My 1968 windshield leaked and rotted the dash panel at the base of the windshield. I purchased the USA made dash panel from Rick's. Is the original dash panel spot welded to the firewall/cowl area(the area directly underneath the bottom edge of the windshield)? And, what is the best way to remove it and any pointers on putting the new one in? Looking for "word-of-wisdom" from anybody who gone through this process.
Thanks

I am doing this repair myself, except my reason for removing this panel is for another reason.
I am walking my way around this. I am power chiseling the weld areas. It working fine so far. The dash part is bending, but I going to replace it anyway!
I don't have the "word's of wisdow" but I have time and so far my approach is not bad.
Maybe someone else can add to this. I would like to know if there is another way?

You should buy a spotweld remover from Eastwood or Harbor Freight or somewhere and use that. It makes for an easy job. Clean the welds of good so you can see the center of the weld. That is where you will drill out the weld. Take your time. You still may have to pry up the dash near where you drilled but will will be not nearly as hard. If it doesn't come loose with too much ease, look for another weld that you missed. Sometimes they are hard to see. Oh, the spotweld removal tool is a drill bit with a cutter on it. It will cut around the spot weld. Don't run it all the way through the dash, though. Usually when you get through the first layer of metal, it will snap up a 1/16 or so. Thats when you stop.

69er

------------------
69 Camaro 454
71 Nova 454

If your not living on the edge then your taking up too much space

Wow I just got done with this a few months ago...Some problems I've ran into is where to drill for the trim screws, and windshield stops etc... I thought these would be in the new panel but they aren't. I took my old one out before I bought the new one. My old one came out in pieces. It was a pain. If you want to see pics you can see them at http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=1536360&a=11639152&p=41825186&Sequence=0&res=high http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=1536360&a=11870866&p=43382979&Sequence=0&res=high
Also make sure the windshield will fit before final welding. I tried this several times before final welding. Not an easy job (at least for me) but one that has to be done none the less. You can check out the rest of my project at photopoint. Good Luck
MStarmer

Thanks for all the advise. Another question - When welding the new dash panel in place, did you weld across the whole length of the panel, or is it welded every few inches, similar to the locations of the original spot welds. I guess one could drill holes in the replacement panel, the holes would be the same diameter and in the same location as the spot welds, then one could mig-weld through the holes. What's better - welding the perimeter or through the holes? Thanks.

On mine it is stitch welded about every inch or so with a .5 gap or so before along the edge. Without having a factory spot weld setup and being the replacement panel doesn't index the same I feel that was best. The stock panel has "ears" that index on the cowl area where as the replacement kind of floats. Lot bigger job than it looks thats for sure. I also painted the underside of the replacement panel with some eastwood corroless and the the part that it meets up with and sprayed everything with a cold galvanizing primer that was able to be welded through. Of course we still had to grind right where the welds went, but I wanted as much as I could covered. Then I treated everything with POR-15 metal ready, used 3M brushable seam sealer, then POR-15 on top with POR-15 BlackCote over that! I'll be damned after all the work I put into that if it will rust again!!!!!!!!! Sorry this was a big job for me and will be happy to have that part behind me. Luckily got my sub-frame back from being blasted today and am starting to POR-15 it now. Take care, if you have any questions or want to see any thing inparticular just e-mail me.
MStarmer

I just completed one one my 69 Z28 and I can tell you the best way is to get the new panel first so you can see how it should be installed. Next. Take a good spot weld drill. I purchased one from NPD camaro parts and it really works great. Grind the areas you see seam sealer and the welds will be visable. Buy using the spot weld drill it will help you later for your new installation. I drill along the new panel every 2 inches or so and mig weld the new panels in that way for a pro looking finish job. If you want to see so photos of my progress you can email me at cybersanta@bellsouth.net. Hope i was of some help.

Howard -

If you do a search on "dash top", there are a lot of posts on this. here's one with pictures of mine showing all the factory spots drilled out.

http://www.camaros.net/forums/showthread.php?t=65910&highlight=dash+top

If you do a search under my user name and "molding holes" you should find the thread I posted on the locations for the lower windshield molding holes and windshield support tabs.

Did mine couple yrs ago..after 30 odd yrs never been attended was not the best shape
used a diamond cutting blade, chopped the whole area out
Folded/formed up new panels out of body sheet metal from scatch, tack welded then fully welded in place.
I cant go up the road and order panels in NZ so make my own patches.
After cleaning off and finishing one cant tell its been replaced unless the glass is removed, even then one would have to look hard.