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 The original red plastic lower...  The original red plastic lower portion of the dash we bought from Steve Yoder is now painted to match the new black pad-and the rest of the Laguna. It's important to make sure the finish on both the pad and the trim shown here, are the same hue of black. With both the pad and the trim restored, it's time for installation.  Back at the Popular Hot Rodding...  Back at the Popular Hot Rodding tech center, we got to work rehabbing the instrument panel that we got from fellow Laguna nut, Larry Belcher. The Laguna's panel is covered with a fake wood laminate, which we peeled off to reveal a textured black plastic. We removed the HVAC controls, the vent, and the radio face, then created white cardboard templates to cover the holes. Once the templates' fit was double-checked, we used the cardboard pieces to create plastic block-off plates with a similar texture as the IP. With these glued in place with epoxy, we hosed the whole thing down with Dupli-Color's black vinyl and plastic paint.  Since we still had our original...  Since we still had our original dash in while our second one was being restored by Just Dashes, it was easy to R&R. Nevertheless, if you're sending your old dash out for restoration, your memory will fade in the three or four weeks before you reinstall it, so you'll want to take pictures and make notes.  A dash restoration wouldn't...  A dash restoration wouldn't be complete without a fresh steering wheel, and we found the perfect one in Grant Products' 13.5-inch Classic wood wheel (PN 313, $79.95). We were attracted to the small diameter and its matte black spokes. We also got a Grant installation kit and a Chevy-specific horn button for another $34 from Summit Racing.  We defy you to show us a more...  We defy you to show us a more seductive cockpit! The new Grant wheel, rehabbed dash, block-off IP plates, and gauges from Stewart and Summit make this Laguna look serious and functional.
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