A body dash pad is something that only mechanics and auto body restorers could describe. It is a rather complicated thing. However, if this subject has peaked your curiosity, you have come to the right place. Here is an explanation about body dash pads, and why you would want to remove one.
Imagine That Your Car Dash Is Padding, Plastic, and Vinyl Behind All the Gauges and Buttons
A body dash pad is the next layer of your car's dash behind the wheel, the dash gadgets and buttons, and dash components. To get a really good idea of what it is, you would have remove all of these components from the vehicle. Then you would see this plastic, padding, and vinyl piece that wraps from one side of the windshield to the other, over the top of the dash, and down to the underside of the dash. It is vinyl in some areas to provide a softer cushion in a crash, and hard plastic in others to prevent extensive damage to easily breakable car parts, like the windshield itself. The padding cushions all of the plastic and vinyl in areas where it is likely that you may hit your head or a body part in a crash.
Why You Would Want to Remove and/or Replace a Body Dash Pad
Now that you have a better idea of what the body dash pad in a car is, and some idea of what it does, you should also know why you would want to remove and/or replace one. As an example, let's take the 1970-74 body dash pad of a Chevy Barracuda. If you can actually find a car of this make, model, and year range, there is a pretty good chance that the dash pad has faded, cracked, split, and/or just generally become unpleasant to look at. Hence, you would want to remove it to restore it (which a good can of paint and new vinyl can do), or replace it (which finding a duplicate dash pad in better condition can do). Hence, the objective in most cases when you want to remove/replace a dash pad is restoration or replacement.
DIY or Let a Body Technician Do It
Most body technicians would probably jump at the chance to help you restore/replace a dash pad because it means that they are probably going to work on a classic car. However, if you have the time and patience for it, you could do it yourself. It is incredibly tedious because you have to take out the whole dash of the car, and that is a lot of parts you will have to put back. Still, if you want to try it, you can.