I thought some of you might enjoy some pictures of my recent dash repair
work. I know many others are facing similar kinds of repairs and maybe
seeing an amateur fumble through it will help give you some confidence :-).
First, is a picture of what I had to start with. The truck came with a
cover "plate" over the radio area. When I removed the plate, the butcher
job exposed was rather disheartening. I mentioned in a previous message
that it looks like the bodywork here was done with a hatchet. The red lines
in this picture are cut lines I've drawn on to mark where I'm going to cut
an even bigger hole to get clean, straight metal edges to work with. You
can also see the 8 small holes drilled where the cover plate was fastened
(sheet metal screws) to the dash. This pic was taken shortly after I
finished sandblasting the entire dash.
Pic 1: http://home.earthlink.net/~rborder/truck/DASH1.JPG
<http://home.earthlink.net/~rborder/truck/DASH1.JPG>
Next, I've cut out my new hole, and fabricated a scratch panel to fit into
it. It's a good enough fit that it would stay in there by itself- long
enough to snap a photo at least.
Pic2: http://home.earthlink.net/~rborder/truck/DASH2.JPG
<http://home.earthlink.net/~rborder/truck/DASH2.JPG>
Panel welded in. You can tell by the mess that I've only got a flux-core
buzz-box at my disposal. I've also welded up the 8 holes at this point.
Pic3: http://home.earthlink.net/~rborder/truck/DASH3.JPG
<http://home.earthlink.net/~rborder/truck/DASH3.JPG>
After grinding:
Pic4: http://home.earthlink.net/~rborder/truck/DASH4.JPG
<http://home.earthlink.net/~rborder/truck/DASH4.JPG>
Just a little finish work to go.
Cut hole for my new CD player.
Fiberglass re-enfoced filler over seams / sand
Couple of thin coats of regular filler / sand
Glazing putty for final touch ups / sand
2-part self etch primer
Couple of coats of primer-surfacer / sand
Coat of sealer
Couple coats of yellow base coat
Mask
Coat of purple base coat / unmask
Pin striping
Couple coats of clear
And we have (drum roll)
Pic5: http://home.earthlink.net/~rborder/truck/DASH5.JPG
<http://home.earthlink.net/~rborder/truck/DASH5.JPG>
Now you're asking yourself: "what the hell was he thinking- painting it like
that?". Not to worry, it's all part of a larger master plan...
Pic6: http://home.earthlink.net/~rborder/truck/HOOD.JPG
<http://home.earthlink.net/~rborder/truck/HOOD.JPG>
It wasn't worth loading all the different paints just to do the dash (waste
more paint than I'd use, just cleaning the guns), so I finished out the hood
while I was at it. The fenders are still just in their initial yellow
base-coat, though the temptation is getting pretty strong to pull the front
sheetmetal off again and just finish it.
This project is my first ever attempt at bodywork. So for all you guys
considering it- I say go for it. It's not that hard, just takes an
incredible amount of time. I don't see how anybody could actually make a
living doing it. Unlike some other tasks, if you screw up bodywork/paint,
you can usually just re-do it until you get it right (or close enough).
Cheers-
Ryan.
PS: I'm still trying to figure out how to hook up my fuel gauge.
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