Spot Weld Locations?

[Ironhorse]

Have played with 67-72 trucks for some time but have never removed the dash of one for re-use. Wanting to remove the A/C dash from a '70 3/4 ton for a replacement piece to a hacked up radio front. Receiving truck is a factory A/C cab so.....just where and how many spot welds are located at the sides of the dash under the A pillars? Plan is to cut across the area under the dash pad location which would be covered when dash pad is remounted. Have located the attaching bolts with no problem and they are loose. Do not see the actual spot welds under the painted area. Lightly sand or scuff to locate and then drill using spot weld bits is the plan. Any thoughts or tips are much appreciated. Will get started on the project within next couple weeks as currently getting ready for first swap meet setup of the year.

Tried doing a search on "dash removal" but did not find reference to how many and just where the spot welds are located.

[A1971Blazer]

there are no spot welds to the A pillar under the dash.....it's bolted on each side there
all the spot welds are across the bottom of the windshield frame.
here's a crappy scan from the assembly manual

[1970cstblazer]

My 1970 Blazer had 28 spot welds at the base of the windshield.

[pjmoreland]

Here are a couple of photos that show what it looks like after the spot welds have been drilled out and the dash has been removed.

[kaycee]

I don't remember any spotwelds on a -pillar ,I did the same process you are trying to do. A little tweaking ,pushing and pulling and a flat bar and hammer works to remove.

[HO455]

Unfortunately your not going to find information as to how many spot welds and where they were to be placed for our trucks. There was a guide line that was to be followed on the assembly line but, on any given truck whether or not the workers followed them was somewhat up to chance. For the most part going to be up to your own detecting skills. But by the time your done your spot weld detecting skills will be in top form.

[Ironhorse]

Thanks for all who replied. This thread helps a LOT. Since plan is to cut the dash under the pad area slots should go rather well for removal? Time will tell there for sure. Looks like a small tack weld at each corner of the A pillar - dash pad ridge from what I can see. May a few light taps with a chisel and hammer may help that process? Not going to be able to get much done in that regard until after the swap meet I will be setting up at. Will update this thread with details of the removal process. Small air tool & cutting discs and my portable compressor will come in really handy I'm thinking.

[jerry moss]

i've changed a few of them over the past 40 years, i cut along the openings under the dash pad- leave extra on both cuts so you can overlap and tack weld them back together then i use a sawzall to remove it from the A pillar. once it's tack welded and the dash pad installed nobody will know the difference. i got lucky on the last on i did and both trucks were the same color.

[Getter-Done]

I have a Swap Meet Next weekend also.

Here is what I have to share about spot welds.

I tried the ones like Hf has.

https://www.harborfreight.com/38-in-...ter-63657.html

The ones I got from E-Bay are the Ticket.

This is just an Example link.

Link: https://www.ebay.com/itm/38677284736...3ABFBMrtz6ybhj

It is best to use a small Starter drill.

I use sandpaper or scotch-Brite to determine the center.

[70c10-08]

I did mine about 12 years ago when I swapped out my 67 AC Dash for the 70 non AC. No spot welds on the pillars but, I used a flap disc and went along the dash to find out where the spot welds exactly were then drilled them out, removed the two bolts on the sides. Then reversed the process for the installation of the non AC Dash. Took about an hour. Unfortunately I don't have a picture of the finished product but it was really easy

[Ironhorse]

Originally Posted by jerry moss

i use a sawzall to remove it from the A pillar.

Jerry, I have both a DeWalt battery and a corded sawzall for that operation. While doing such does the sawzall blade cut into either the dash metal or the A pillar metal leading to metal loss? That's a pretty small gap between the dash and A pillar metal. May at some point try to remove the A pillars for use if some one needs them. Some good metal still to the cab.

Had our two day swap meet this past weekend and the weather is starting to be much more tolerable for outside projects again. So....this project of the dash removal is coming in to play hopefully this week.

Any tips or thoughts you have Jerry are much appreciated.

[Ironhorse]

Okay, a bit of an update to the dash removal. Got the three bolts removed on the left and right under side and used a thin cutting disc along the slotted holes under the dash pad area. Dash wiggles freely at the A pillar and all along the front area which is covered by the pad. Ran into another attach point on the A/C dash back side area, there is a angled brace that looks to be welded (?) to the underneath side of the top portion of the dash.

What's the preferred method of removal of the angled brace section from the under side of the top dash section? Windshield glass is still installed and too tight on the top to get a cutting blade or disc in that area. Pics show the angled section at each corner where it attaches to the dash top underside.

[richard2717]

I have pulled 10 or 15 dashes over the years and the only place I have ever encountered spot welds is the windshield lip. Everything else that has "seemed to be welded" was actually just stuck, either from rust or seam sealer. With that said, it sure does appear to have 3 spot welds in between the removed bolts in the bottom picture.

[Ironhorse]

Thanks for the reply and info. After "sleeping" on it somewhat last night I think my next removal attempt is to try and tap a stiff putty knife in between the under side of the top dash portion and the angled brace flat pad. With no luck there will move on to a small sharp chisel and see if that will free the angle brace. No luck there will proceed with attempting to use a straight shaft air die grinder and a thin cutting disc. Will report back at a later point with the results, LOL.

[pjmoreland]

I have only removed/installed a couple of dashes and I too drilled out the windshield lip spot welds. I'm just thinking out loud here, but what if you just cut along the red line so that you can at least get the dash out of the truck so you can have a better look at what's going on? You may have to remove the windshield of this donor truck to complete this cut. After that, I'm thinking you might be able to clean it up by drilling out the spot weld on that brace to detach it from the dash top surface. Then you could cut the top along the blue line from above to clean it up (don't cut the brace). Then on the recipient truck, you'd need to cut along the blue line through the brace and carefully drill out the brace spot weld so the remnant of the brace can be removed and the new brace can be welded in its place.

[richard2717]

I also have one of these and they do an awesome job in a lot of cases. You can hammer on them from the end or the side as they have a cutting edge on the tip as well as the side. You just have to be careful to not rip things from swinging too hard.

https://www.jbtools.com/steck-20015-...iABEgK7SvD_BwE

It does look like at least 3 spots.

[Ironhorse]

Removed the dash this afternoon and as suggested I did cut the section away from the top dash portion. After the dash was removed I was better able to use a small chisel to split away the top dash section that was not needed and separate the spot welds. Two spot welds on each flat brace / top section beneath the upper dash. Three spot welds total on the bolt on side of the " L " shaped brace. After removing the dash used a sanding disc to remove any remaining spot weld metal.

At some point will cut the rest of the dash upper section out and toss it in the scrap trailer.