It's not what you might think. But it is a dash...instrument dash, that is.
The original dash in my car was missing some wooden pieces or some were broken. I have added epoxy to some tiny cracks between the boards of the dash before spraying it black.
To the left of the square opening, a piece of wood was missing. I fabricated a replacement and grafted it in only to later find the original missing piece. Oh, well....
This new piece of epoxied wood is where the BELT BOARD INSTRUMENT screws into the front pillar, from the sheet metal side of the car. The belt board is visible in the picture, as it is wood covered with metal on the left. The lower windshield butts up against this when closed.
The assembled dash....seems a little naked. Let's fix that.
This is the steering column bracket to dash connection. It was missing on my car, so I photographed a friend's Center Door and then drew a pattern on a piece of paper as shown in the photo below this one. It will require a final tweaking to make fit.
I purchased a Stewart 160 speedometer and bracket similar to this one to fill the square hole. I have no plans at the moment to make the speedometer functional, even though the dial does revolve.
I also purchased an original Ammeter gauge. The back housing is just a tad too big for the opening in the dash. We'll see how it goes.
I more than likely will sand off the paint and paint the dash in a fresh coat of gloss black. Or I may leave it.
Comments