Changing out the dash

[Northern lights]

I see some vendors sell the entire dash panel for our trucks (mines a '57 chevy). How difficult is it to change one out on an otherwise finished truck?. Anyone do this before?.

[dsraven]

it is quite an undertaking and the windshield needs to come out to access the spot welds in that area. that could be a challenge to do without repainting some areas.there is a youtube out there if you click
elderly iron 57 gmc dash removal
that should give you an idea of what needs to be done.

[Northern lights]

Thanks dsraven. I watched the video. Not going to happen on this truck

[dsraven]

yup, lots of grinding, welding, cutting etc. better off to fix what you have. what is wrong with your dash? there are repair panels available if you are looking for a stock dash or need to plug some previous owner modifications.

[Northern lights]

Mine is patched where the radio was. I was looking at getting the centre patch for the radio area then saw the whole dash panel and thought maybe that would be better. I may just leave it since I don't play music in my trucks and the radio would be just to make it look stock. Been trying to think of something else I could perhaps put in the radio location.

[_Ogre]

I don't play music in my trucks

i can't say i've ever not had the music on in truk

[Northern lights]

Originally Posted by _Ogre

i can't say i've ever not had the music on in truk

If you are listening to music while driving down the road, you have the wrong engine/exhaust.

[tmoble]

some guys buy these repop large panels just to get the parts they want. sort of like using them for raw material. cut out whatever they need, toss the rest or give/sell the remainder to whoever needs the pieces.

[Northern lights]

Originally Posted by tmoble

some guys buy these repop large panels just to get the parts they want. sort of like using them for raw material. cut out whatever they need, toss the rest or give/sell the remainder to whoever needs the pieces.

I can buy just the centre radio panel. That's what I may end up doing.

[Coupeguy2001]

Show us a pic of your dash. I used a 55 chevy car radio to fix the butchered dash.
Please excuse the messy interior, as I was rewiring the truck.

[Northern lights]

I can't post pictures. It has all of the knobs but has been filled where the radio face would have protruded so it's smooth in the middle where your radio and gauge are.

[Coupeguy2001]

By the way, i just sold a perfect original dash for $100.
It was kind of a pain to get it off the truck. I don't know how difficult it would have been to put that dash back in after drilling out the spotwelds.
Fixing the dash would be lots better.