Technical 55 ford dash

I need to find out if there has been post telling how to convert a 1955 ford dash to a 1956 ford dash.

 

You would be better off to find a '56 dash and swap them out.

 

Do a search,it works well. HRP

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/search/

 

It's a straightforward bolt-in swap if you have all the parts. IIRC, you also need the windshield moldings.

 

We're talking about a car and not a pickup truck, correct? 55-56 Ford car dashes unbolt and either dash will bolt into either body. If you're talking pickup trucks, I'm pretty sure those are welded in and the '56 has the wraparound ends so it'd be quite a bit more work.

 

Good choice. 56's are a lot better looking.

 

Just the opposite here, I like the '55 dash better, but the cowl area is the same for both years, so they will swap out. '56 is easier to put a modern radio in, and a lot of people like the aircraft instruments look of the '56 gauges.

 

YEP.

 

I guess I didn't make myself clear in my post what I was doing. I have a 55 Crown Vic and I'm putting a 56 dash in place of the 55. A friend gave me a 56 dash but I didn't get enough pieces to make the switch complete and I should have ask how many other pieces I would need....garnish moldings and such. Thanks

 

Go to my profile im restofiying my 56 Victoria.I put omega gauges in instead of the idiot lights.Project is now on hold until I finish wiring and insulating my new shop.

 

You need all the lower windshield garnish moldings; the two long bits on top of the dash (plus the center clip), the two dash end caps, and the two A-pillar moldings. I'm pretty sure the top molding is the same between years but it's been a long time. All but the A-pillar molding can be gotten off any '56 Ford car. The A-pillars moldings will be the tough ones to find, as the Crown Vic moldings are shorter than the sedans. If you can find them, the '56 hardtop/Crown moldings will fit. Worse case, you could section/shorten the sedan moldings to fit. There may be a difference in the firewall-to-dash bracket that the brake pedal hangs off of too, but I'm not positive on that. There's a few other minor brackets, but IIRC those are the same between years.

 

That's pretty much the info I was looking for. My buddy has 4 or 5 parts cars and I just need to go pull what I need, next week. Thanks to all that responded.

 

I posted this tutorial of what my dad and I did when we did this swap awhile back. The tutorial was done in the 52-59 social group so I'm not sure if you can see it without first joining the group.

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/1956-dash-into-a-1955.922042/#post-10415514

 

Thanks to all for the info. I have finished converting my dash and it really looks good. I made a lot of changes and if I knew how to post pictures I would put it up. One big change I made was to cut the lower center of the dash from the heater controls , radio holes and within a half inch from the glove box and am inserting my hang down a/c unit in the opening. I also made an insert for modern gages. Not sure if i'll use 5" or the smaller gages and speedo. Also welded up the speaker hole,and most of the control holes. The only control holes will be the ign. switch on the rt of the column and headlight on the lt. I moved one of the protruding bumps from the lt. to the rt side.