Removing 67 dash pad?

Hey all,

Are the four screws in defroster vents the only screws holding this on?
I haven't attempted it or looked under the dash yet but old age has taught be to check with the experts before breaking something.

Thanks
~Nami

Nami, I tried taking mine off. .. there are 8 or 10 nuts under there, the pad has studs sticking out of it....the bad news is that I can't get mine off without taking out the windshield..... One possibility is that cutting off some of the length of the studs might gain enough clearance for it to lift off but since Im resurrecting my van the windshield has to come out anyway...just haven't got to it yet...good luck

The vent screws dont have anything to do with it. If you dont mind possibly cracking the pad, you can get it out without removing the windshield. Its a little tough though. I ve gotten em out without ruining them but its a chance you take if the glass is still in. You can always cut the windshield gasket too and make more room if you plan on changing the windshield at some point.

So Guys= Hpw have we recovered the dash pad before? Whats some of uze done??

Twinpilot001 wrote:So Guys= Hpw have we recovered the dash pad before? Whats some of uze done??

Here's a red one in my 63 8 door


Midnight black in my old 65 pickup


Medium Parchment in Bob Gebler's 65 van


Camel in Doug Shinn's 66 pickup


All of these were cracked. I repaired and recovered them.
Fred

I still get goosebumps everytime I see your 8 door's dash. That is sweet!

Duane in Tennessee.

Thanks. When I get back in town, I'll check it out. I'm removing all the other glass so I might as well remove the windshield. The dash has 3 coats of paint and the last one has runs. I like that dash with the red pad that Fred did. I had something similar in mind when I my my switches off of the dash and into a console.

Thanks All!

I successfully removed the dash pad from my donor. Only after the heater
and vent box were removed so I could access the 10 or 12 nuts that hold it from underneath. A lot of Kroiloil and patience got off all the nuts and only broke one...did not have to take out the windshield.

The dash pad on my 67 came out and in very easily, no problems with the windshield.

kgdb

Casimier wrote:I successfully removed the dash pad from my donor. Only after the heater
and vent box were removed so I could access the 10 or 12 nuts that hold it from underneath. A lot of Kroiloil and patience got off all the nuts and only broke one...did not have to take out the windshield.

Taking the heater and vent box out is cheating. Gimme a 1/4 inch ratchet setup and Im good to go. Of course I ve done it many ,many times:-)

Got home today and went to work. Came right out.

Thanks everyone.

Glad you got it out....so it came out easy? No clearance issues with the windshield?

Thanks for the pics...now I now where to start looking around for all the nuts under there. Mine has a rather large bite mark out of the middle above the ash tray. My guess it probably happened when the previous owner was coming into town. As he recalled the brakes failed while driving through town to buy tractor parts. Should have put in a dual master cyl...lol

Thanks in part to this seven year old thread, I removed the dash pad from my '67 yesterday.  The nuts came off easily with a little Kroil to make them easier to spin by hand.  Laying on the floor, they're easy to see and reach with a deep socket.  

It's odd that my dash had a complete second row of mounting holes while the one pictured in this thread doesn't.  That row had no fasteners, however.  There are 12 nuts securing the pad.  

The windshield seal interferes a bit more than slightly with removing the pad.  I suppose the extent of interference depends on the manufacturer of the seal as some are "deeper" than others and the drilling of the holes at the factory.  I have a Carpenter seal and the left corner of the dash was pretty difficult to pry past the seal.  

I used a Sheetrok knife between the seal and pad to compress the seal and a screwdriver under the pad to pry the left stud out of its hole.  I also put some dish soap on the seal to coax the pad to slide over it.  Some grease on the stud also helped.  The dash pad is vinyl fabric glued to a steel base with foam inside.  It would be very easy to recover using the vinyl as a pattern.  

When removing the pad, avoid pressing hard against the raised vinyl edges or ends as you can crack or deform the thing or make it turn white from the stress.  

I did all this to paint and clean 50 years of crud from the area around the defroster vents and to clean the pad edges.  A drill mounted soft scrub brush (Made by DrillBrush) with Scrubbing Bubbles bathroom cleaner cleaned the pad.  Some paint on the edges came right off with lacquer thinner which didn't hurt the pad.  Then I polished it with 303 Vinyl Dressing.  

To reinstall the pad, I'll probably elongate the hole or holes on the end where the seal fit tightly against the weatherstrip.  

Just figured I'd pass this along for anyone attempting the job in the future.  Good luck.


Eddie in Rockaway Beach, NY
'67 Pickup

Just replaced the dash pad. In my truck, I was able to do this without removing the windshield, though the gasket was in the way of the pad.

I was able to lift the gasket with a putty knife and run the lifted edge along the top of the dash pad, much like you'd lift the gasket over the lip when installing a windshield. I suppose I could of used a piece of thin rope as they did in the old days.

Once the gasket was lifted up atop the pad, the studs snapped into the holes and I reinstalled the stamped nuts under the dash.