Question about a dash

[scoutingranch]

Lads,
my '50 cj3 has had the dash hacked up over the years. Oh' I can stitch weld the repair metal in the large holes but I found a new dash from a vendor. If my observation is correct, the dash is held in with spot welds...right?
Is there anything else I should be aware of or is it pretty much drill out the spot welds remove old panel and insert the new panel and get to weldin'

mike

[bmorgil]

Yes. Spot welded in. There is some bracing also welded to it. It kind of slips in behind a lip in the cowl.

https://www.kaiserwillys.com/steel-instrument-panel-dashboard-cover-fits-46-53-cj-2a-3a

[gmwillys]

Bmorgil is correct. I recommend purchasing a spot weld cutter from Woodward fab. They are worth the money for quickly cutting spot welds.

[scoutingranch]

I am flush with spot weld cutters from my last '66 Bronco. The page that B points out states dash cover. I want the old one gone and the new one welded in. Is the gage thickness of the metal the same? What do you guys think? I reckon all of these from different vendors come from the same manufacturer...yes?

[gmwillys]

Shop around on the best vendors. KW does offer some parts that are stamped or fabricated in the US. Anything Omex is generally cheap all around. Willys America generally has good items, but they are proud of their products. Spend a little more, and get an item that fits correctly.

[bmorgil]

I am not sure the one KW has isn't really a replacement. You may want to call them on that. Almost everyone is selling the stuff from Juan in Puerto Rico. Most if not all of OMEX stuff comes from there. A lot of the vendors are also selling the Crown Automotive line of drive-line stuff. For the most part, China. You can always get the KW part and if you don't like it, they take it back with no issue. As gmwillys said, look for a company that stands behind a US made part for the highest quality. That said, my Tub Kit came from Juan via KW. It was pretty good as far as the gauge of metal they used. A while back their stuff was not so good. They made a LOT of changes. From what I have read, addressing the gauge of the metal was one of their first corrections.

I would be shocked if whatever you get didn't need a little TLC to fit.

[scoutingranch]

Thanks boys. Yes, gauge thickness is important. Will do my due diligence. Here is a picture of the dash in question and as you can see, the PO/s had their way with the metal, after market heater, radio and lighter, errrrr. This will be a stock rebuild. But things are not moving along as quickly as I planned, isn't that the way.

[LarrBeard]

On Jeep projects nothing goes as as fast as you want it to. Experience has taught me that if it goes fast - you'll probably have to take it back apart and do it over.

[gmwillys]

True. My wagon body has been in the garage for a couple of years on saw horses. All I need to do is install new floors up front and repair the rear around the tail gate. Time and material have been the main issue. I bought a sheet of 18 guage but found I didn't like the way the angles turned out when I pounded out. The American made pressed floors aren't too expensive, but other things have had priority over wagon parts.

[TJones]

scoutingranch,
I cut my whole dash out and welded a whole piece of 3/16's steel in mine and re-cut the holes where I wanted them, I had to be real careful the new "Repli-Tub" body I got was real close to paper in thickness so I had to take my time, patch a few burn throughs and a bunch of grinding.

53375338533953405341

[okiemark]

That looks real neat.

[bmorgil]

Now that is MADE IN THE USA!

[TJones]

More like made,redone,made then redone:):)

[scoutingranch]

Nice job Mr. Jones.

[TJones]

Thank You for the compliment Scoutingranch, if you only knew how many times I sat on a bucket with a cold beer and a winston and thought things out then tackled them then sat some more and got pissed and re-did it you would be amazed. I just want it to be nice when I am finished and don't want to have to do it again when it is all painted, it is a lot easier to re-do it before it's painted then trying to re-do it when it is.

[scoutingranch]

Thank You for the compliment Scoutingranch, if you only knew how many times I sat on a bucket with a cold beer and a winston and thought things out then tackled them then sat some more and got pissed and re-did it you would be amazed. I just want it to be nice when I am finished and don't want to have to do it again when it is all painted, it is a lot easier to re-do it before it's painted then trying to re-do it when it is.

Ahhh, cold beer and a Winston. Those were the days. I'll pick up roll your own smoking when I'm eighty. I even had to quit dippin' Copenhagen. That was until I was out on a horse trip with some leather tough wranglers. They all dipped...I was in!! Then had to quit again. Dang it.

[gmwillys]

Quiting is for quiters.... Just kidding. At $60 bucks a carton, I could buy a lot of Heep parts instead but I like the coffin nails too. We pick our poisons.

[5JeepsAz]

Love it. Quitten is for quitters. My $30 modern smokers package was the second thing to go into my vintage build. Cant wait to sit on top of a ridge with a lemonade and light when she is done. That's the whole goal! Also nice work on that there jeep!