# 65 Dash Insert-Stained or Not Stained?



## SLSTEVE (Dec 8, 2020)

Hopefully will be getting my nicely rebuilt and freshly painted gauge set back from Pete Serio soon. Put my auxiliary gauge wire harness in and will install the new gauges as soon as I receive them. My question is-Why does Ames sell wood grain dash inserts in stained and unstained versions? Did they come from the factory stained and not stained? What would you guys prefer to buy if you were putting new dash inserts in your 65?
Thanks, as always.


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## Baaad65 (Aug 29, 2019)

Hello, I bought a new dash from OPGI made by The Parts Place and it's slightly finned with that blue/grey color and I love it, better than the wood insert I had, matches the passenger grab bar name














plate color.


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## GTOJUNIOR (Aug 7, 2011)

I think this came due to many restorers wishing to finish/stain their own.
The Stained version is very close to the OE coloring but remember wood (even veneers) will vary when stained.
As far as Top-Coat you will find posts stating just the use of wood polish, all the way to use of a wood sealer.
I think this is one of the reasons '67 went to vinyl.

If it were me I would lean toward the polish as some sealers will darken the wood. 
If the Veneer kit comes with the punch-outs you could use those to try different products.


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## SLSTEVE (Dec 8, 2020)

Baaad65 said:


> Hello, I bought a new dash from OPGI made by The Parts Place and it's slightly finned with that blue/grey color and I love it, better than the wood insert I had, matches the passenger grab bar name
> View attachment 144007
> View attachment 144008
> plate color.


Wow, that does look good! I usually tend to stay with the factory, OE look, but could go for this. Do you have a picture of this unit installed? Would like a shot of the finished product. My only issue with this deal is that I swore I would never buy from OPGI after the gas tank debacle. If The Parts Place sells these I might go that route. Thanks for an alternative look, I even wondered about trying the 64 dash bezel in my 65, because I like that swirled metal look better than the wood grain.


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## Baaad65 (Aug 29, 2019)

I thought this is how they came originally and the wood was an option, thought this was described as a factory reproduction. It's stamped The Parts Place so OPGI must buy from them but it was cheaper than going to the Parts place which is 20 minutes away from me because OPGI had a big sale going on, think it was around 300.00 free shipping. I haven't been to happy with the Parts Place kinda of jerks there although the owner had me bring in my custom 4 spd and helped me get the right linkage a while back.


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## Baaad65 (Aug 29, 2019)

Sorry don't have a farther away picture yet, my car wasn't matching numbers so it's a mini restomod but keeping alot stock.


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## Mine'sa66 (Oct 30, 2019)

SLSTEVE said:


> Hopefully will be getting my nicely rebuilt and freshly painted gauge set back from Pete Serio soon. Put my auxiliary gauge wire harness in and will install the new gauges as soon as I receive them. My question is-Why does Ames sell wood grain dash inserts in stained and unstained versions? Did they come from the factory stained and not stained? What would you guys prefer to buy if you were putting new dash inserts in your 65?
> Thanks, as always.


They came stained originally.
I suppose Ames sells them both ways as mentioned, wood varies a lot so the stained ones Ames sells may/may not match so if you buy them raw, you can make them any way you want.


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## Baaad65 (Aug 29, 2019)

Did they ever come blueish originally in '65 like mine, thought the Parts Place described it as factory reproduction. My wood wasn't that good so replaced it with carbon fiber and all the chrome rings were peeled then the tach and oil pressure gauges were not accurate so I sold the whole thing and designed these Speedhut gauges with a GPS speedo, shift lights and now a volt gauge, I had to make a transition piece to mate the gauges to the dash so they were still recessed.


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## SLSTEVE (Dec 8, 2020)

Looks great to me! Thanks for the added pictures.


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## Baaad65 (Aug 29, 2019)

Thanks! I tried to pattern it after the originals somewhat.


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## SLSTEVE (Dec 8, 2020)

Mine'sa66 said:


> They came stained originally.
> I suppose Ames sells them both ways as mentioned, wood varies a lot so the stained ones Ames sells may/may not match so if you buy them raw, you can make them any way you want.


Thank you for your info. Appreciate it.


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## Ken91720 (2 mo ago)

Baaad65 said:


> Hello, I bought a new dash from OPGI made by The Parts Place and it's slightly finned with that blue/grey color and I love it, better than the wood insert I had, matches the passenger grab bar name
> View attachment 144007
> View attachment 144008
> plate color.


What brand gauges are these I really like them and never seen them before?


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## Baaad65 (Aug 29, 2019)

Ken91720 said:


> What brand gauges are these I really like them and never seen them before?


They are Speedhut gauges, I believe 3 3/8" and I love them...the choices you have to customize them is super and they came with all the sending units, I have the GPS speedometer, if you want I have pictures of the install process.


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## Ken91720 (2 mo ago)

Baaad65 said:


> They are Speedhut gauges, I believe 3 3/8" and I love them...the choices you have to customize them is super and they came with all the sending units, I have the GPS speedometer, if you want I have pictures of the install process.


I am still on the fence with what I am doing, my new dash just shipped finally from OPGI. I was thinking about Dakota Digital VHX but yours are pretty sweet I am going to look into it to those as well. If I go that route I would sure appreciate your pictures and installation instructions.


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## Baaad65 (Aug 29, 2019)

Alot of people go with Dakota but they look too space age imo, I wanted a more traditional look but not a black background. I paid extra for the flags and Pontiac lettering and I actually printed them and cut them out so I could place them in the gauge holes to see how they looked. Almost went with Autometer as they're made in the next town west of me but they just weren't working out and not very customizable. I wanted a shift light and you can 
set warning lights for highs and lows. They were right around 800.00 OTD in 2019.


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## Baaad65 (Aug 29, 2019)

Sorry I just went back in the thread and realized I posted these pictures already.


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## O52 (Jan 27, 2019)

The Tempest and base LeMans models had the plain dash without the woodgrain. 65 to 68 GTOs and LeMans with the Decor option had the woodgrain. 
I'm not sure how the wood grain was applied for the 69 and up models.


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## Baaad65 (Aug 29, 2019)

So is this considered the plain dash? To tell the truth I like it the best with its blue/grey color and simplicity...just classy.


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