With the proliferation of online shopping, quality has become increasingly difficult to discern. Anyone can make a product picture look like the car part of your dreams, but what lies within can be a completely different story. Take, for example, gauge panel inserts; plenty of them exist across a smattering of suppliers, but it’s almost impossible to know how they’ll hold up over the long-term based on pure online observation.

Classic Dash is no stranger to instrument panels or the constant questioning of the strength and durability of their dashes. Trent, one of their engineers, took prospective buyers through the stress test regimen in a recent Facebook video and the results were impressive.

First, the computer-generated 3D model is subjected to a virtual test via some high-end design software. Color coding within the model would show any potential weak spots, but that wasn’t an issue here. “After we applied 250 pounds evenly along the face, it did not surpass the ABS plastic yield strength, meaning there was no critical failure in our dash,” Trent explains.

To further prove the software’s findings, a panel was also run through their highly unscientific Converse, drop, and elastic tests. It passed with flying colors as the full weight of an engineer, a 25-foot fall, and a grip-and-rip didn’t even begin to bust the ABS. While we wouldn’t necessarily plan on smacking around a shiny new gauge set, it is nice to know that it could take a literal beating if needed.