# 1968 Dash Panel Insert



## PontiacJim (Dec 29, 2012)

Just a heads up on my project '68 Lemans. Doing some smaller jobs while the big job still sits under a tarp. LOL Being a resto-mod, I am adding some custom/personal touches to my build. I don't care for the wood grain vinyl dash panel insert, so I came up with my own.

I am going with a white interior, which I have in boxes all stacked up. I also wanted to brighten up the dash a bit and have it white as well - I'll have a black dashpad. What you are seeing is yet to be completed, but gives you an idea of a different route. I disassembled the gauges/gauge pod, cleaned them up, repainted the steel pod the gauges set in (went with white to make things brighter), sent out my speedo to be refurbished keeping the original front & odometer miles, installed new plastic gauge lens, and added an aftermarket clock to replace the blank filler panel. I painted the gauge pod "tunnel" panel and the plastic dash itself with the High Heat Barbecue Black as it isn't a high gloss, but not dull either. I won't be using a heater, so did not need the control selector area and I did not want the radio nor the lighter so as to give my panel a clean look.

I purchased an aftermarket 3M wood grain vinyl decal to use as a template. I got a piece of hardened aluminum sheet from my work place. I then used rubber cement to affix the decal to the back side of my aluminum sheet, with the wood grain facing in. Used a little scotch tape on the edges to help hold the decal - Picture #1.

I then began to cut all my holes using the wood grain decal as my template. You cannot use shears or any other cutting device that will warp or distort the metal or it will not fit smoothly on the gauges. You will have to do some hand work to final fit the panel to the plastic dash and around the gauges. Time consuming - I rough cut my pod gauge holes at work using a plasma cutter. Then used my high speed die grinder and high speed "double cut" carbon bit to grind on the aluminum to get closer to the template edged. On the smaller holes, rather than get hole saws, I used a 1/16" drill bit and drilled a series of holes next to each other and near the edge. I then knocked the pieces out. Now you can go in with the die grinder and bit and shape the holes. Used a cut-off wheel to trim the outer straight edges of the decal to match the outer contour of the decal as the panel is not a perfect rectangle in shape. Directional signal cut-outs were the worst. Had to be very careful and hand file these after drilling my holes as the high speed burr won't get in there. Bought a small hand file kit at Home Depot to get at these.

Got everything trimmed down, holes and edge shape, and then did a trial fit over my gauges. I purchased a diamond grinding wheel set at Harbor Freight for my high speed grinder. I used the larger wheel as you want a larger diameter for the pod holes - small diameter will scallop to easily. Using a Sharpie, I noted where I had interferences and did some gentle trimming - note that the gauge pods have a taper that gets larger as it meets the face area of the dash, so you have to be aware of this and trim for it to get it flush. Took some time and a bunch of trial & error fits to get the panel close.

One close, you have to bend the panel to fit the bend in the dash - it is not flat/straight. I put the front of the panel over the radius edge of the bed on my S-10 pickup and gave the panel a little contour. I used a line found on the template as my guide so as to get the panel straight and lined up with my radius and then bent it gently. Little at a time, until it fit the contour of the dash. Then observe again your fit and mark with the Sharpie where you will have to trim/contour to get the panel flush and to fit. Lot of time fitting & trimming & fitting. Picture #2.

Finally got it to where I was happy with the panel. Filed all the rough aluminum flash smooth that you get from grinding on the aluminum. So next up was that I wanted to add a gauge in the lower right to sort of balance that large open area with the rest of the gauges - it just needed something. Thought about going 2 gauges, one on top of the other, but the top section has that angle and I felt 2 gauges looked cluttered up and was too close to the clock and would take away from its look. So I inserted a vacuum gauge I bought to use on my build - which added a little color as well. Drilled a 2" hole with a holesaw and used the diamond sanding wheel to open it up to 2 1/6" for the gauge. The open hole set on top of the lower section of the temp selector panel, so I set the panel in the dash, scribed the gauge hole, and cut the plastic out using my die grinder and bit. Fit like a glove.

Picture #3 shows the panel & vacuum gauge installed on the plastic dash. Still have to sand/paint the panel to its final finish. I have all new chrome bezels for the key, wiper, and lights that will go on the lower dash. So not quite finished, but you get an idea of what the panel looks like as a replacement for the wood grain insert. It is not an easy project and you have to do a lot of trimming and trial fitting and not rush the job. I think I have about 7 hours into it doing it my way with the hand tools and not rushing the job.


----------



## pontrc (Mar 18, 2020)

Nice work Jim👍


----------



## tberg (Jul 31, 2011)

I just got my '68 GTO back from a several year refurbishment last night, and decided that I need to do some things on the interior like replacing the dash insert (peeling in the corner and just looks too dated), need to replace the clear gauge covers (so cloudy, you can barely see the gauges), replace the cracked steering wheel, etc. I really like what you did with your dash, and now you've given me stuff to think about. Thanks a lot! Good luck with the rest of your project, well worth the pursuit.


----------



## PontiacJim (Dec 29, 2012)

tberg said:


> I just got my '68 GTO back from a several year refurbishment last night, and decided that I need to do some things on the interior like replacing the dash insert (peeling in the corner and just looks too dated), need to replace the clear gauge covers (so cloudy, you can barely see the gauges), replace the cracked steering wheel, etc. I really like what you did with your dash, and now you've given me stuff to think about. Thanks a lot! Good luck with the rest of your project, well worth the pursuit.
> View attachment 137314


Thanks. I wanted something different in look and functionality. I really did not want to use a vinyl sticker. There are other options if you look, and may work well, but I wanted a smooth painted, and clean, look to the dash. The "older cars" of the early 60's and back had painted (steel) dashes and I like that look. Thought about taking the wood grain vinyl to a decal shop and have them copy me one in white. Just didn't like the idea of a stick-on. And, I am cheap (LOL), and like to fabricate when I can even if it may have been cheaper in the long run to go another route.

My build will be heater delete so I had no need for the temp selector quadrant and levers, so they got covered. I could have left the radio, but my car's radio was missing when I bought it and I didn't want to go with just a factory AM or get a repop looking factory radio with all the modern options, so it got covered.

Thought hard on the lighter socket and keeping it, but simply chose to not add this either knowing I was going to add the single gauge where I did. I have the full assortment of 2 1/6" gauges to choose from, and just liked the Vacuum gauge because it also added some colors found on the segmented numbers. I also thought of another gauge above it, but again, I think it took away from the clean look I was after.

I thought about adding gauges across the side on that narrow panel, but then felt it was looking too much like a race car. The angled pods would have made the gauges more readable, but I just thought gauges along the panel looked clumsy. If anything, I could see a "radio delete" panel which I actually just purchased. I am not sure if I will like it or use it once I put it up on the panel, but I think if I paint it the matching semi-gloss black and outline the raised ridges and Pontiac crest, It may look good and break up some of the panel's length.

I am also going to add a "Lemans" grab bar from a 1967 Lemans I have. I have not gotten to the point where I can test fit and test mount it, but it's got to go above the glove box which means going into the dash pad itself. I have a couple fabrication ideas for that too. To me, the grab bar means "Sit down, shut up, and hang on" and hate that it was removed after the 1967 cars. It just spells "fast" in my opinion. LOL


----------



## 29585 (Aug 4, 2013)

PontiacJim said:


> Just a heads up on my project '68 Lemans. Doing some smaller jobs while the big job still sits under a tarp. LOL Being a resto-mod, I am adding some custom/personal touches to my build. I don't care for the wood grain vinyl dash panel insert, so I came up with my own.
> 
> I am going with a white interior, which I have in boxes all stacked up. I also wanted to brighten up the dash a bit and have it white as well - I'll have a black dashpad. What you are seeing is yet to be completed, but gives you an idea of a different route. I disassembled the gauges/gauge pod, cleaned them up, repainted the steel pod the gauges set in (went with white to make things brighter), sent out my speedo to be refurbished keeping the original front & odometer miles, installed new plastic gauge lens, and added an aftermarket clock to replace the blank filler panel. I painted the gauge pod "tunnel" panel and the plastic dash itself with the High Heat Barbecue Black as it isn't a high gloss, but not dull either. I won't be using a heater, so did not need the control selector area and I did not want the radio nor the lighter so as to give my panel a clean look.
> 
> ...


Nice work Jim, but does your workplace know about the aluminum sheet ?  dont ever run for mayor they'll use that against you ! I like the placement of the vacumn gauge.


----------



## PontiacJim (Dec 29, 2012)

clevelandpartsguy said:


> Nice work Jim, but does your workplace know about the aluminum sheet ?  dont ever run for mayor they'll use that against you ! I like the placement of the vacumn gauge.


LOL, I work in a tractor-trailer shop where we repair & work on the trailer end of things. The outside panels are a hardened aluminum. When we replace damaged panels, they come in as a large sheet and pre-painted white. Sometimes the panels have to be trimmed to fit, so scrap parts & pieces are up for grabs and if I can use something we remove from a trailer, it finds its way into my trunk or back of my pickup bed.

Some trailer panels are a composite like sandwich, thin aluminum/plastic middle/thin aluminum and about 1/4" thick in total. We had a bunch of rework trailers that had panels drilled poorly by a computerized machine and quality control missed it. They were 4'x8' and I got about 20 panels. Used them to make an 8'x8'x8' shed that is water tight, has a slant roof, nice big 4'x8' door and houses some of my car parts - all for free.

I don't know how they paint the surfaces, but it is not a spray gun as the finish is perfectly smooth. I thought I might take advantage of that, but in cutting, trimming, and deburring, the nice white front got marred up. But in looking at it, the bright white seemed a bit much. So I sanded/primed the panel in grey, and they let it completely dry for a week, sanded it, and then sprayed with rattle can Rustoleum semi-gloss white. Much better.

Just got my Radio Delete panel in and will be doing a little custom painting on it. Stripping the paint right now and will begin repainting this weekend. When I have it completed, I'll post a photo. I am really liking it over the wood grain look.


----------



## PontiacJim (Dec 29, 2012)

UPDATE. Almost done. I received my 1966 Pontiac B-body Radio Delete panel. It was painted black, probably a 60% gloss, but was a little duller most likely from age. I stripped the paint and applied my own color scheme to fit better with my dash panel look.

Installed the Radio Delete panel and the Wiper & Ignition Switch using new repop bezels. I ordered a new AC Delco headlight switch from RockAuto since the dash is out. Have the repop bezel and pull knob. Need to order a repop wiper knob and it'll be done.


----------

