draw lines of an electrical plan would take hours to dry after the ink manufacturer in Germany changed their formula for inks sold in the USA! We suffered nearly six months until we found a way to get the product direct from Germany - remeber, we did not have the Internet Community of today in 1989.
If this stray conversation is not allowed, please forgive my ignorance as I am somewhat a newbie to forums.
THANK-YOU so much to all for the GREAT suggestions to my problem; you are all MUCH apprecitaed.
Yeah they have to have changed the plastics or somthing...my 01 z and my dads 05 base model both have cracked dashes however my 96 does not. I havnt seen too many 95 or 96 dashes that are cracked.
my 96 isnt cracked on my sunchicken or cav (both 96)
sunfires don't crack just cavaliers if a sunfire cracks its been in hte sun say razona dessert for too long
JBO since July 30, 2001
I guess I should clarify.... The car was bought for my son as his primary git' along - So he'll leave my Colorado Crew cab parked.
When we bought the car it was from a retired Army dude who kept his VW Passat in the garage while the Cav sat in the sun on his driveway in Mesa, AZ (about 30 miles from Phoenix). He did have the windows tinted and a silver reflective shade screen in the front window. The screen was a bit too short and did not cover the cap - it's the only piece that cracked - the top of dash and whole interior is is super fine, near perfect condition. He really kept up this car, even the paint job is in excellent condition and you should see the engine compartment - CLEAN. Anyways... when we bought the car he told us "oh it's just a piece that "pops" out; you can buy a replacement and pop it right in there.... I should have asked "Instaed of dropping the price of the car 200 bucks; if it's that easy, why didn't you "pop" it right in there?"
I will be more shrewd on things like this in the future; experience is the best teacher.
BTW - Why do so many retired military have Cavs anyway?
Now that we own a Cav, we see them on the road ALL the time. Quite a few have the retired sticker usually on the lower left rear windshield in Phoenix and Tucson.
