1996blklt4

I started to hate looking inside my beloved flawless `96. Previous owner installed this wood kit on dash. I HATE IT WITH PASSION. Do you guys have any tips on how it could be removed ? Can it be removed ? Has anyone done it? Dealer replacements for all dash pieces are $600 !! I`d like to avoid that.

atotalnincompoop

just be careful with whatever type of glue remover that you use won't eat the original dash plastic.
personally i like the carbon fibre kits, if the removal doesn't go well you could always cover up the mess with one of those
just my $.02

AGENT 86

I had a wood dash kit in mine when I bought it. Eventually the wood got under my skin so I got a carbon fiber one. I was lucky, because I was able to peel of the wood one without too much problems. Well when I installed the carbon fiber one the last piece didn't line up well with the gauge openings. They told me to remove it and they will send another one. It was a nightmare to remove. I used the primer for acrylic foam tape and that SOB was not comming off without a fight. I tried to heat it up with a hair dryer and peel it off. No way !!!!!!!! I had to take a zip knife and peel and slice the foam tape, little by little till i could get it off. Then I rubbed my fingers hard on the left over tape till it balled up and could be picked off in small pieces. If I had to remove all the pieces I would buy trim adheasive remover.
Good Luck and be sure to buy the trim adheasive remover

mikey whipreck

Those wood dash kits are godawful... who would want their vette to look like a stationwagon with cheap plastic wood panels. Carbon fiber is nice... I still prefer the original though... but then again that's just my opinion.

1996blklt4

`94-`96 have rubber coated dash. Anyone here knows what remover won`t eat it ? is there a safe one ? I know i can always cover up the mess with carbon fiber kit but just love the original black, plus the carbon fiber kit is $300 ! Thanks for all replies so far

85blkZ51

WD-40 is a good remover of glue residue. I dont know if it would "eat" the dash surface or not. Somebody might join in that would know.

NavyVet

Is it a 'glue on' or a real wood kit that replaced the stock trim pieces? My GF has a '86 raodster with real wood everywhere. She now wants to sell it and I am planning to buy all new pieces & replace the wood. Looks dawm ugly to me! Of course she also has a '98 "Hot Wheels" purple & Yellow Pace car! Anyway, I liked the soft rubber, but think it may die a horrible death when romoving the glue on wood if that's what's required.

What all has the wood on it? I have a brand new console shift plate from GM still on the shelf from when I sold my LT4. They are expensive. The piece over the heater & radio is fairly reasonably priced - or was when I last checked. E-mail me if you want the shift plate with the lid over the cup holder. Also have a brand new ashtray & the rubber insert thingy for the cupholder.

Paul :flag

dwestsr

Have you tried a product called "Goo Gone" ? I have used it to remove all manner of adhesives. It will be slow because you need to work it under the applicade to the glue , but if you keep adding it to the exposed glue line it will eventually cause the adhesive to release. Also, I havent seen any damage caused by the product on any plastic to date. You might want to give it a try .

88vettelover

I had that crap on mine when I bought it. Took a lot of elbow grease, and I still cant get all of the glue off of the door panels, and around the door handle itself. The glue was like molecularly bonded to the door panels. Best tip I can give you is to remove the entire peice, and then try removing the wood, it should just pry off.

After that, I got some Klean Adhesive Remover wipes from Wal-Mart. Started rubbing my little butt off. After about an hour or so the interior looks good, except for the door panels.

C4DC

I would just rip it off and strip the rubber coating off, then re paint it with the reproduction rubberized coatings they sell in the vette mags. I know Mid america and Eckler's sell it.

1996blklt4

Thanx guys for the replies. I tried a few months ago to sell all my dash pieces with the wood kit on them but no response. My plan was to sell them and use the money to buy brand new GM all black original dash pieces or to trade my wood dash pieces with someone who wants them and get his original black ones. Seems like no one likes this crap but a lot of Vettes have it on their dash. For now i`m open to all your ideas to remove the wood or replace all the pieces one by one. Paul has offered to sell me the console plate which is the most expensive piece. This forum is just awesome !

1996blklt4

Paul, to answer your question the dash kit is a Mid America 12 piece set that glue on existing original black dash. They have a self adhesive tape on back.

96LT1

My 86 had the fake wood dash when I bought it. The stuff seemed to have been baked on. I pulled it loose around the edges and soaked it with Goo Gone and watched some TV and let it work. Let it set for about 15 minutes and repeated. One evening spent removing the wood veneer, one evening spent removing the adhesive residue.

A little warm water when it was over cleaned up everything.