so did you put tack welds all the way around each slot? Or just tack them in place and do the rest with the filler? And can you elaborate on using the copper? For heat reduction?

 

I did have the messed up pad up in my attic. I cut the louvers out of it last night. Got them with me here today at work. Send me your address and I'll ship them to you.

 

Thanks but I found a set about an hour ago.

Details and pics to follow.

 

Ok, so today I went to get some defroster vents out of the same truck that I got the one instrument panel out of in a previous picture. I could have sworn there was a ripped up dash pad in that truck, but I was wrong. Nothing, nada, ziltch.

I was rather perturbed, and almost left empty handed. The only thing I did get off of that truck was a set of headlight retaining rings that I needed for a 78 F150.

Not to be discouraged, I went about 20 minutes north to another junk yard that I haven't been to in quite a while, and they have been advertising lately about having a heavy equipment section. One of the only yards in the area that have that kind of stuff.

After paying the $2.00 entry fee and hiking up the side of the mountain, I saw quite a few really big trucks. After about 40 minutes of wandering through the yard, I stumbled across one early F500 with the doors missing off of it.

I peeked inside and could not believe my eyes. Wait for it.........

It had the instrument cluster still intact! I quickly pulled out the minimal amount of tools that I had with me (just went for the defroster vents - which I got as well) and started carefully removing the cluster.

I hiked down to the booth to pay toting my new-to-me cluster and set it on the table. The kid behind the counter called out to his father to come take a look and let him know what they were going to charge me. The guy came out, took a quick look and said we normally get $75-$80 for a cluster with all the gauges but he said how does $50 sound? I looked at him and said $40 would be better. He remember me from last year when we were talking about his son's ****** and said: Ok, $40 it is.

I brought it to the shop, pulled out the gauges and after taping them off with some painters tape to protect the lenses, I gave the bezels a good rubbing with some 00 steel wool and they came out really nice. I'm going to strip the panel face down and paint it to match the rest of the truck when the time comes, but for now it looks pretty dang good.

Without further adieu, more pics:

 

Man you scored really big time on that gauge panel.....what gauge is to the far left?

 

It's a pressure gauge. For air brakes I suppose.

I'll be installing an electrical tach in place of one of those gauges. Not sure what I'm going to do with the remaining gauge.

 

I made a little more progress yesterday but had to stop on my truck to work on a customers Jeep.

I cut a plug for the antenna hole and filled in the 4 screws that held it down. Put a light coat of polyester filler over the metal work and shot some epoxy primer over the patch.

I also managed to get the rest of the floor cleaned up and shot a coat of epoxy primer on it as well. The rear panel behind where the bench seat used to be will be trimmed to remove the gas tank mounting flange. I'll also be bending some metal into the corners to seal up the area beneath the B pillar. Some custom panels will also be made to house the amplifiers and capacitor for the sound system that is going into the truck along with a custom center console that will go from under the dash and all the way back to the rear panel.

I'm also almost at the point of chopping the top (still haven't decided if I'm going through with this or not) so it's going to stay in epoxy until that is done. Once the chop is complete, I'll shoot a couple of coats of 2k primer over everything and start wet sanding the cab.

More pics:

 

Man, I'm loving this build thread I hope you do decide to chop the roof as I'd love to see how it's done as I've been thinking of doing the same... The dash looks awesome all smoothed out, Time I learnt how to weld!! had just removed the dash pad on mine 2 days before I found your thread as my pad was cracked & faded. picking up a Jaguar xj front suspension unit on Wednesday £150, should drop the front end 5". look forward to more updates & keep up the excellent work.

 

Great build man looks good, i've been watching your build and others like it am about to pull the trigger on the cv swap. I was wondering if you or anybody listening knows weither or not the cv will get me on the ground i plan on running bags and need to know if this swap will alow me to "lay frame".
thanks

 

also i LOVE those gauges

 

To be quite honest, I had no idea of what you were talking about when you posted the pics of the other dash's. I thought the ones you had were really ugly and old/beat up, so i paid no further attention in to reading what you were trying to say.....

Upon looking at this picture.... my jaw freaking dropped! I like the other dash style, cause it reminds me of a big old boat of a car. But these! WHOA! I couldnt imagine what you were saying in my mind, and tried to picture installing round gauges in the squared off dash but couldnt do it. Now I KNOW what you MEANT!

Realization: I dont like the standard 1/2 ton dashes any more and I want this! BADLY. So question: These are only in the bigger work trucks with the big fenders (f500 and so)?

Nothing older than 85 around these parts in the junk yards, gonna have a hard time finding one round here.

 

VERY COOL keep up the good work and progress !

 

Yes, 1967-Mid 70's (have not been able to verify the cutoff year) F500-F700 trucks are where to find them.

I'm going to another junk yard on Sunday that has those large trucks and I'm going to look for more. I had no idea what they were going for on eBay.

There is another yard that I frequent that has a couple of them in another chained in area not accessible to the public (yet -they are going to open it up soon) and I'll be checking them for them too.

 

Update:

Went shopping at the junkyards today and found some more cool stuff for the 67 and my new-to-me shop truck (95 Ford Ranger that I got for free in exchange for a couple hours work on a customers Jeep).

First up is another F700 dash bezel with only one cutout in it. I'm thinking of using this one instead of the other one that I found. I'll most likely just run an electric speedo (because of the Tremec 5 speed) and an electric tach. This way I won't have to worry about what to do with the other hole for either the mechanical tach or the pressure gage.



I also got a set of 16" Crown Vic PI wheels and (4) 2003 Ranger stainless steel center caps. I took the 05 Bullit wheels off of the 67 and used them on the 95 Ranger. I think they look like they belong on there anyway and I'm really liking the steelies on the bump too. Most likely I'll paint them Wimbeldon White like the rest of the truck.

More better pics:





Note: It did NOT look like this when I first got it. I've done quite a bit of work to it over the last week including washing, buffing and waxing, lifting it a couple inches, putting in Mecury Mountaineer leather buckets ($40), Exploder white faced gauges ($16), Flowmaster muffler ($20), Craigslist Cap ($40) and of course the wheels and tires ($350).

I got it from the original owner and it only has 78k miles on it. It's a 3.0 V6 and gets pretty good gas mileage. As of right now, I have less than $800 into it and can't complain. LOL

 

I have a bunch of customer work to do, so I won't be able to get back on the 67 till next week.

The plan is to install the body mount kit from Jeff's Bronco Graveyard, align the fenders and hood, then tear it all apart so I can install the engine and transmission.

Finally I'll then pull the cab off the frame and finish welding in the supports from underneath.