Thank you Peter. It may come to that, however I am going to pull my cracked dash (to fix my a/c pods that can't be reached otherwise) and I am afraid that my dash will really be in bad shape after it is re-installed. The 560 dash I came across has only slight damage and was never installed. This would be the new foam, which is far superior to installing another old circa '80's dash. I don't imagine it will be over $800 which is way lower than the $2,500 they go for retail. I was trying to find out if the 560 is different than the 380 dash, so I don't thow $800 down the hole...which I could use for a rebuilt tranny...
Any idea how much a good rebuilt transmission installed runs today?
BTW, thanks to all sl posters, I have been finding great stuff here to help me find the best resources for getting my 'ol 380 back in shape.

__________________
'84 380SL 193,000K Original owner
'76 450SL ...Never should'a sold
'78 380SE ...Should'a sprung $2600 more for SEL... sold
'89 Landcruiser FJ62 260K...my Nellie-Belle. Can't part with her.
'01 Lexus LS430 125K...Great car, problem free
'96 Lexus LS400...125K...Just replaced rack and pinion, known problem