I’m working on my 68 and I’m trying to mock up my new dashpad and am running into a bit of trouble with the fitment. I’ve looked at Gry’s restoration thread and a few others so was expecting to need a bit of massaging to get it to fit, and I thought I might be getting close until I tried to fit the dash in too. It seems like a bit more than some massaging might be necessary. The crux of the issue seems to be the screws on the bottom/wings of the pad aren’t close to lining up with the holes in the dash structure. They seem to be about an inch off, and if I pull the pad down enough to fit the holes it doesn’t look like the dash itself will fit. I’ve got some pictures:
The thin edge of the dashpad behind the instrument panel and down the side has to be trimmed in order to fit. I tried to find one after the final trimming but could not. Here is a couple photos of my installation.
The reproduction dash pads are sometimes too thick right there. If you don’t make it thinner the dash pad puts a permanent dent in each door panel. It’s weird, some are OK and others too thick like yours.
Thanks for the pics, I haven’t even thought about the doors yet. Do the lower bolts on yours fit into the holes in the dash easily? Like I said above, mine are like an inch short of those holes and I feel like I’d crush the dash (if I could even get it in) if I pull the pad down far enough for the bolt to line up with the holes.
I had to drill new 1/4" holes about 3/4" higher to make the studs work. But that was only part of the problem.
Cool, I was pretty close to just drilling some new holes, glad to know it’s “normal” that those studs seemingly aren’t in the right spot, adding holes is easy. Tricky bit for me is I’m still a long ways from installing the interior, but I need to do some fab for some dash structure modifications and ideally I need the dash in so I can make sure I get everything lined up, so I want to get the dash pad fit “well enough” to make sure those pieces are in the right spot. So thanks!
Hey, got another fitment question, how well does yours fit over the dash vents and up to the windshield, here’s what mine looks like. There’s really no way to move it farther forward.
It will pull forward some when you install the metal trim. Be sure to notch the forward edge to allow for easier screw installation in the metal trim. You have to install the windshield next, then the metal trim. Both the reproductions I have here fit better than that one.
Cool, thanks. Were yours Dashes Direct? That’s what mine is (from WCCC). One more question, when it comes to installing the dash itself, does it fit “behind” the recess in the dash pad, or should it sit on top? Unfortunately I don’t have a picture handy of what I mean, but I was trying to get it all fit yesterday and noticed there was a ~10 degree difference in angle of the dash across the length.
For context, my car was in a state of disassembly when I got it. It seems someone started a restoration on it and never finished, so I never had a dash pad to see how they were installed.
One I bought from Dashes direct. The other came from WCCC but was made by Dashes Direct.
The instrument panel screws into a set of holes on the underside of the pad. The ledge of the pad meets the instrument cluster just like the original did. There were no nut plates on the pads. Those need to be installed. They came in the AMK interior kit. Along with the screws.
Oh man, sorry I missed this, thanks for the info. Yeah my pad came from WCCC by Dashes Direct.
So is it standard practice to have to trim those corners and drill new holes for the studs on either side?
I’m hoping to button my dash up this weekend.
No it’s not typical but sometimes it’s the only answer. When they locate the studs wrong and make the whole pad too thick you need to make a decision wether it’s best to return it and wait another couple months or not.
Did y’all have to trim the forward trim? Mines really really tight now. If so did your rim it off the window side to avoid making a sharp edge agains the dash?
I had to trim the dash pad at the front on all the pads. then cut a V notch where each screw went. Cut around the VIN tag so it would display properly.
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Did you ever resolve the corner fitting problem?
If you’re talking about how the dash bezel meets up with the bottom of the dash pad, I haven’t really dug into that any further. My goal with the pad to this point was just to get the basic of the dash settled so I could finalize some modifications. I’ll have to dig back into the pad and fitment itself later.
Plus, I’d say there’s a better than not chance that I’ll end up getting the dash pad wrapped when I get the interior upholstery done anyway, so I’m not too worried if I’ll end up doing some sanding/massaging/reshaping to get it to all fit together nicely anyway.
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