240Z: Dashboard doorsteps and other parts delivery

I have two dashboards hanging on my wall, both with the hand marked Japanese Su-i-su katakana characters (ス イ ス), for destination switzerland. We all know that those dashboards all crack sooner or later crack on the top and mine are no exception.

So far there were these options:
– Repair it yourself with some backyard-engineering. It will most probably crack at a different location soon, or look terrible
– Have them repaired in the USA by Justdashes. Seems like a nice option but two-way shipping costs would be overboarding.
– Find a NOS Nissan dashboard. I got offered some, but as expected the price is exorbitant, and who knows how long those last before cracking.
– Buy a replica Dashboard from Vintagedashes. I heard mostly good (aside from some small fitting issues) about them, but i had some “unprofessional” experience with the owner of the shop. Generally the website got updated meanwhile but back then it didn’t have a lot photos with details and lacking information so i never got conviced to buy one.

Luckily just recently a new option popped up: JDM-Car-Parts. Well known for their usually highest-quality available parts from Japan, they this time teamed up with an american producer to have them made:

We worked closely with Dashes Direct under our technical advisement to recreate the dash pads for the S30 series

In the same way as the original and vintagedashes ones are made, it’s some kind of a rubber foam mold covered in a vinyl wrap. A little rework is required here and there (cutting away excess material, etc). and you need the backframe from an original dashboard to install it here.

They also recommend a repaint of the dashboard (no matter if your old glove box cover is still fresh or faded) to match the colour with the interieur, but i think it’s pretty close to what i have. Here  you can see the JDM-Car-Parts dash compared to my original (quickly washed, but also colour-faded) glovebox cover. In reality, the difference is even smaller… and i think the colour didn’t even match 100% in the original setup as the glovebox lid is hard plastic and the other is a vinyl wrap.

The difference i did spot though is that the original glovebox and dashboard vinyl had a more “dotty” pattern (See photo below), while the one from JDM-Car-Parts has more of a “grainy lines” type of pattern (See photo above). Looking at the vintagedashes website, it seems they use the same material or at least pattern als JDM-Car-Parts. However i don’t think anybody will ever notice that small difference. And it might also be possible that there were slight difference in the factory parts as well. In my case the original glovebox and original dashboard pattern mach nicely,  however.

I got the 1972 dashboard with the hazard switch indent and JDM-car-Parts also supplies the (Separately sold) Sticker for it:

And i thought let’s throw in a set of chrome vents into the basket. They might come in handy when rebuilding the new dash:

Also got a pair of replica “Datsun” doorsteps. My bodyshop needs those to get the position of the fastener holes right when installing the new side steps:

And while ordering anyway, i thought i could add a set of heater control wires:

Also ordered a full set of door clips, because my old ones are either crispy and dry or missing or bent, or rusty.

Oh and today i also got this datsun enamel badge, which i recently found on a swiss auction website. I’ve seen plenty of similar ones, but this one seemed authentic and old with the paint chips and some rust on the backside. Most other i see these days seem to be some kind of replica stuff. It was cheap so i had to get it and will look for a nice place in the garage.

That’s it. I have a pallete with some cool stuff from japan, which should arrive here anyday. And the bodyshop guy should return from vacation soon, so i hope there are some updates again soon.