Hard Dashboard Covers

[Albert J. Nock]

My father recently gave me his '70 Custom in what I think is the Tampico Yellow with Ivy Green interior trim. The dash is in fairly bad shape. The vents are broken and there are many large splits exposing the underlying foam.

1. What's the best avenue to restore the dash? Do I simply lay a dash mat over it?

2. I've also found the following hard dash cover: http://www.truckstuffusa.com/forddashco ... erlay.html
Anyone have any experience with these? Although the web site shows a "green" color option, the pull down menu for the 1970 does not list green as an option.

3. Does it make sense for me to hold off on the dash and any other interior improvements until after I've addressed the interior/exterior paint. It has a few dents and quite a few rust spots, particularly on the roof.

Thanks in advance for any responses.

[heep70]

and to the site.

Them dash covers suck. You can either take the one off you have. They look pretty cool without the dash pad. Or look around in salvage yards for a decent one. Or have it covered. Or maybe one of us has one laying around.

I would wait to do the dash in case you decide on a different color scheme for the rig.

Post some pics!!!!!

[jor]

Like Greg said, our dashes look good with our without the pad. The metal under the pad is often is very nice shape. If you do go with a replacement pad, you can pick up a pretty nice one on eBay for $100 to $150 plus shipping. I see you are in Arizona as I am so you know around here it is a lost cause trying to locate one that isn't destroyed by the sun. Regarding color, you can always go with black to match anything. Here's several photos showing what it looks like underneath. The blue one has the mounting holes filled.
jor

[Albert J. Nock]

I've got a long road ahead before my vehicle looks as good as your trucks. If I'm going to "change" the truck in any way, I don't want something that's so-so. I'll pull it off or just cover it for the time being. Thanks for saving me some grief as, based on the responses, I'm sure I would have been disappointed in the hard cover.

I think I'll focus on getting it painted and the rust removed. I'm sure I'll have more questions on that, and I'll post some pics.

[cdeal28078]

Guess I am the odd ball here but I have a hard cover on my 71 and am fairly happy with it. Sure I would rather have a new dash but when I was doing my truck the dashes were $475 IF you could find one. It was also before i started using Ebay.
Yes If I look closely I can see where it stops underneath the front edge but my dash is black and that might help hide it some. I have had people ask me where I got my dash pad and how much it cost.

[Sharkdance]

Lay a carpet cover over your cracked pad and concentrate on getting the rust killed around the truck. Then you can think about paint. But you gotta stop the rust as soon as you can cuz the rust aint gonna wait around for you to fix it.
Trust me on this, if you let roof rust get too advanced on your truck you will be looking for a new cab instead of just a dash.

[frankc67]

Instead of carpet, I put a black towel cut in half on top of my dash pad, to protect it form sun in the heat of summer. Cheap and easy....

[gramsay]

I had the same problem as you so I got a dash pad cap off of ebay for about $100. Check it out!

http://www.fordification.com/galleries/ ... =468&pos=5

[Heavenlyfire]

Hey albert, I took the dash pad off of my truck and I plan to leave it off. You are welcome to the old one if you want it. It only has a couple of cracks and could probably be restored real nice. It is black and I am in Mesa.

[Albert J. Nock]

That's a very generous offer Heavenlyfire. Thank you. Here's what I think I might do though: my dash, which is the ivy green color, might be in a similar condition as yours appears to be -- at least based upon what I can see of it in your gallery. My dash is cracked up and disintegrating, but, with the exception of one crack, the damage doesn't show when the dash is covered. I'm able to put towels (and maybe someday a nice dash cover) over it and you almost can't tell that there is any issue with the dash. Yes, I'd like to have the original restored or a substitute installed, but I'm going to hold off on any quick solutions for now.

Right now, I'm with Sharkdance's comment: I'm working on getting the money together to get the rust addressed and some new paint on the truck. You can get a hint of what I'm up against in my gallery:

http://www.fordification.com/galleries/ ... ?cat=10412

Maybe in a few months I'll have that done and then can get back to fixing up my interior when I'm sure I'll have a lot more questions.

[Sharkdance]

I had the same problem as you so I got a dash pad cap off of ebay for about $100. Check it out!

http://www.fordification.com/galleries/ ... =468&pos=5

That dash pad cover looks pretty damn good! Thanks for posting the pic.

[Sharkdance]

Albert J. Nock,

Thats a pretty sweet lookin 70 you got there! Is that grill assy. as straight as it looks in the pic? Id be drooling all over that if it was mine.

Good choice addressing the roof rust right away. Thats the worst area to have a problem in because once it gets away from you, you usualy have to replace the cab.
Dont forget to dig out all of the old seam sealer in the drip rail and kill any rust that may be trying to hide in there. Then re-fill it with some good quality seam sealer and your good to go for another 30+ years.

[Albert J. Nock]

Sharkdance: The grill assembly looks good. I'll try to get some better pictures of it. The truck has been in Arizona all its life. My dad bought it new, so, although its just a base version, it has a sentimental value to me. If it were in Fla., or virtually anywhere else, the rust would have eaten it alive by now. I've taken it for a couple of estimates and the paint/body places don't seem to think the rust is structural at this point, but I can't help but be paranoid. Only one minor dent on the hood that I'll get taken out. I also agree on your comment about the pad gramsay picked up, incredible.

And yep, Joe, you caught my wife and I admiring your truck the other night as we walked the neighborhood. Amazing that, given that people from all over the world post here, we'd just randomly meet like that. Until the 110 degree temperatures break, I'm probably not driving my truck much. When not in use, I keep it parked in another part of town. Not much room in front of my house. When it cools and I've got it painted, I can bring it by your place if you'd like to check it out.

[Heavenlyfire]

Alright Joe.... that does it!!!!! You talk to strangers in your driveway but won't even come over to get lunch and meet me. Hell, I will even give you the pizza. . That is funny though. I think we need to get an AZ meet and greet together.

[Joe Kriston]

Ok,ya got me there,John...Are you still at the one at Fashion Square?...

Yeah,it was funny,Albert and his wife were standing near my driveway,....looking toward my house...Naturally,I thought they worked for the city in the zoning enforcement department,so I started to shut the door on them,but then decided to say 'hey'...and we started talking trucks....I no sooner got the word 'website' out and Albert said 'Fordification'...He said he just put his gallery up the day before...I looked for it,and couldn't find it,then I realized he never really intro'ed himself in the welcome section(hint-hint,Albert)...It is a small world,after all...

Arizona meet 'n' greet? First we'll have to take a poll and see who's air conditioning is working and whose isn't,ya think?