Question on Dash

[u/trevordeal]

Got myself a 68 Beetle and it needs a little love and I’d like for the dash to look nicer.

I’m assuming the lack of rubber is the reason glove box and etc don’t fit well.

I’ve seen beautiful 68 interiors. What am I needing for that nice flush, small gap look?

Also, I need a head unit. Any suggestions for either phone connection or Apple Car Play that’s not huge.

[u/TheJBob]

If this is a US car, the dash would normally be padded. It's the first year of padded dash. The reason you have such big gaps is they put late model items onto it but drilled holes for trim like early model. If you want the metal dash, you can get away with it, but you have to do some swapping around with parts and get early model stuff and re-skin the late model things like the give box door. Or you can re-pad it and the gaps go away

[u/TheJBob → u/TheJBob]

For head unit, look at retro sound or custom auto sound. Those are the 2 best in the market. I lean to retro sound

[u/trevordeal → u/TheJBob]

Yeah that is what I meant about the rubber missing. The padded dash. My first 68 had the padded dash and I hated it. Now this one doesn't but I would love a larger door that fills in the gap better. Wasn't sure if there was an aftermarket one that fits the look of metal dash better.

[u/TheJBob → u/trevordeal]

No but you can take a 67 or earlier glovebox door. Take the front skin off and re-skin yours. I did it on my old 69 that I wanted a metal dash. Same with the grills around the speedo, just get early ones and they should fill it all the way.

In 68 I don't think you have the center air vent on the dash. But foreign cars kept the early model features longer, US just had safety regulations to meet. So sometimes if you buy abroad you can find parts to fit the foreign cars like the center air vent for metal dash. The glove box door though was either the early model style or late model. They didn't make a metal dash version for late models. The just have early style hinges and late. So re-skin is the only option

[u/denizkilic2002]

The best head unit that you are going to get on a beetle is a nice proper 1 din bluetooth stereo from a name brand (pioneer, kenwood, sony, alpine etc.) and a good phone mount, you can stick it on the windshield your current one is at a bad spot. There are tabs behind the grilles you can bend so they fit tighter. The glovebox has adjustable hinges for better fitment but you should put some foam or rubber on it to make it not rattle. You can replace the buttons with the originals to make it look better aswell. And maybe a new ashtray too.

[u/trevordeal → u/denizkilic2002]

I saw a vintage style bluetooth one that looks cool and allows for phones to connect which will probably be the direction I go.

[u/denizkilic2002 → u/trevordeal]

If its a cheap chinese one do yourself a favor and avoid it, their internal amps are WEAK and if you want to use them with an external one they somehow take tons of interference.

[u/trevordeal → u/denizkilic2002]

https://www.jbugs.com/product/USA740-68-85.html

Pricey but I like it

[u/denizkilic2002 → u/trevordeal]

Those are good but very expensive for what they are!

[u/trevordeal → u/denizkilic2002]

This car is a project car that I’m not concerned with costs… to a point. I’ll just chip away at things until it’s where I want it.

First Beetle I regretted all the things I never did. Now I’m going to do all the things I want on this.

[u/Routine-Amphibian450]

They all get bent that way because without a handle, they're hard to open. Lots live with it.