Technical 36 Ford Dash in a Model A Pickup-Any tips or advice?

I've been really selective about the parts I collected for my 31 A pickup build. Pre 1959-60, real ford parts. You can see it here:

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=511327

For some stupid reason I bought one of those reproduction "32 roadster style" dashes and thought I'd be happy with it. With as pickey as ive been with everything else (16x5 merc wheels, 32 truck grill etc etc) i look back and wonder what I was thinking. I hate it. So, it's got to go. Anyone have experience fitting a 1936 ford sedan dash to a 31 A pickup? I scored a really nice one like the pic below which I found here. I know it's too wide. So where to trim it? The ends? Section on both sides of the waterfall and bring the ends in? What about the top edge? Does the radius need to be tweaked? Can part of the 31 dash rail be used to do that? If you've done one and have pics that would be cool. I really dont want to screw this up. Thanks.

 

I'm putting a 35-36 dash in mine. I cut it up and used part of the Model A dash. It uses the original Model A dash mounting bolts..so it is removable.

 

Some more pics....

 

Looks good. Which parts did you use? Some more detailed info and pics would be good.

Edit: thanks man you beat me to it. Great pics. That's going to be a lot of help. I like the idea of using the stock dash rail. Did you just but it up to the face of the rail or is it on top? Thanks man.

 

I think i have some more pics on my other computer of the ends as I was shaping and welding it up. I'll look tonight and post them up if I can find them. The dash is out of the truck right now so if you want some pics of the back side or whatever, I can take some..just let me know.

 

Yeah man any pics and info you have would be great. Thanks very much.

 

That looks great!

 

Nice dash!

 

that is a near perfect fit! Nice job, very impressive.

 

That is going to look great in the cab

 

I put one in my '30 coupe. I used the stock dash rail and welded the dash to it. By using the original mounting bolts on the dash rail, it was still a completely bolt in dash. Although, it did take some patience to bolt it on. I ended up trimming off the ends and using some round rod to finish them off. As for the width, I had to add approximately 1" to the left side and trim down the right in order to get the gauges to be centered over the steering column.

Hope that helps,
Mitch

 

The fit and look is perfect. I like the use of the A dash so it could be removed. Great job.

 

Thanks for the pics of a different install. I didn't think about the gauges being centered or not. I'm thinking I'd like to keep the waterfall centered in the cab though. Do you have a straight on shot of it from the drivers seat?

 

I think so, and the price was right! The more I looked at the dash I bought the less I liked it. You know all the parts I've collected for this thing, there are a really small handful of "new" things I bought. Little stuff like the reproduction motor mounts, the Uni Ball for the rear suspension, the Firestones, even the nuts and bolts are reproduction stuff from Roy Naciwicz. That dash just didnt belong man. Every time I look at it I wanna fire up the grinder and cut it out (it's bolted in, that's how much I hate it). It just screams "I took the easy way out". The 36 will look right

 

Both of these dashes are outstanding, very nice.

 

Here are the pics I promised. Please disregard the 2 years of surface rust. Hope this helps.

BTW: My pickup is on '32 rails and I am using an F1 steering box. My steering column lines up perfectly with the speedometer without having to move gauges around. You might not be so lucky.

 

Sorry, I don't have a better pic of that dash. I traded the car off earlier this year. I completely agree about having the waterfall centered. But the car had the stock steering column and mount. I had to choose between the gauges and the waterfall. I put a '39 dash in my roadster (with deuce frame) and everything lined up perfectly. So, as previously mentioned, maybe you will get lucky.

-Mitch

 

Thanks for the extra pics. F1 box here also, it's more towards the driver side.

 

I put one in my coupe. If i remember correctly, (it's been 20 years) I think I just trimmed up the sides and got a pretty good fit.

 

While you're making extra work for yourself.....


You might be able to have both the waterfall centered in the cab and the gauges centered on the steering column. Trim equal amounts off both ends to where the waterfall is centered and you can form some sort of rounded cap on the ends like the guy with the '31 did.

Then, if the gauges don't line up on the column, mark out a rectangular box around the gauge openings with your Sharpie and a straight edge. Cut this box out with a cutoff tool, center it to the column, then trim & fill on the sides. Once you have your wire-feed welds ground down and smoothed off, it'll look like Ford designed it to be in your A.

Its a bunch of extra work, but your inner perfectionist will be very happy with it.


Later, Kinky6

 

Damn, that look great!

 

Here's one in my '29 sport coupe. Waterfall is centered, gauges are centered on the column. Jerry (Homemadehardtop57) built it.

 

That's really nice. Thanks for the pic. Looks great

 

Nice dash looks great.

 

Yeah that's a good idea. If I have to do that I will. I want it to look right. The other dash just never looked right in there. Like I was saying to my club member Captain Scarlet above I've been so critical of all the pieces I've collected for this build I seriously don't know why I bought it. I had a 32 truck dash but just didnt have the heart to cut it up so I sold it. I saw a 36 dash about a year ago and thought it would be cool I just never found one. I got the one I have now for free and it's really nice. I think it is going to look great.

 

I bought one of those repro 32 dash's as well thinking it would be the shit, what was I thinking?. Got access to a 36 dash, im thinking I might head down the same route as your taking, those dash's look bloody good in an A..

 

Yeah, they look good when you order them. I didnt like the way they are under the stock dash rail. It covers the top reveal which is part of its attraction when you first see it. I could have modified it and made it part of the rail but if I'm going to go through all that work I'm going to do it with a dash I really like.

 

Another thing worth considering, is that with the '35-'36 dash you gain a lot of room under the dash.

 

Ok, so what exactly do I have here? There seems to be a few differences in these dashes. Mine has the 2 pieces of chrome trim in the center rather than the waterfall. One of the pics on this post has 3 pieces of chrome. Am I missing the center piece? Also, what belongs in the hole at the top center? What about the vent on the drivers side? Is this on all of them and everyone just fills them? The glove box door pull is chrome, i think I've seen some that are ivory. Could this be a standard model dash as opposed to a deluxe or something? Either way its going to be killer in my truck. I'd just like to know. School me fellas.
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That vent is a defrost either added by someone or at the dealer. The hole in the top center is for the WS crank.