Matthias Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 (edited) Hi, roughly one year ago I asked a question here in the forum regarding a specific body tag topic: '72 Riv GS body tag Thank you once again for your support at that time! I still owe you an update how things moved forward ... Some weeks later I bought that specific Riviera and my whole family (including neighbor kids 🙂 ) love our Riv from day 1 onwards. We did some smaller tours and already attended 3 classic car events last year. And I became ROA-member in 2023 👍. The last couple of months I am focusing on restoring the car as good as possible to the original condition. First thing was the original 8-track radio from 1972 that I finally found in Sweden, then shipped to Arizona for restoration and got it back to Germany 3 months later: 8-track repair Based on the Sloan documentation I noticed that the car was shipped 1972 with door guards which were missing ... and after some weeks of research I found a NOS pair in Australia 🙂 . The bezels to the left & right of the speedometer were not in very good shape any longer because the chrome peeled off. Among others, Doug and Monika from Buick Farm helped me to get NOS bezels and also NOS Controls/Fader for the restored 8-track radio. There are a couple of parts that are waiting now to be installed like new headlight bezels (a fixing point at the old one is broken), water pump, ignition wire set, engine mounts, white wall tires, etc. I am attaching two pictures from last year summer. As the car was shipped in 1972 with white wall tires I am really looking forward to install them 🥰. For the next winter season I am already planning a more complex project: Unfortunately the dash is cracked what drives me nuts ... I do not have the expertise for trying any kind of repair on my own. Thus, my intention is to get it completely restored by a professional service. I know it will cost a fortune but the car deserves it! Question: Does anybody have some advices/tips for me how to tackle that project in order to get the best possible result? My target is that the dash looks as good as new in the end. Thank you very much for your support and kind regards Matthias Edited March 27 by Matthias (see edit history) 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocketraider Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 That's a huge dash pad and will be very expensive to ship from Germany to USA and back for restoration. If you can find a dash in US and have an ROA or AACA-Buick forum member handle restoration here in the States, you might come out ahead on shipping. Last one I had shipped within US from Chicago to Southern Virginia, shipping was as much as the dash. It came in a wooden crate. Gorgeous GS by the way. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seafoam65 Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 Locate a dash in the United States and have Just Dashes redo the dash pad, then have Just Dashes ship it to you in Germany. Just Dashes will remove all the vinyl on the dash pad along with all the old foam. Then they will glue new foam on the dash steel core and recover the pad with all new vinyl using a heat shrink process just like the factory. Since that pad is so large, I'm going to guess that the cost to do that will be somewhere around 1500.00. Your car is beautiful, and definitely worth doing the dash pad right. The only alternative would be somebody that can do that job in Germany, but I haven't heard of anyone there that does that kind of work. It takes specialized skills and equipment. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthias Posted March 27 Author Share Posted March 27 12 minutes ago, rocketraider said: That's a huge dash pad and will be very expensive to ship from Sweden to USA and back for restoration. If you can find a dash in US and have an ROA or AACA-Buick forum member handle restoration here in the States, you might come out ahead on shipping. Last one I had shipped within US from Chicago to Southern Virginia, shipping was as much as the dash. It came in a wooden crate. Gorgeous GS by the way. Hi rocketraider, yes, I am also considering your approach: Finding a dash in the US, have it restored by a professional and then shipment to Europe in a wooden crate. I have contacts to a global logistics company that could help me in arranging the transportation from US to Europe. But initial challenge would be to find a good dash that delivers a good basis for restoration ... Matthias Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthias Posted March 27 Author Share Posted March 27 2 minutes ago, Seafoam65 said: Locate a dash in the United States and have Just Dashes redo the dash pad, then have Just Dashes ship it to you in Germany. Just Dashes will remove all the vinyl on the dash pad along with all the old foam. Then they will glue new foam on the dash steel core and recover the pad with all new vinyl using a heat shrink process just like the factory. Since that pad is so large, I'm going to guess that the cost to do that will be somewhere around 1500.00. Your car is beautiful, and definitely worth doing the dash pad right. The only alternative would be somebody that can do that job in Germany, but I haven't heard of anyone there that does that kind of work. It takes specialized skills and equipment. 100% agree, Just Dashes seem to be the best adress when you want to achieve the best results 👍 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JZRIV Posted March 28 Share Posted March 28 Good Lord! - That is a stunning car you have Matthais. Wow! Thanks for posting pics 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig Balzer Posted March 28 Share Posted March 28 (edited) Might I recommend you use searchtempest.com every now and then This app searches CraigsList, Facebook Marketplace and eBay for you I entered "1972 Buick Riviera GS dash top" in the "Car parts" section and found https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/950854503133424/?ref=category_feed&referral_code=null&referral_story_type=post&tracking=browse_serp%3A0c2bcf6a-bb94-46bd-8d7b-ca44e777a5e2 Check out the last photo of the 10 photos https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/24966255373021205/?ref=category_feed&referral_code=null&referral_story_type=post&tracking=browse_serp%3Aebaa4f42-1d2b-4bbf-849c-b1556cba7ec0 I don't know if the 73 dash works on a 72??, but (second last photo): https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1124896205370129/?ref=category_feed&referral_code=null&referral_story_type=post&tracking=browse_serp%3A98dc724e-14c2-4669-8104-df102f92a0b7 Edited March 28 by Craig Balzer (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthias Posted March 28 Author Share Posted March 28 Thank you all for your support! Thanks to the hint regarding searchtempest.com I might have found a '71 dash already 👍🏼. After talking to few people today over here, I will check first if there is an alternative to JustDashes in Europe. Would save me a fortune in terms of shipping costs. But good to have a potential Plan B ready 😎. Latest when the restored dash is installed, I will give an update again 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼. Matthias 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig Balzer Posted March 28 Share Posted March 28 Matthias Just out of curiosity, what part of Germany do you call home? Craig, Ret'd US Army 1980-1984 - Munich 1990-1995 - Darmstadt 1995-2003 - Heidelberg PS - happy searchtempest.com worked so well/quickly for you 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthias Posted March 29 Author Share Posted March 29 (edited) 11 hours ago, Craig Balzer said: Matthias Just out of curiosity, what part of Germany do you call home? Craig, Ret'd US Army 1980-1984 - Munich 1990-1995 - Darmstadt 1995-2003 - Heidelberg PS - happy searchtempest.com worked so well/quickly for you Craig, wow, approx. 20 years! And the areas that you mentioned do belong to the nicest ones of the whole country. "Home" means for me the middle west part of the country, but with good friends in Munich as well as Heidelberg 😊. Matthias Edited March 29 by Matthias (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbinator Posted April 4 Share Posted April 4 (edited) I recover 63-65 Riviera dash pads. I strip the dash to metal core and install new foam padding. I match the vinyl for the proper grain then match the color with 4 way stretch vinyl. In some cases Ive color matched and dyed the vinyl. Shipping services for about 50% off retail is not uncommon with contract shippers. Ive shipped numerous Buick Roadwheels to Germany. The average cost is $45.00 USD per wheel. The same carriers deliver the goods, but delivery time is slow. Just Dashes has a good business. So good they can afford to be … not so customer oriented. That is only my opinion. Ill send some pictures of my work. You may be interested in my product at about 40%-50% less than Just Dashes. If you are not interested in me doing the upholstery I know upholsterers that will do the job. Best of Luck PS The red one is mine with a direct fit cover that actually needs to be fitted. The black one is upholstered vinyl. Edited April 4 by Turbinator (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbinator Posted April 4 Share Posted April 4 Field required Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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