No mo' dash pad!

[68Slug]

Man this looks great!
You can't really see the top holes when piloting, which is cool. I found out about the vent pieces from another thread on here, once you dig it out of the foam it looks really good on the bare dash.

[kf7mjf]

Yeah I have a bare dash in my CS, and a very nice pad in my ranger, I kinda like the bare look better

[Nitekruizer]

I like the bare look too. I repainted my interior so my dash is nice and shiny so I just might leave it bare, for now anyway. My original intent was to re-cover the pad, possibly with "tuck 'n' roll" or a similar style upholstery job.

[rusty2872]

That is a cool look. Any tips as to removing the pad? Does it have studs that go through the dash etc... Hook us up with mo pics

[colnago]

Pics are good.

Joseph

[68Slug]

Sure!

There are 14 studs molded into the pad. I removed my gauge cluster to get better access, but my truck is also missing the radio and the paperboard behind the factory glove-box door.
The hardest for me to get to were the three closest to the windshield on the extreme right. it was a little difficult working around the a/c box/components. If it still had a radio, I imagine the stud just above it would be a little interesting to get to. There are two studs that hold the wiring harness up near the middle, I dont see any issue or interferance leaving it hang. I also removed the factory speaker and plan on gutting it to use the frame for two 3.5's. I don't want screw holes in the metal and the factory speaker is clamped on from underneath, in a neat kinda way. I think I used a deep 10mm on some and a short 3/8 on others, but slip-joint pliers on most

This shows the stud locations looking at the pad from underneath.



The hole above the radio cutout


The screw in the upper left drops the speaker down to be removed

[abyars111]

That looks nice.

[bootha]

JUST WANT TO SAY THANKS I TOOK THE DASH PAD OUT OF MY '71 F100 IT WAS EASY AND LOOKS AWESOME BUT I AM GLAD I READ YOUR POST FIRST BECAUSE I WAS JUST GOING TO THROW THE PAD AWAY BUT I SAVED THE REGISTERS AND SCREWED THEM IN LIKE YOURS THANX

[68Slug]

Hey that's great! I'm glad to help.

[jawilliams00721]

Now that the pad is off dont you have 14 holes where the studs were?

[abe]

Can a crack in the padded dash be repaired?

[68Slug]

Now that the pad is off dont you have 14 holes where the studs were?

Yea... But their not really noticeable. For me, I much prefer the few holes to the ratty looking pad.


I don't know if the cracks are repairable, I imagine you could, but I don't know how you'd recreate the texture.

[colnago]

Can a crack in the padded dash be repaired?

My brother recovered a cracked dash on a Camaro with naugahyde once. It came out okay, and was a lot cheaper than a new pad. Haven't quite figured out what I'll do when the time comes, though. Sure do like the no-pad look, but don't think I could stand all of the extra holes (I think they'd drive me crazy).

Joseph

[Mackie1969]

I like the look of the bare dash, but I've been considering trying to make a mold from my pad to make a fiberglass replacement. Might take a few tries, but I figure with a proper sanding and some good paint, it might look like the hood comes straight through the windshield.