Dash rebuild

mellow yellow 67 · Member

Dash rebuild

jmont64 · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

Think I've got a 67 gauge housing and a wiper switch if you need one. I've got access to them for the next 3 weeks.

4SPEED427 · A Poncho Legend!

mellow yellow 67 wrote:
My dash pad and gauge housing are in sad shape - anyone have suggestions for reproductions?
Also my heater doesnt push much air - anything I can check before I replace the fan motor?
I will also need to replace the wiper switch unless it is serviceable.
Anyone try replacing the gauge lights with LEDs?
Anything else I should do while the dash is out?

Thanks for any suggestions.

Does the fan motor sound like it's running full speed? You could try a jumper wire direct to it from the battery just to make sure it's getting full voltage on high. Has the car been stored where mice could have built a nest in the heater box? The other thing you could check is the cable on the heater control to make sure it's moving the door in the heater box fully to let air flow.

What is wrong with the wiper switch? I don't think they are made to service but if it's like I am thinking maybe you could bend the crimps and open it up. However if Jmont has a spare to sell you that might be a safer route.

oshawacliff · Poncho Master!

Check the top of the heater box for the resistor. This is what gives you the different speeds for the motor (in my Impala))

Image result for 67 impala blower motor resistor location

mellow yellow 67 · Member

Thanks for the help guys!

Sorry I had the email notification turned off and didnt realize there were replies here.

I quit being cheap and treated the car to a parts order.
The heater issue was mostly a broken mount for one end of a cable.
I will check for the resistor - the fan motor sounds a bit slow even in high.
Wiper switch isnt really serviceable - I took it apart but bought a replacement.

I posted pics of repainting the heater control to match the housing in another thread.

Cory67Beaumont · Veteran Member

I have a spare fan blower motor and a heater controller if your interested

mellow yellow 67 · Member

Thanks for the suggestions. Turns out I had broken cables.

Thought Id post some before and after pics.
I used Tamiya XF50 (field blue) & X35 (gloss) model paint to paint the heater controls to match the new gauge housing.
Polished the plastic in front of the gauges and cleaned all the gauges.
I also changed out the bulbs for LEDs.New dash pad and painted the dash low gloss black.Also epoxied the gaps in the steering wheel and repainted it

Canadian Poncho · A Poncho Legend!

Great job!

Pontiacanada · A Poncho Legend!

It now "pops".

norontcan · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

Major improvement. Great handiwork.

cdnpont · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

That really looks nice! 100% better. Must be really nice in the dark.

Can you describe the process for the steering wheel repair?

mellow yellow 67 · Member

On the steering wheel I watched a few YouTubes... I have some experience with epoxy from boat repairs

I sanded and filed (flat file) inside the cracks and cleaned as best I could.

Wrapped some fibreglass cloth around the wheels core inside the cracks to help the fill the gaps and allow the repair to better grip the metal inside

Used West System epoxy because I had some and its easy to mix the correct quantities

i used some epoxy first to wet out in the crack and cloth, and then mixed more epoxy with 403 Microfibres (its a thickener) to build up a paste to fill with (mix with epoxy until its like peanut butter)

I should have filled the cracks in a few steps but rushed and filled it all as one and overfilled it a bit

Then I used a few files to match the shape - round file helps for the finger grip side

After I sanded with 220 then 320 then used some body filler for the tiny imperfections and sanded it all again

Then primed it and painted it sanding numerous times and adding filler again where needed for some of the tiny marks that showed up along the way

If you want more details let me know it was fairly easy - I should have built it up in a few steps and it would have saved a lot of sanding

-- Edited by mellow yellow 67 on Monday 24th of February 2020 06:01:40 PM

hawkeye5766 · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

Looks GREAT! I see you also cleaned up the kick panels....just a paint touch up?

mellow yellow 67 · Member

Yes on the kicks I pooped the grilles out of the kick panels and cleaned everything. I used a green scotch brite pad to remove lose existing paint and a small brush and isopropyl alcohol to clean the grilles.

I tried a plastic paint on them but it was way too glossy so ended up using that as a primer, scuffing them again and painting over it with the same paint as the dash.
They were originally blue and had been painted already so nothing to lose.

I wasn't going to paint the dash - I had just installed the gauge housing when I accidentally kicked the glove box door that was beside the car and it got scratched up. I couldnt match the paint so I used a roll of poly and taped and covered everything I didnt want painted. I dropped the steering column and just pulled the gauges forward.

I also painted the vent pulls which were whitish? So Im guessing they were originally plastic chrome I might try and paint them later but for now they look better black than white