Author Topic: ultimate rides dash install  (Read 5488 times)

Offline gkring

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 825
Re: ultimate rides dash install
« Reply #15 on: April 07, 2008 - 12:43:34 AM »
fairly cheap harbor Freight piece. they have some as cheap as $29 without adjustable temp settings. I think something like this is almost mandatory to get these dashes to fit a little better. I used this plastic welder as a heat source, dremel tool to get to the smaller areas, and a cutoff wheel for the larger adjustments. A heat gun can't focus the heat into a small enough area gently and I think it would risk doing damage to the pad. I went really slow with the heat and kept probing the pad to find the sweet spot where I could work the pad, but was not overheating it. Where the pad is too thick you need to gouge the foam out to give you room to work with it. I figured I could always use some spray foam to build it back up if I needed, but it all turned out well. It was too dark when I finished up tonight to take good pictures, but the dash is back in and it looks great. I'll get some pics tomorrow night and post them up. All in all I'm pretty happy. I have about 6 hours solid in working with the dash on top of the actual time it took for the removal and install, but at least it's done and looks good. Well worth the time to make it fit that much better.
« Last Edit: April 07, 2008 - 12:48:14 AM by gkring »
Greg
1970 Challenger convertible-in process
1970 Barracuda driver




Offline MoparCar

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 611
Re: ultimate rides dash install
« Reply #16 on: April 07, 2008 - 06:26:12 AM »
Thanks
Your dash is looking great!
Wes

Offline gkring

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 825
Re: ultimate rides dash install
« Reply #17 on: April 07, 2008 - 09:39:09 PM »
Few installed pictures as promised.
« Last Edit: August 03, 2010 - 11:22:36 PM by gkring »
Greg
1970 Challenger convertible-in process
1970 Barracuda driver

Offline gkring

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 825
Re: ultimate rides dash install
« Reply #18 on: April 07, 2008 - 09:42:54 PM »
Now a few of the not so perfect areas. These areas are not as crisp and straight as the original, but it does fit very well.
« Last Edit: August 03, 2010 - 11:23:46 PM by gkring »
Greg
1970 Challenger convertible-in process
1970 Barracuda driver

Offline gkring

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 825
Re: ultimate rides dash install
« Reply #19 on: April 07, 2008 - 09:57:12 PM »
The only real area I had to work at was the bottom corner of the dash where it meets the trim plastic. The worst spot is looking from the drivers seat towards the right inside edge of the gauge surround. I still have the challenger dash to do. Even though it will be awhile before the car is ready for a dash I can assemble it on the bench like this one and see how it fits. Based on this one I would buy one again. For showcar restoration quality I don't know if they are up to close scrutiny, the grain is probably "all wrong" for the purists, and it just does not fit as well as the original. However for 99% of us out there it will work just fine.
« Last Edit: August 03, 2010 - 11:24:25 PM by gkring »
Greg
1970 Challenger convertible-in process
1970 Barracuda driver

Offline Moparal

  • Permanent Resident
  • *******
  • Posts: 13085
Re: ultimate rides dash install
« Reply #20 on: April 07, 2008 - 10:14:21 PM »
I see nothing that looks bad to me. It looks very good. I really like your wood wheel too. You did very well. Can I ride in it :bigsmile:

Offline hemiken

  • Sr. Resident
  • ******
  • Posts: 8785
  • Hemi-fied Mopar in Australia
Re: ultimate rides dash install
« Reply #21 on: April 07, 2008 - 10:51:25 PM »
It looks good :2thumbs: a little bit of tweaking on your part of course :bananasmi
1970 Barracuda   (O^--^===|===^--^O)
1971 Barracuda   (O O {]{]{]|[}[}[} O O)
1970 Challenger  (O O [======R/T=] O O)
1971 Challenger  (O O ===== ===== O O)
I pay homage to the best Mopars ever built.

Offline Lunchbox

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1948
Re: ultimate rides dash install
« Reply #22 on: April 13, 2008 - 08:27:25 PM »
Looks good! Did you remove the excess material around the center speaker? Mine doesn't fit so well, it bows up in the middle but is perfect in my original dash.

Offline gkring

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 825
Re: ultimate rides dash install
« Reply #23 on: April 14, 2008 - 12:22:39 AM »
No, all I had to do was cut away the vinyl where the speaker screw posts meet the dash. The foam part of the dash wasn't in the way at all. I'm not sure how your speaker grill can bow up in the middle. If some padding or vinyl is holding it up in the middle, just cut it away.
Greg
1970 Challenger convertible-in process
1970 Barracuda driver