Point of no return!!!

[softballnrd27]

I jumped in with both feet and said f&%$ it and drilled out all the spot welds for the stock metal dash. I then had drill out a crap ton more spot wells on the 65 dash that I have. It's now mocked into place and I'm looking for advice from the ones that have done this before. I wish I could tag mooseknuckles and KQQL IT like facebook.
Stock 73 metal dash:


65 Dash Mocked in place



Driver side:

Pass side:

[KQQL IT]

Cool, I love how mine turned out.

Any questions?

[KQQL IT]

http://s358.photobucket.com/user/koo...?sort=4&page=1




Pics

[softballnrd27]

Yes, I tried centering it over the steering mount but it is still off by a little. If I center it then the dash isn't centered in the truck

[f.monroe]

Cover that seat up so it doesn't take on any damage. It will look super cool with the dash when it's all finished . I'd save it for sure.
Frank

[KQQL IT]

Originally Posted by softballnrd27

Yes, I tried centering it over the steering mount but it is still off by a little. If I center it then the dash isn't centered in the truck

Unless you're putting 2" steering column, when I opened up the notch to 3" for the stock it fixed itself

[softballnrd27]

I think I'm going to stick to the 3" column. I have 3 in the garage now.

[softballnrd27]

I got a little war wound from last nights work. I was using my 4yr old harbor freight 4 1/2" angle grinder and it blew up on me. I heard a loud pop and a flash of light and got a nice little burn mark.

[mooseknuckles]

the dash is lookin good! center it in the truck the best you can....I had to make the hole for the steering column bigger on the one side and cheat the column as far toward the center as I could, I think it was still off a bit, maybe a 1/4" but you can't tell with the end caps in place...

[KQQL IT]

Ooh just remembered, when you extend the sides have a door panel on. Mine touch the dash.

[softballnrd27]

What gauge metal did you use for the filler panels on the ends? How did you bend it?

[KQQL IT]

I butchered the original dash for filler pieces, I made the ends 1st then a triangle ish piece to fill the A plillar-dash - windshield area.

I do remember throwing quite a bit of mistakes away.

[softballnrd27]

Ok so bear with me on this I was brainstorming and wanted to throw some ideas out there.
Instead of making 2 end caps I was thinking of adding a section in the middle.
Here is what I came up with:
I pushed the dash all the way to the driver's side and lined up the steering column mounting on the 64-66 dash.

I will mount the door and check it for sure but I am pretty sure the door seal and door panel will fill the gap
I will cut on the tape line, shift the passenger side over to the door and add in a filler piece

I also plan to fill in the radio and ash tray area and also the speaker vent on the top.


Am I crazy or .........

[softballnrd27]

I can't get the photos to load for some reason, I will retake them and try to get them to upload correctly

[softballnrd27]

I'm reposting this with the pictures so you can see what I am trying to do.

Ok so bear with me on this I was brainstorming and wanted to throw some ideas out there.
Instead of making 2 end caps I was thinking of adding a section in the middle.
Here is what I came up with:
I pushed the dash all the way to the driver's side and lined up the steering column mounting on the 64-66 dash.

I will mount the door and check it for sure but I am pretty sure the door seal and door panel will fill the gap

I will cut on the tape line, shift the passenger side over to the door and add in a filler piece

I also plan to fill in the radio and ash tray area and also the speaker vent on the top.


Am I crazy or .........

[KQQL IT]

I considered that, but was my 1st experience with that much fab work.
So I went with the end caps.

[ruffrida2005]

Can you hurry up with your dash so I can come check it out sometime. I was gonna put my 64 dash in my square body.

I live in Killeen by the way, but work out of state. If you ever need any help and i'm in town let me know. I'm pretty good around a welder.

[softballnrd27]

This will be my second time to weld sheetmetal, so someone with experience would always be a help. I can only mock it up for now bc I have to go to a buddy's house to use his welder.

[mooseknuckles]

I thought of doing that to, but didn't want to end up with a bent, mangled mess when I was finished so I capped the ends....

[68Timber]

TxFirefighter put that dash in one of his squares, IIRC he cut the center and added material there like you're talking about. I don't recall the name of the truck but I think the thread was "lemons to lemonade" or something like that. He doesn't respond to those threads anymore but he was good about pics and details so there's probably something there that will help.

[ruffrida2005]

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...=602994&page=5

Check this one out. His is a double hump. 60-63

[KQQL IT]

Originally Posted by mooseknuckles

I thought of doing that to, but didn't want to end up with a bent, mangled mess when I was finished so I capped the ends....

Yes, that too

[softballnrd27]

I'm leaning more towards the way ya'll did it just for the simplicity of it and lack of fab experience.
I still have the factory 64-66 lip that was spot welded to the factory windshield lip, did either one of your dashes still have that?
Should I keep that and weld it to the windshield lip or cut it and move it in more? I cut all of the 73 dash out so I plan to add some braces to the under side as well.

[softballnrd27]

I'm borrowing a welder on Tuesday to start getting this 65 dash in there for good and I want to run my plan by ya'll just to make sure I am doing it right. I drilled out all of the spot welds on the metal 73 dash to get it out of the way so there is absolutely none of the stock metal dash left. I am going to fix all the spot weld holes on the 65 dash and then use the old spot weld holes on the 73 windshield lip to spot weld the 65 dash in. I will have to trim the 65 steering wheel relief in order for the 3" column to fit correctly. I will add some braces underneath and also add some braces from the firewall to the bottom of the dash like the stock 73 had to stiffen it up. Once it is in there and solid I will build the endcaps.
Am I missing anything? Any other tips?

[KQQL IT]

This was an easy strut to anchor the dash.