Dye or Paint the dash?
 

can second gen dashboards be dyed or do they have to be painted? it would be going from a lighter color to black if that makes any difference.
any suggestions about prepping the dash for the dye/paint and what products to use for the color change woudl be appreciated as well.

the dash pad? I think you have to dye them, I will check in the next day or so

I used SEM Interior dye on some seats and plastic parts and it worked pretty decent.

I've had good luck with Martin Senour dye on door panels and dash pads. I used their prep products as well. West Trenton NAPA had everything I needed.

dye it. When I bought the first '79 the guy before me painted it along with the steering wheel and the paint wears off after a short time and looks horrible.

Tim, what was your choice and have you had a chance to do it?

I sprayed my 79 dash years back with a "vinyl" paint from the can. It came out great and still holding up well. The dash was originally the light blue color and I went to black. Before I painted on a nice warm day, I used a clean cloth soaked in rubbing alcohol to degrease/clean the entire dash then gave three nice thin coats.