Repairing An Old Dashboard - Reconstructive Surgery

I grabbed my trusty die grinder and proceeded to cut the damaged portion of the dash following the outline of the repair panel I'd traced earlier on the surface.

I took my time and tried to stay on mark so the new panel would fit without any huge gaps between it and the edges of the new opening.

I did have to stray from the marked line a bit on the left side. This was so I'd retain the rolled edge of the ashtray opening. This edge is a double thickness area that holds the pivot shaft the tray rotates on-being a smoker I wanted to ensure the ashtray in the truck stayed operational.

To the right you can see that the patch panel opening also removed the left side of the right-hand opening. This opening is where the original heater control panel is (was) located. Since this truck will be equipped with an aftermarket heater/air-conditioning unit I chose to fill this opening while I was at it.

One the opening was cut and the edges deburred it was time to test-fit the new LMC repair panel.

The repair panel is prepunched with the exact features as the original dash. The radius at the bottom is not exact to the dash-it's really close, but not perfect. I mounted the panel to the dash with my Eastwood panel clamps (these babies are a must for anyone who does repair panel installations fairly regularly), which hold the repair panel in place with a perfect gap at the edges for the welds to bridge the gaps.

Starting at the top of the panel I tack-welded it in three places. At the left edge near the ashtray opening I used a small pair of locking pliers to hold the panel in place and ran a line of tacks just to the left of the radio knob opening. On the other side I cut about a 2.5x5-inch piece of sheetmetal and fit it to the heater control opening (I used a small magnet to hold that one in place for tack welding).

This image shows some of my rather sloppy welds. I was more interested in getting good penetration with the least amount of heat-caused warpage than I was with how pretty the welds were-heck, they were going to get ground off later anyway.

After countless tack welds around the periphery, allowing plenty of time for each to cool so I'd keep warpage to a minimum, I finally completed the welding part of the installation. Next came grinding those welds smooth. For this I used some 60-grit 3-inch discs on a right-angle die grinder. Make sure to do small sections at a time, as grinding heat will warp sheetmetal almost as badly as welding.

With all of the welding done and nearly all the grinding complete I took a couple of minutes to take a break. Unfortunately, I'd left my camera on the workbench and my wife grabbed it and snapped this picture-man, what a grizzly ol' coot I've become.

After my break (and mug shot) it was time to sling a bit of mud. Now, most experienced bodymen could have done a better job, but for a hobbyist it wasn't too bad. I did have some heat warpage but nothing terrible-that is nothing a thin coat of "bodyman in a can" couldn't handle.

And there ya have it. A couple good coats of primer and all is good. The dash is back in its original configuration (for the most part), and I've successfully filled in the heater control opening as well. There will be a couple of coats of filler primer and some block sanding in the dashboard's future, but at this point I have to deem the LMC repair panel install a success. Needless to say, if a wannabe truck builder such as myself can do this than any one of you can-especially with a great little welder like the Eastwood 175 and the great components from LMC Truck.