Covans Thunder Road Dash Experience

[Novette_71]

Guys,

from my last thread I noticed many people are interested in these kind of dashes, some had disappointments as well, so I wanted to share my experience with covansthunderroad and the products I ordered. Please dont mix it up with covansclassic.com, as this will lead you to a different company. I am talking about covansthunderroad.com

I ordered a carbon fiber look dash for my 1971 Nova incl. harness, Ultra-Lite series gauges with Oil Pressure instead of Volts and no heater cut-outs, as my car is not having heating / cooling.

Order process :

- excellent communication with Kyle Covan the whole time
- prices were US$ 920, much cheaper than US$ 1139 at competitor
- shipping was fast with tracking no#


The dash received here and after getting it out of customs and unpacking it at home I was surprised positively.

The dash is a nice carbon look with a shiny finish, it is exactly as promised (e.g. no-cut-outs) and is not flimsy at all. If you place your hands left and right and "twist it", it makes a stable impressions, not weak.

When I put it into place the first time I thought it is a pretty good fit, even for german standards. I dont have a picture (but it will follow) as 2 mounting holes in my sheetmetal are missing after paintshop.

All holes are drilled in the dash, except for the LEDs. Which leads me to another surprise.

The electric kit is more than I thought, convenient, professionell plugs for the gauges, LEDs with frames included as well, and so on.

The instructions for the electric hook-up come fully color (!) pictured with real (!) pictures ... that surprised me, as I thought it will be some black-and-white barely readable drawing .....

The gauges fit into the holes firmly, so for tryout it is enough just to press them into position without fitting the rear brackets .... that is good as it will give you freedom to play around with the gauge locations. I consider this another pro.

If you consider what the gauges, the harness and speed sensor cost if you buy just them at Summit , I think the whole assembly like this is more than price worthy.

It is 8:22 a.m. on Saturday here , so by for now ...... my day will be spent in the garage for installation :thumbsup:

But no worries I will sent more pictures and info how assembly went ... but with a picky german like me , it will take some time ..

[awr68]

So is this a spin-off company of Covan's Classic....I've never heard of them.

[camcojb]

So is this a spin-off company of Covan's Classic....I've never heard of them.

this is the original guy who sold Covans and started a new business making what appears to be a better product, based on the few reports I've read from customers.

[Novette_71]

Here comes an update on the product :

WHAT I DID LIKE :

It fits really well. Where it meets the dashboard padding is critical and it needed only very minor adjustment on the dashboard sheetmetal (plastic hammer) but it sits really good.

It is very complete in general, even the LED for turn signal and high beam plus wiring is there.



WHAT I DIDNT LIKE :

The mounting holes are drilled which is good. But I think they should come chamfered INCL. black countersunk screws and the counterplates for the screws. I thought it was annoying that on a thousand dollar product the mounting hardware worth not even a dollar is missing.

Since I ordered Oil Temp instead of Volt there was a cable missing in the harness / plug (Volt needs two). I would have appreciated if the Autometer plugs always feature the three cables just in case you need it.

If I would need another panel would ask them to drill the LED holes for me as well, you can always tell if you messed up one of the holes and even just by a 1 mm.


Altogether highly recommended product ... :thumbsup:

[Novette_71]

one more pic for info

[CreepinDeth]

So he sold his last business ....for whatever reasons.....and created
the same business to compete with it.....no one see's that as shady?

I bought one of his Covan's Classic bezels, and I can't get it to mount very easily.
The holes simply don't line up very well......I should have bought an aluminum bezel.

[XLexusTech]

Holt Crap... guys opens up with a post saying he was happy which is refreshing and it lands here. Why so much negitivity? Is Covans like the anti Christ or something....

BTW how about this instead of Shady... Guy builds up a business with great intentions and builds a solid product. Sells it with NO non compete clause and then the Buyer proceeds to ruin the company and the product trying to build the "same" parts cheaper.

What would you do?

[CreepinDeth]

I would wonder why he sold it in the first place if he wanted to still make dash bezels.

That's just me personally. I don't hate the company, I'm just sayin.
Maybe I've been dealing with too many shady businesses lately that my perception is skewed that way.

Didn't mean to be so negative, just asking why ?? Seemed odd to me.....
I'm happy to hear he had a great experience.

[Novette_71]

As far as I know he had a partner in the old company ... maybe the had different ideas about the future and needed to split.

The partner bought him out and he started "new" ..... if there is anything shady I would say it is the old company / the partner, because I had a bad time with them.

I am very :D happy with covanthunderroad ... i completed the wiring today, put the carpet in and it starts looking like a car from the inside ..... :willy: just cant wait to have it all done and go ....

[70rs]

Thanks for posting Novette. I will be replacing my dash soon and am glad to hear covans is up and running again with a superior product than what the other old company is selling.
As for shady business? Many businesses split for many reasons. If he decided to get out of the old one and start a new one with the same market for a target more power to him. If he has a better product and customer service (and it is obvious it is all better) then he will have a sucessfull company.
The reasons for the split do not matter. What does is how he handles business now. And it looks like they are off to a good start so let's support the companies that deliver what they promise.
Just my .02. :thumbsup:

[1badchevelle]

John left due to personal issues. As we all know covans classic has been a bit behind on the c/s of things and some say quality as well. When John was back on his feet he felt his name/product was not what is should be and parted ways. Hence Thunder road. Who can blame the guy.

[rogue]

Wow just got a personal phone call from John himself after leaving a message on his website.

They sell the 1969 Camaro Panel without gauges for $239 and it includes the steering column cover. He said it can easily be cut for 5" Gauges as well. Definitely going to add this to the list of things to add to my build...

Gotta love a phone call back within 10 minutes of sending an e-mail. :thumbsup:

[Novette_71]

I am still really satisfied with everything regarding covanthunderroad.

I called them couple of days ago, because i didnt have the driven gear case that would connect my TH350 with the Autometer Speedometer Electric unit.

They had the case and clamp but didnt have the driven gear, but John offered to go to Classics and get it for me. I was asking for a favour and getting me a convertor cover as well.

Now he goes and collects things for me and sends everything over. For me, located in Germany, it is such a fantastic situation that a company says "we have the adapter but not the driven gear, but whatever you need from classic we get it for you and we gonna send everything in one box".

that saves $$$ because jegs, classics and summit take handling charges for intl orders and they prefer UPS, so shipping is overly costly compared to USPS ....

it is just GREAT to have such a support from John and Kyle Covan. :thumbsup: