ultimate rides dash install

[gkring]

Starting to do the dash in the barracuda. I'm trying to mock it up as much as possible on the bench before putting it back in the car. I picked up some better condition A/C vents on Moparts, so that delayed the reinstall. My old A/C vents were missing some of the flappers, and now is the time to put them in. First shot--middle speaker cover fits great.

[gkring]

I decided to open up the three speaker dash end speaker holes in the frame for future speaker plans. Apparently any speaker worth using nowadays will not clear the 1970 era speaker holes. I never pass up a chance to use the plasma cutter!!

[gkring]

tonights project-A/C vents. I had to trim away the vinyl and two layers of foam padding right where the vents mount. Also had to trim away the foam on the backside for screw clearance. I used a cutoff wheel to get more clearance on the top part of the hole. The hole was not cut tall enough and was holding the vents from angling in all the way. looks like this dash they sent me was originally a non A/C dash and they added the holes. I would rather them be too small as I can always trim to fit. I kept test fitting and trimming until I got the vents to fit as good as possible.

[gkring]

Still a slight gap on the smaller vent on top, but the large center one looks good. The smaller vent looks to be sagging a little in the center causing a gap when veiwed from above. I think I'll get the heat gun out tomorrow and carefully (very carefully) heat it and bow it back the other way to close the gap. i think these fit as good as can be expected and am happy with how the dash is fitting so far. Spent about two hours cleaning and redyeing the vents and trimming on the dash tonight.

[gkring]

I haven't screwed them down yet, so they will fit even tighter when done. After looking at these pics the vents look dull, but they look fine in person. Must be the flash fom the camera? I used leftover SEM Landau black from my door panels. Maybe I should redye them a little glossier?

[hemiken]

the vents look a little like they were painted when cold and have blushed a little bit, another coat may be a good idea.

Looks unreal all the same though

[MEK-Dangerfield]

You'll have a little more trimming to do around the gauges, but for me, putting in the vents was the hardest part. Your's look good. 


   Mike

[gkring]

the vents look a little like they were painted when cold and have blushed a little bit, another coat may be a good idea.

Looks unreal all the same though

Yeah, but it was 70 here last night in Texas. Didn't notice them until I looked at the pictures when posting last night. When I go back to the shop tonight I'll look at them again and maybe use a heat lamp to warm them up a little more before spraying.

[71340RT]

I got a ultimate rides dash pad in my 70 Cuda and it fits great. The only problem I had is around the gauges as I had to trim a little bit off there. Yours looks great as the grain is only off a small amount when I compared my ultimate dash pad to my original dash pad in my 71 Challenger.

[gkring]

Worked on the end speakers tonight. These covers were marked B/L, but they still did not fit as well as I would like. Here's a pic of them on the dash, not screwed down yet, but you can see the part closest to the windshield has a good sized gap between it and the dash. it looks that way on both sides. the foam is pretty thick, wonder if it is extra thick affecting the way the speaker covers fit since they are curved? these covers came off Ebay as I did not have a three speaker dash to begin with.

[gkring]

Nothing about 20 trips back and forth to the press won't fix. A little tweak here and there. Gotta hold your tongue just right, don't want to crack these. I guess they are potmetal.

[gkring]

Finished product. Again these are not screwed down yet so it will be an even better fit when done. Still need to find some speakers to put in there, or at least make sure whatever I end up using will fit, bolt up, and clear everything. Looking pretty good. I resprayed the A/C vents with some gloss vinyl dye/paint and they look better as well, but didn't take any more pics of those.   

[hemiken]

Once bolted in they should close the gap up just nicely...................

[gkring]

Well, I found the "bad" part. dash to plastic trim area on the drivers side is a little off, about a 1/4 inch gap and the foam in the dash is to thick making the edges too fat and the wraparound plastic doesn't fit so well. On the leftmost side I ended up gouging out most of the foam behind the vinyl so the dash material could flex enough and let the plastic line up. On the side towards the middle it was a little harder. Couldn't get to the foam without peeling the dash, and I didn't want to do that. I got out the plastic welder to generate a little hot air to soften up the dash. used some welding vise grips to squash the pad into the shape I want while the vinyl cooled back down. Worked best heating from the inside/backside of the dash. I was a little worried about overheating the vinyl, so I went slow and careful. My original plastic isn't in the best of shape either, so I have to be gentle with it. How could the factory get their dashes to fit well with 1970 technology and the replacements take so much work? Tried to find some 3.5 inch speakers for the dash locally, but no luck. I wanted to make sure they would fit well before putting the dash completely back together. oh well, I'm sure it is close enough. Hopefully I can get the dash back in the car tomorrow. I took the heater and A/c box out as well to replace the leaky heater core.

[MoparCar]

gkring,
How did it come out after heating it and shaping the foam for the lower left dash piece? Could you do this will a heat gun carefully? I'll have the same thing since my dash pad is too thick in this area also. Is your plastic welder expensive or a economical unit?

Please post pictures after this area is complete if you could.
Thanks, Wes