[Super_Dave]

Day four I retrieved the patched core support. Erick did an amazing job! Then off to the powder coater to add it to the pallet of parts.

I got back to the "free shop" and eagerly tore into installing the dash pad and Red Carbon Fiber dash bezel and gauge cluster... however....

... try as I may, I could not get the dash bezel to fit!!! I took the OEM dash bezel I had removed, and tried it... and it slipped right in place. So... back to the fancy Red Carbon Fiber bezel... NO JOY! It's been a rough week so far and I am way behind schedule, and sore and tired. I take a break and come back to the bezel and immediately see the issue(s). The Wiper Lever is hitting the back of the bezel! Upon closer examination, I see that the Wiper opening on the Red Carbon Fiber dash is about a half inch lower than the lever in the dash... and not only that, the opening is also not the same width... and if that wasn't enough, the Headlight Switch opening was flush and the size of a Kennedy Half Dollar while the OEM was a raised dome with a small hole.

I am screwed royally this time... All the work on the '74 Ebay Dash Panel, and it wasn't even a '74. I own that error. While the truck was locked up in the compound for almost four months, I got a jump on the bezel and assumed the seller was truthful about the year of the truck the bezel came out of... so I never bothered to double check before doing all the customizing. My only recourse, was to alter the cherry OEM I had removed... "Ouch!"

I had some work that was piling up, so I had to call it quits on the truck. I grabbed my OEM Dash Bezel and headed back to my own shop, with my tail between my legs, my truck stripped from end to end, and parts all over the floor of the "free shop." Before leaving, I organized the parts on the floor, and prepared for Tony's arrival from his hunting trip, to reclaim his shop.