Wow. Thanks for that write up Tinstar, had no idea DashDesigns made WHOLE dashboards--- and that they don't fit very good~! To be clear though, what I got from them is a dash cover, made of cloth w/backing held down by Velcro strips. It protects a nice new dashboard from sun damage. It is NOT the dashboard itself.
And I wonder if on your passenger side if you pulled the door's vinyl strip, if that end of the dash may tuck in better. And the dash trim strip looks like a clearance problem, had that problem once myself, fixed it with a bit of delicate die-grinder work. But it's hard to tell what it needs from just pics.
Haven't done this dashboard replacement myself but somewhere I saw a suggestion that you totally remove the bench seat before you R&R the dash because you will supposedly have better access. I have pulled my bench seat a few times before for other reasons and it's not that big a deal. You just need a helping hand to carry it out the door, passenger side of course.
Hope you can get a better fit with a little more work... (cringe~!)
My 1008 is non-op right now because I'm fixing electrical & gauge problems but after that's finished up, I'm due for this potential dash-nightmare myself, very soon... (to be continued)