Dash and Dash Pads

The dash is made up of three components, the center section (shown) and two dash pads often called eyebrows.  Our pieces are brittle, cracked, damaged and in need of TLC.  The center section is a fiberglass frame covered with vinyl.  It will be recovered with new molded vinyl.  

   Most of the dash was brittle but some places were still soft. 

The center section has two metal pieces.  These were removed, painted and re-installed.

The worse part of the entire process was trying to remove the old covering.  I tried a pick, screwdriver, Exacto knife, needle gun and other utensils.  The pick worked well but was very slow.

The best tool ultimately was the Fien Multi-Master fitted with a flat blade.

There were several areas that needed minor fiberglass repair. 

 My dual action sander was the last step.  The total process took about 4 hours. 

I chose this contact cement to bond the new cover to the fiberglass frame.

The cover was glued down one section at a time.  Clamps were used on all the edges.

 The results look like new and I couldn't be happier.

The dash pads were replaced, not recovered.  After 50 years in the sun the foam cores have turned brittle making the pads pretty much worthless.  The new pads, however, on a per pound basis, are the most expensive item purchased to date.  These were $1250 for the pair.

The dash and dash pads look awesome!

Installation has already begun.  More on that will follow.

As always, thanks for watching.

Heater Delete & Wiper Motor

 The block-off plate for the heater motor is the last piece on our car that has rust issues.  There are also several drilled holes that are not original.  The one rusted hole in the upper right.

The Heater Delete block-off plate is rare.  I hesitate to make repairs as I am concerned that I may loose distinguishing marks that show authenticity.  The gasket number is a good example.

Welding was kept to short intermitent durations to prevent warping and to prevent the gasket from melting.  The rusted area in the corner was drilled out just large enough to get to sound metal.

Using a scribe, I marked a plug out of same gauge metal.

Using a copper backing bar, I made a series of alternating tack welds to minimize heat.

This is as much restoration as I am willing to do.  The block-off plate gets tucked up behind the passenger fender in the engine compartment against the fire wall.  It will be hard to see.  

A couple coats of flat black paint makes it look acceptable.

The original gasket survived and it will work as intended.

It's there.  Right in the middle of the picture.

The windshield wiper motor...what can I say.  After restoring the wrong one I searched E-bay for a replacement.  I bought this original, properly coded, fully restored motor.  All finishes are correct and the restoration included the washer pump assembly. 

Look close and you'll see 3 different plug-in locations.  The lone one is for the ground.

New rubber mounting hardware was included.

Clips, fasteners, plastic and rubber parts are all new.

As viewed from inside the car, installation was a easy with the dash removed.

It looks good and it tucked up nicely behind the distributor.

The wiper transmission is a simple design.  I put it in the blast box and freshened it up with crushed walnut.  Hoppies lubricant was used on all moving parts and it's now good as new.

This is the wiper transmission in the neutral configuration, or off position.  To insure proper wiper motion the left wiper lever must be positioned up and the right wiper lever positioned down.

The wipers work great and they look awesome.

More interior work is next.  Check back often for updates!