I was going to run a '32 dash in my roadster but have been kicking around the idea of doing a 1940 Ford Dash after seeing a number in Model A roadster and coups. I am switching to a Steel Cowl section replacing the fiberglass cowl section. Wescott makes a fiberglass one but i'd like to run a steel one. Thought I read in one of the steet rod magazines that someone is making compleat 1940 ford dashs in steel. Does anyone know who is making them? Thanks
I think that is a great idea, I would love to see a couple of pictures of that and also ask what is involved to make it happen ( do you have to narrow it quite a bit?) I picked up a 29 roadster body that was a 50's hot rod and I can tell it used to have some kind of a custom dash in it. The guy told me he thought it was a 40 Ford dash, but it's long gone. I will follow your post for some good info. Thanks.
Ive seen that done in a truck, looks crazy cool. The fit is not that off the wall. I wish I had pictures. Do it.
You can put pretty much ANY dash in an A, You just have to be willing to slice the bejeesus out of it and weld it back together. That last bit can be a little tricky with 60-something-year old metal. My A pickup has a 59 Rambler Ambassador dash-cut 14 inches out of the center, then had to section out and re-position the steering shaft hole.
Here- pics tell the story better. Had to make a buck out of mdf, then clamp a piece of 18 ga in it, and hammer-form the end pieces. Might want to do a "backer" out of 18 ga, drill holes in both pieces, align the work with the backer in place, plug weld to hold the backer in place, then stitch weld down the seam.
I never understood the copycat popularity of using a 40 dash. I think other dashes look much better. The 41 and 51 Ford dashes are more aesthetic to me after narrowing to fit. Dare to be creative.
'41 Ford? Really? This was in my RPU. I didn't have to narrow it through the middle. It just required some strategically-placed pie cuts on the ends (lost the ash trays in the process)... JH
Here's mine in a '29 A roadster pickup. I wanted to keep the ash trays so rather than trimming the ends of the dash, I sectioned a couple of inches out of the middle. Which means I'll also need to trim the ends of the speaker grill a bit to make it fit.
I've got some pics of a 37 dash in a 31 roadster, a 51 dash in a 40 and a 40 dash in a 30 coupe if anyone's interested
I took 1" out of the middle of my '40 dash, hogged out the speaker hole 1/2" on each side, then trimmed the chrome ends of the grille a bit. Overall dash width was good, kept the ashtrays. I had a 90 deg. bend that Lynn Bird made for me that was edge-shrunk to fit the roadster cowl sweep. I just lofted the dash shape to meet that piece, and welded a lip 1/4" lower along it to fit under the cowl. I wanted mine to have an OEM looking seam. It's a pretty fast shape transition, and can be awkward. It depends on how much of the dash you use and how high it sits. A nice working glove box sure comes in handy in a roadster.
Thanks Guys for all your ideas. Drake does make a new one an it's only $388.00 and a brookville steel '32 to fit the A is over$250.00. So I think I;ll go with the 1940 dash. As I don't smoke I'll probley do what Harrison did nd pie cut the ends to make it fit. Thanks again Guys. PS Anyone got a Trans-dapt #0002 adapter? If not to sell --to borrow so I could have a local machine shop copy it??
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