Dash repair - Flood of Pics!

[62lwbc10]

Dear All, I love the old trucks and have had a few of em. I particularly like the 58-59's, and I presently own a 58 Apache short step. Like many of these oldl trucks, my current truck had molestation in the dash, in the area of the radio. Personally, I cant stand when I see this type of damage in the radio area, even if its a nicer truck, such damage cheapens the whole appearance (IMO). Anyway, I got tired of looking at it, so I ordered the patch panel and decided to fix it. Pics follow which documented the whole process. In the end, I decided to go for a two tone style dash. Hope some of you find the pics informative/entertaining. Overall process took two days, approximately 8-10 total manhours.

Regards,
Mark

[62lwbc10]

more pics

[62lwbc10]

and some more pics. The bodywork was a major pain! Lots of finger work. Took about 4 coats of filler before I was happy.

[62lwbc10]

never painted before!

[Kim57]

Nice repair.
Kim

[62lwbc10]

last pics. phew! Overall Im pleased. The painful bodywork was worth it, the welds are pretty much invisible. Could have been a little more careful with masking the line, and have a few little issues here and there to fix up but overall, Im pleased with the repair.

Mark

[OrrieG]

Nice... Does anyone know if they repop those black blank infill pieces?

[buggy5872]

OrrieG...no one makes the knob block offs....I was going to make a batch a while back but there was no interest. I have a friend that makes urethane castings and we were going to try to cast some.

[62lwbc10]

THanks. You mean for the radio knobs? Yeah those are originals on my truck (bought them from a guy on this page) and I dont think they repop either the radio fill plate itself or the black knobs....

[Denee007]

You did a great jobMark!! Love the two tone! I probably should have gone back with the original radio patch panel, but I wanted a video player for when our grandaughter rides with us; ). These patch panels are a lot of work! I don't think I could have done the job if the removeable transmission cover had not been there!
Dne'


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[Dan in Pasadena]

Originally Posted by 62lwbc10

.... Could have been a little more careful with masking the line, and have a few little issues here and there to fix up but overall, Im pleased with the repair.

Looks outstanding. If the line isn't exactly how you want it, how about a gold (or other color) pinstripe? Covers the edge AND might look very cool. Just an idea.
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[62lwbc10]

Hey Dan thanks alot and Yes, I also thought of applying a pinstripe. I think it will clean up the minor issues very well. Gold is not a bad idea at all.

[62lwbc10]

Hey thanks D'ne! I like that fancy radio you have there!

[Denee007]

I just can't seem to see what's wrong with it. It looks incredible in the pictures! And beneath that upper dash, an unknowing person wouldn't even notice a flaw. Besides, once you get everything installed in the cab, it will blend right in? But a touch of gold does sound nice!
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[62lwbc10]

Hey D'ne I am cursed with a very keen eye and even slight imperfections drive me crazy. The line is not bad, its just not perfect! You're right though, once the gauge cluster and glove box door are in, I think it will look great. Have to clean up the floor mat etc, too, bodyshop dust everywhere.

[oldcouple]

Nice job, of course that panel was not available when I started mine, so I added an aftermarket radio. As to the holes. I added an extra power port/aka cigarette liter, using the knobs you can get for the windshield wiper. No reason you could not do the same using a bolt from the back side.