Custom Dash - 1954 Pontiac
After 7 years, I realized that I had little information in one place to talk about the work done on the dash. So without further ado, here's information on upgrading and finishing the dash:
The dash in its original condition!
Stripped of its doo-hickeys - the big circle is for the 8" radio speaker
The first step was to remove all the components off the dash and to strip the paint to bare metal.
Here's the dash stripped to bare metal waiting to be primed
You can see how old this picture is by the quality. This was taken about the year 2002 and I had a cheap digital camera.
The dash was the first thing I painted on the car. I was taking the whole body, frame and under carriage down to bare metal and was tired of breathing in dirt and dust so I decided to paint the dash.
Fresh paint - still masked off!
The masking is off and it looks good - the white bars are the wiper rods hanging down
I replaced the original gauges with some modified gauges from a 1983 Cutlass Wagon which required quite a bit of cutting and slashing to fit. At the time, I was trying to do everything on a shoestring budget. Now I would use aftermarket ones, I seem to have more cash on me now that I found ebaymotors!
1983 Cutlass Gauges repackaged into 1954 dash pod
I don't plan on having a stereo in the car - can't hear the engine with the damn music playing! So I purchased a radio delete panel - the original radio has very unusual openings and there is no way you can find a modern radio that would match up. If I do get a stereo, I'll put it in the dash and use the remote control. It would mean cutting up my beautiful upholstery for mounting the speakers and that ain't going to happen for a long time.
Here's a picture of the dash allmost completed. The gauges are in, radio delete panel in, ignition switch installed, ashtray, heating controls in, glovebox and Pontiac insignia installed. Just need to hook up the headlight switch, wiper switch and vent controls. The electrical in the steering column has to be hooked up: emergency flasher switch, turn signals and horn. Looks like I better clean that old steering wheel too!
The dash is almost finished