I'm sure that this might be a stupid question, but I've been looking at the dash in my 53 chevy and I was wondering if there was a way to take it out so that I can paint it?
my '50 is welded in, so no go unless you cut it out and weld it back in (which would probably ruin the nice paint that you removed it to spray on)
I haven't been able to find any bolts, so i'm guessing that it's welded in. I didn't know if there was anyway to get it out. I've seen some really nice dashes in 53 and 54 chevy, so how are you guys painting them? Is it best to strip it in the car and then just use a touch up gun?
Thats what I was thinking that I would have to do, but I was trying to et around having to take the glass out.
I brush painted my 64 el camino dash, dont laugh, just wet sanded and buffed it out afterwards and it looked near perfect, until it got bent when i got t-boned
I just painted the dash in my 53...in the car with the windshield in place, used a smaller touch up type gun on it.
Once the dash is stripped, before you paint it, here's a tip; Spray bomb the back side of the dash in white. If you ever have to troubleshoot wiring, etc. under the dash down the road, you'll have an easy on the eyes white backgroung for all your wiring, etc.
I wish you could unbolt the things, it would be so much easier to clean and sand and paint. As far as I know they're all welded though.
what you could do , is cut it out and weld some tabs inside of it so you can bolt it back on when your done painting it chroming etc.......
that sounds like a great idea. How hard is it to get the gushes and chrome to come out and when you get the gauges out, can the be taken apart and cleaned?
Chevy dashes are welded 1949 through 1960 at least. If I have to cut one out I try to cut under the garnish trim. Interestingly not all GM dashes in the same body styles are welded. For instance 59-60 Pontiac bolt in, and they're two pieces (a top and a bottom). The Chevy the bottom is bolted but the top is welded - and it's all one piece.
Im trying the same thing in the same car 53 chevy, my dash is rotted out really bad from a leaking front windshield. I see it is spot welded in on the right and left sides, there are also 2 rod style braces running to the firewall, the dash looks like it goes into the front windshield channel. does it? i would like to leave the glass in for now and just remove the dash to rebuild it. So my question is really, if I drill out the spot welds and remove the rod braces will the dash come out or does the window also have to come out?. thanks
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