[gheatly]

I went and visited my car at the body shop today. It's up on jack stands, no wheels, all the chrome, windows, and interior stripped off. They are about to begin blasting and sanding.

My car had a vinyl top and I was expecting the rust to be pretty bad around the rear window and along the top of the front window. Fortunately it wasn't too bad and should be relatively easy to repair. The surprise came when they took the windshield out.

I had several large rust holes in the leading edge of the dash where it is welded to the cowl. This rust was hidden by the windshield. Now the question: Does anyone have experience with repro dashboard panels? Year One says their repro is a 3 on their scale, which would indicate it's pretty good.

Other than that, I should be able to put the car back together with all of the original body panels (it's a Texas car!!!).

------------------
Hugger Orange & white 69 Camaro with supercharged 350, Tremec TKO, and 3.73 12-bolt

[YenkoYS100]

gheatly> I'm assuming that the repro. panel that you are asking about, is the metal dash itself, and not the padded dash? If someone at the body shop has patience and is real good, they can use a die grinder to remove the thin metal pieces, make cardboard patterns of the holes where the rust was, cut same guage sheetmetal and trim it to fit. They can then wire feed weld the patch pieces into the dash. They used to make an asbestos type of putty to put on the outside of the area to be welded. This kept the heat from radiating out and warping other metal. I have been around some "True Artist" bodymen in the past. I know people that can do everything without fillers. I have had bodywork done from them in the past. It was amazing to watch them do this quality of work. It seems easier to me to do this repair, than to replace the whole dash assy. Hope this helps.
Rick
'68 SS 427
'66 Yenko

[This message has been edited by YenkoYS100 (edited 03-19-2000).]

[gheatly]

It doesn't appear to be the whole dash assembly (i.e., the steel dash, not any of the plastic stuff), just the top part??? I saw where the leading edge was welded to the cowl, but the pad wasn't off today when I went by.

There was mucho rust in the area. I think they would spend as much time fixing the holes as they would removing and replacing the old one. Anyone???

[md2479]

My 69 was in the same state. The rear window had several rust holes where water was getting in and the front window leaked terrible. When the front window was removed, the lower section of the dash panel was all but gone in the center section. I purchased a replacement dash panel from Classic Industies. It is a very nice repro part with only some subtle differances which are hidden by the dash pad. I removed the old dash panel myself. The spot welts along the front seam can be drilled out with a 5/16" bullet drill bit. If you are careful you cat drill out the spot weld without going through the underlying sheet metal. I used a cut off wheel on a 4" grinder to cut the seam welds at the ends of the front seam. Using the new panel for a referance I marked out where to cut the old panel for removal. Cut less than your mark and then trim and fit the new panel in place. I have not installed the new panel yet as I need to find someone skilled at the welding process,but the new panel fits great. Good luck with your car

[Matt]

My car is a 67 convertible. The steel dash panel was rotted bad at the base of windshield. I got a repro from Classic. Removed the pad, drilled out all the spot welds with a spot weld remover from Eastwood. Repaired the underdash panel with POR epoxy. Rewelded the spotwelds with a gas mig. Fit good & looks great, take your time and do it right.

------------------