How about you spray it with a matte coating to reduce the glare?

On the other hand, the fit is terrible. As I recall the attachments use Velcro, and after 18 years the panel is extremely brittle, and easy to break. There are new covers available.

 

That's a good idea, Fred. I could spray it, but I would still want to remove the dash first to avoid overspray. Are there any covers you would recommend?

 

my truck has a dash that glares too. i cleaned off the amorall and used a product from mequiars called natural shine. it returns vinyl and plastics to like new without the shiny glare

 

The aftermarket repro plastic covers have been discussed in threads here, and on other sites. Do a search on 1997-2002 Firebird upper dash pad. I have not replaced mine because it's survived unscathed for 26 years.

You can actually find a new factory cover on Firebird Central, but it's $625.

https://www.firebirdcentral.com/1997_2002_Firebird_Replacement_Molded_Dash_Pad_p/das-364r.htm

 

Thank you @JOE68, but it looks like someone painted it with a gloss black paint, so I don't think the Meguiars would take it off, unfortunately. Also, Fred, I was saying in my initial post that I think my best bet was to get a used dash. I tried searching a decent amount for info on that before I posted this with no luck on that. I had seen that a replacement was pretty expensive and not worth it to me. A skin is a potential option, but I was mainly wanting to know if anyone had removed their dash before and if I could remove/install one from a junkyard car without breaking it.

 

If your talking about replacing the whole dashboard assembly, and not just the pad, it is an involved job. It requires you to drop steering column, remove instrument cluster, remove center console, and mess with a whole bunch of wiring, and other things.

Not a job for the novice mechanic.

 

I'm wanting to replace just the pad to get rid of glare. There's no need to replace the whole thing, and I wouldn't want to try it by myself either.

 

If you just want to replace the pad, I wouldn't get one from a salvage yard. Given the age alone, that's asking for issues. Add to that sitting in the sun all day every day and the pad is probably just as brittle as it can get without turning to powder. Definitely get an OEM pad, reproduction, or "cover". The covers look pretty good. You could always just drop $50 on a carpeted dash cover, that's the cheapest option and would most certainly cut glare.

 

Ok thanks, Tony. I had gotten this carpeted cover and it looked pretty terrible. I wouldn't really care that much if it were just a cracked dash, but this looked awful. I think I will just get a dash skin for like $100. Those seem to look pretty good.

 

I have to agree. That is the *worst* dash cover I have ever seen. Even these $20 covers are cut to fit the contours of the instrument cluster and air vents.

https://www.ebay.com/i/233438856513?chn=ps&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-117182-37290-0&mkcid=2&itemid=233438856513&targetid=930729196022&device=c&mktype=pla&googleloc=9012378&poi=&campaignid=10455986539&mkgroupid=104612010460&rlsatarget=pla-930729196022&abcId=2146002&merchantid=223125646

My dash pad broke into about 15 pieces. I bought a length of black "speaker box" carpet from a local car audio installer, used 3M contact adhesive to glue the pieces face down to the back of the carpet, trimmed excess with a razor, and installed. I think I was into it for under $15. It doesn't look as good as a $100 cover or $300+ pad, but, it looks a helluva lot better than that thing you have on your dash.

 

Haha thanks again!