Welding a dash, Radio delete hole.

[Grizz1963]

Evening Gents (Ladies)

I plan on getting started on the welding on my truck soon.

A few random holes will need fixing.....

Including the dash.

Any advice on what to look out for etc, in order to get the best possible job done, gratefully received.

The modern Radio/CD player seems to have been fitted by a mad Badger with a meat cleaver.
Note the edges...... WHY, Why Why can people not do stuff right or just leave it alone if they have no bloody clue?




So I opened the small parcel first, it was from Illinois, from Dan "WhippinSaw" and was the replacement panel for the radio opening in my trucks dash that had been put there by an Angry Badger on mind altering drugs.

Lovely bit of replacement metal to be welded in when I cut a huge hole in the dash. Thank you mate.



Speaker hole in drivers door to be closed too, with a donor panel from a 65door.




B pillars need to be repaired and welded up too.

Advice happily received.






Thank you in advance.


If you have a thread on cutting and welding a dash, please post links in here.


Look forward to this.

[LostMy65]

In the 80's I cut holes in my doors and dash.
30+ years later I'm patching them back up.

[PGSigns]

I would use panel bond on the dash and the speaker holes. Saves a lot of time and no fighting a warped dash.
Jimmy

[Clyde65]

I just patched my doors and radio hole. Wasnt that bad but glad it’s over.

[aerotruk63]

That looks like a cut several , measure never type of guy.
I would be guilty of the sunroof install back in the eighties to get a girl to go out with me. Required a step with her name on it as well. She ended up cheating with my best bud. He didn't have butcher anything...lol

[67pete300]

Following. I have a double-Din sized radio hole to patch. Bought the aftermarket repair panel.

I think I need to cut the hole bigger first to get the welds on the flat part of the dash. Also give me a template to cut the repair patch to size.

[Captainfab]

That is true but using panel bond requires a flange which might be a bit of a challenge on the dash.

Originally Posted by PGSigns

I would use panel bond on the dash and the speaker holes. Saves a lot of time and no fighting a warped dash.
Jimmy

[jrusher]

I just patched mine in week ago along with many other patches an complete floor etc

[bj383ss]

Rian,

If you got to post #241 on my build thread you can see how I welded up my radio hole. Was about the same as yours except one of the ears was folded back behind the dash.

DSCN8670 by bjohnson388, on Flickr

DSCN8671 by bjohnson388, on Flickr

DSCN8687 by bjohnson388, on Flickr

In fact I still have the Smokey Mo's magnet you stuck there from when you visited. Ha.

20161008_131824 by bjohnson388, on Flickr

Bret

[Grizz1963]

Thank you all for the responses and advice.

This is Really helpful.

[Hack_Attack]

Something more to chew on.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVUUkcxO3w4

I recently bought a dash patch panel and am looking to fix mine.......just have to find time.

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by Hack_Attack

Something more to chew on.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVUUkcxO3w4

I recently bought a dash patch panel and am looking to fix mine.......just have to find time.

Thank you very much for finding and sharing this clip.

I have so much ahead of me.

[bj383ss]

Rian this guy Gibson63 goes by boat. He has alot of good videos to watch. This is his brothers truck he is working on. He has a 63 he finished that is car show quality. Lots of good patch panel tips from him.

Bret

[67pete300]

Love that guy's videos.

Here's my challenge

[Indian113]

Rian, a friend of mine told me - Hell don't worry if you mess it up, just cut it out and do it again it's Only Metal!

[raidmagic]

One day I'll patch mine. For now I made a panel and stuck gauges in there to cover the hole.

[Grizz1963]

Well.....

Radio delete not yet done, but thought I would post up speaker hole delete.

Had some friends over early-ish on Sunday.

Once we were done chatting etc, it was time to go push the Chevy chassis and cab out the garage.

Did I mention it’s been 18 months.



The shy retiring JohnnyBravo behind the cab with Sam checking out the holes,

Mr Bravo loves to solve problems.

http://forum.retro-rides.org/thread/...heels-on-wagon



How do you draw a circle with calipers when there is no centre?

Create a bridge of course....

Once the bent metal had been pulled back to ground zero.



Sam double checking.



Then using a keyhole powerfile that I bought years ago, I cleaned the paint around the excess holes in preparation for the welding up.



Once the new circles had been screened, I welded up the holes outside the perimeter and then used the Dremmel tool to cut through the wasted steel.



At that point, Craig climbed in with a second Dremmel tool on the drivers side.



Flap wheel to tidy up the welded up holes



Once the holes were tidied, inside and outside, it was time to get the airline on the Joggler.



Joggler result at its best.

Recessed surface to allow for flat welding a panel in to cover space.



At this point the next step was to be measuring and cutting the patch panels.

More in a bit.

Next up, mark out the patches.



Cut out and tidy up.



In order to maximise fixing the new steel it was decided to drill 3mm holes and clean up the steel on both surfaces, than to puddle weld the patches in.





Craig held the steel in place for maximum contact and fit.





First series of puddle welds.



By 3.30 we shut shop as I had achieved all I wanted for the day.

And fire and beer sounded so much more interesting.

Packed tools etc away, pushed truck back and locked up.




MoJo Team.

JohnnyBravo, Samta22 and CraigRK chatting.



By 6pm the party was over as everyone had a fair distance to travel.





It’s really not enough to just say thank you, but that does sum it all up.

It was a great day to end a lovely weekend.

After the guys left, Joy came over for a couple of hours.

Thanks for checking in.

This week I will carry on with the welding and grinding.

[raidmagic]

Looks to me like you guys had a great day.

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by raidmagic

Looks to me like you guys had a great day.

Truck time with friends will always be great





Long, hot, tiring day at work.

Got home by 6pm, fed cats, got changed, set sprayer up on lawn with 60 minute timer and headed into the garage

Mickey popped over too, the moment he saw the door open.

I had decided that I will be doing repeated, no’s 2,3:4 of the edge welds to the steel patches, as I want to fit 3 point safety belts to the truck.

Cleared out the scrap cut out on Sunday



Mickey did the camera honours.






Round two done, two more to go.



Happy guy, yes.

Good to be back.



Having consulted Lugnutz’ guide on fitting these modern seatbelts it became apparent that I would need to s cure the patch panels fully before fitting a backing plate and mounting holes.



Tomorrow I have a date, so there won’t be any progress, but the next step will be to dress back the welds and correct any flaws before measuring out where the new s at belts will get mounted.


Thanks for checking in.

[Grizz1963]

Had a dinner date last night, so only got 30 minutes to go down to the garage, between getting home, feeding the cats and having a shower before leaving.

Of course you can do “Something” in 30 minutes

Moved bike out of the garage and a couple of bits from the cab so I could move freely.

Grinder. With 80 grit flap wheel, not too aggressive if you handle it gently.

Original plug welds and holes all look a bit scruffy, but should fix OK.



One side done, more welding to be done next time to fill recess between patch and body panel.

Clean and ready for welder.



Other side done.



Looking forward to next chance to pull welder out.