KingK0ng Posted May 19, 2020 Report Share Posted May 19, 2020 I noticed something that doesn't make sense to me. Why do our coupe have a slightly larger gap between the passenger door panel and dashboard compared to the driver side ? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators PTR200S Posted May 19, 2020 Moderators Report Share Posted May 19, 2020 Do you mean the "A" pillar to dashboard gap ?? Not the actual door to dash gap ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KingK0ng Posted May 19, 2020 Author Report Share Posted May 19, 2020 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators PTR200S Posted May 20, 2020 Moderators Report Share Posted May 20, 2020 I see where you mean, its probably the dashboard mouldings that are slightly out of line, maybe its distorted on the mountings. Is there a big, measurable, difference between the two sides? I will try and have a look at mine later today, never noticed it really but then I wasn't actually looking for it ! By the way there is a really big difference actually.......your steering wheel is on the wrong side 😆 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KingK0ng Posted May 20, 2020 Author Report Share Posted May 20, 2020 1 hour ago, PTR200S said: I see where you mean, its probably the dashboard mouldings that are slightly out of line, maybe its distorted on the mountings. Is there a big, measurable, difference between the two sides? I will try and have a look at mine later today, never noticed it really but then I wasn't actually looking for it ! By the way there is a really big difference actually.......your steering wheel is on the wrong side 😆 I noticed that while doing my dashboard cleaning last time. The gap isn''t that much of a difference but still easely noticable. I got some reports from other coupe owners seeing that they have it too. Fixed mate ! Easiet mod haver made 😂 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators PTR200S Posted May 20, 2020 Moderators Report Share Posted May 20, 2020 12 minutes ago, KingK0ng said: Fixed mate ! Easiet mod haver made 😂 Ha, Ha ! 😁, looks much better !! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators PTR200S Posted May 20, 2020 Moderators Report Share Posted May 20, 2020 Been able to check mine now, my driver side , righthand side is about 2mm narrower than the left side. I can't see the passenger side when I am driving , looking where I am going, so it won't bother me at least! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KingK0ng Posted May 20, 2020 Author Report Share Posted May 20, 2020 Thanks for feedback, yes so this gap seems to be a factory thing. At first i though something was off with my dashboard or doorpanels but from what i see it's normal..but still wondering why they would build it that way.. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators PTR200S Posted May 20, 2020 Moderators Report Share Posted May 20, 2020 Probably the draughtsman doing the drawings was out on the town the night before !! 🙄 Maybe some others might check it out and report back in. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KingK0ng Posted May 20, 2020 Author Report Share Posted May 20, 2020 1 hour ago, PTR200S said: Probably the draughtsman doing the drawings was out on the town the night before !! 🙄 Maybe some others might check it out and report back in. Yes would be nice if some other users could report, i'm curious.. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Laird_Scooby Posted May 22, 2020 Moderators Report Share Posted May 22, 2020 I'll take a SWAG that the dashboard crash panel has shrunk by 2mm overall in the past 20 years and the bigger, stronger, shaped area around the instrument cluster has helped keep that side as the factory intended whereas the "plainer" straighter passenger side has exhibited signs of shrinkage more. That theory holds for both right hand drive and wrong hand drive (as i once explained it to an American who argued left hand drive is how it should be) as ths structure is what's shrunk, rather than a design problem. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Site Subscriber’s davebrads Posted May 22, 2020 Site Subscriber’s Report Share Posted May 22, 2020 On 5/20/2020 at 9:02 PM, KingK0ng said: Yes would be nice if some other users could report, i'm curious.. I'm not sure that I want to, it might be better to be blissfully ignorant 😁 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Founding Member AhsyV6 Posted May 22, 2020 Founding Member Report Share Posted May 22, 2020 Mine looks pretty similar 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KingK0ng Posted May 22, 2020 Author Report Share Posted May 22, 2020 Indeed can't see any difference Ahsy, i'll try to post pictures of mine to make a side by side. My guess is that a difference in gap should be more because of the doorpanel rather than dashboard. What year construction is yours Ahsy ? Also do you often carry a passenger ? I ask because i may have a theory behind that.. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KingK0ng Posted May 22, 2020 Author Report Share Posted May 22, 2020 13 hours ago, Laird_Scooby said: I'll take a SWAG that the dashboard crash panel has shrunk by 2mm overall in the past 20 years and the bigger, stronger, shaped area around the instrument cluster has helped keep that side as the factory intended whereas the "plainer" straighter passenger side has exhibited signs of shrinkage more. That theory holds for both right hand drive and wrong hand drive (as i once explained it to an American who argued left hand drive is how it should be) as ths structure is what's shrunk, rather than a design problem. Mhhh..not quite sure about that tbh. I think it may have to do with the doorpanel itself or something happend in the montage line during a certain period of time. As i said i got other reports from user not in this forum saying having the same phenomenon with their coupe. Ahsy exemple is the first one i encounter that contradicting that. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Founding Member AhsyV6 Posted May 22, 2020 Founding Member Report Share Posted May 22, 2020 1 hour ago, KingK0ng said: What year construction is yours Ahsy ? Also do you often carry a passenger ? Not so much In the last 3 years as my wife sits in the back with my boy. Mine is a 99 coupe 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KingK0ng Posted May 29, 2020 Author Report Share Posted May 29, 2020 Took pictures today of my dashboard and the difference is very very noticable. In the passenger side there is enough room to insert the tip of my finger. Now look at the 3rd picture, this is a very interesting detail...You can clearly see that there is a mark on the rubber and to me it's the initial dashboard position. For some reason i truly can't understand it seems that overtime the dashboard has moved to its left... How the hell could this be possible ?! The dashboard is supposed to be mounted on thick solid bars they can't bend or move just like that... Do you think this is fixable ? 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Laird_Scooby Posted May 29, 2020 Moderators Report Share Posted May 29, 2020 2 hours ago, KingK0ng said: How the hell could this be possible ?! On 5/22/2020 at 8:23 AM, Laird_Scooby said: I'll take a SWAG that the dashboard crash panel has shrunk by 2mm overall in the past 20 years and the bigger, stronger, shaped area around the instrument cluster has helped keep that side as the factory intended whereas the "plainer" straighter passenger side has exhibited signs of shrinkage more. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KingK0ng Posted May 29, 2020 Author Report Share Posted May 29, 2020 Your point of view is interesting. As you said if it was few mm only i would say sure very probable. But here it's an whole 1cm if not slightly more and i think it's quite a lot for a material to shrink if you ask me. Comapred to Ahsy even my driver side seems more tighter than his. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Laird_Scooby Posted May 29, 2020 Moderators Report Share Posted May 29, 2020 You'd be surprised how much certain materials can shrink over 20 years. I'm not saying i'm right, just it's the most likely solution. Seat foam (which is similar to dashboard foam) shrinks quite a lot more but then it is being sat on, that said, even the seats you don't use are likely to have shrink making the covers slightly baggy. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KingK0ng Posted May 29, 2020 Author Report Share Posted May 29, 2020 Some additional pictures 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators PTR200S Posted May 30, 2020 Moderators Report Share Posted May 30, 2020 Certainly more noticable than mine but I will check against those last pics you posted as that seems to be a better measure of movement of the complete dash assembly. Still waiting on my new battery, should have been delivered yesterday, so can go and play in my Coupe 🙂 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KingK0ng Posted May 30, 2020 Author Report Share Posted May 30, 2020 1 hour ago, PTR200S said: Certainly more noticable than mine but I will check against those last pics you posted as that seems to be a better measure of movement of the complete dash assembly. Still waiting on my new battery, should have been delivered yesterday, so can go and play in my Coupe 🙂 Yes, we can see from those pictures that the gap is generalized all the way top to bottom. Again the shrink theory may be a possibility but i have big doubts.. Also see the gap between the dashboard and the passenger pillar here below. Quite a significant gap...On the driver side i have no gap at all, dashboard almost touching the pillar and i think it's the reason why the dashboard can't "move" any further because of being blocked by the pillar. Just my theory.. I've never disassemble a CG dashboard so i don't know how those materials the dashboard is mounted and fixed are susceptible to "move" overtime. Also i'm not sure if while mounting a dashboard there is some room for adjustment, i think you can't, it may be just mount and fix. If someone have any experience would be glad to hear that. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Laird_Scooby Posted May 30, 2020 Moderators Report Share Posted May 30, 2020 4 hours ago, KingK0ng said: Also see the gap between the dashboard and the passenger pillar here below. Quite a significant gap. Either the dashboard has shrunk or is out of line (perhaps a previous owner removed it to change something? ) and the filler pieces often fitted to hide the gaps have been lost. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KingK0ng Posted May 30, 2020 Author Report Share Posted May 30, 2020 43 minutes ago, Laird_Scooby said: Either the dashboard has shrunk or is out of line (perhaps a previous owner removed it to change something? ) and the filler pieces often fitted to hide the gaps have been lost. I don't know the previous owner who had the car so can't tell about that but will be surprised if it was. Today by luck i encounter another coupe and out of curiosity just took a look at the dashboard but wasn't misaligned, was perfectly centered. Was like damn...😢😄 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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