Secretary of the Interior

[Dick Koch]

Dan - I know I keep harping on this BUT I bet Neil Freman at www.fremansauto.com has the steering column cover you seek. I was there and saw at least 10 59 Plymouths on his lot.
Dick.

[Faulkner]

Harp away, Dick. I'll take your advice and give him a call!

Dan

[Faulkner]

Wait -- he's got a handy-dandy web form! I just sent an inquiry -- let's see what they say.

Dan

[Dick Koch]

Dan - What about Big M.
Dick.

[sportfury1959]

Hi Lazy!!!

Secretary - anything else that you are missing? A Cuban cigar and a drink or so? The time you are thinking about taking the dashboard out is longer than it takes to remove it! It’s easy and you have already done ¾ of the work. Why quitting now? From what I see on the picture you can remove the hole dashboard in less than 1 hour.

- Disconnect Battery (if you haven’t done it already)
- Remove/disconnect the Clock,
- Remove the mirror from behind (or you risk breaking it)
- Disconnect push button cable and the speedometer cable
- Remove the cluster (screws and bolts on purple arrow)
- Remove the 2 piece trim under the windshield (blue arrow)
- Then remove the screws underneath and ask Marie to hold it up
- Then remove the side covers (both sides) (yellow arrow) Underneath is 1 big bolt on each side
- Remove it and the dash comes out.
- The cigarette lighter comes out when you remove the big sheet metal nut behind it.

When you install it again you should use these silicon bands that are used between the inner and outer fenders. That’s a good opportunity to get that glittering noises out.


Stefan

The plastic piece between the steering column and dashboard is lying in a box her marked with “Dan”

[Faulkner]

OK, OK!! So maybe I'm convinced to pull the sucker out. I better get a lot more zip-lok bags to put pieces parts in...

Stefan, if I don't get this put back together by Carlisle, you'll have to deal with a bunch of angry Dutch people!! I am The World's Slowest Auto Mechanic, doncha know.

Here's a deal for you -- send me the plastic piece (instead of making me come to get it), and I'll write off the distributor shipping charges. Howzat?

Dan

[moparwagon]

I fabricated the top steel strip from strapping material and drilled holes to match the old strip. Then I replaced the old fasteners with new ones that had a similar clip and threaded "bolt" type attachment. Of course, it's easier to get it all on with the dash out (which I did when I rewired the whole car). I had to search several auto parts stores to find a new fastener similar enough to work, but it came out quite good for an amateur like me. Ron

[moparwagon]

Ooops.....sorry, Faulkner. Guess I wasn't paying attention as I explained what I did for the TOP of the dash pad fasteners. I actually found some "similar" clips at a local auto parts store that only needed a little trimming to replace the old ones. Ron

[Matthew Keij]

You can do it Dan!

You already got this far + you got enough time before it needs to be done

[sportfury1959]

Here's a deal for you -- send me the plastic piece (instead of making me come to get it), and I'll write off the distributor shipping charges. Howzat?

No deal Dan, I'll pay the shipping for my items. The part goes out as soon as I have a little box.

Another tip: If you find somebody in your area who does "plastic coating" then I would go for that instead painting. It's a lot more resistant very beautiful and not more expensive (for at least in Germnay) than painting.

Stefan

[rogerh]

I popped 5 clips, 3 of which immediately fell out -- two remained on the strip. But each remaining is mounted differently! What is the correct way? (The top of the strip is shown at the bottom in the picture)...

No one have any ideas about this?
I have an original strip here and with the angle cut to the left, rollthe trim top to you and all the clips are tpwards your body.
And does anyone have an extra clip?
One clip is all you want/need?
Dan

[Faulkner]

I popped 5 clips, 3 of which immediately fell out -- two remained on the strip. But each remaining is mounted differently! What is the correct way? (The top of the strip is shown at the bottom in the picture)...

No one have any ideas about this?
I have an original strip here and with the angle cut to the left, rollthe trim top to you and all the clips are tpwards your body.
And does anyone have an extra clip?
One clip is all you want/need?
Dan

Yup -- one clip is all I need, Roger.

...and for Matthew to put it all back together for me

Dan

[rogerh]

I dunno, one cli[..what's the postage gonna cost!?

[Ron Keij]

I dunno, one cli[..what's the postage gonna cost!?

I dunno but I do know it will be a lot cheaper to send the clip than to send Matthew over

[Faulkner]

OK -- so, I started feeling guilty today about neglecting Faulkner, after seeing all the hard work that Ron and Matthew are putting in on Chrissie. So back to the garage today...

I removed the ashtray this time, and now was able to get a good grip on the cigarette lighter housing. It was snug, but finally gave way -- I removed the lighter, and the last piece of trim dropped off. The lighter element itself is disintegrated; anyone rebuild these, or make replacements? I don't plan to take up smoking, but there's all kinds of good stuff you can plug into a cigarette lighter.

It's starting to get warm enough to paint, so I have to get my butt in gear and sand, clean, mask and paint the dash. I'm going to order a "Just Dashes" pad too -- I've already got some special black plastic paint from Eastwood. (And Stefan sent me a black plastic steering column shroud in excellent condition -- thanks again, Stefan.)

I got silver plastic paint too, to paint the Dodge Caravan bows that fit '59's for the headliner. I've already removed the headliner panels; I'll comment in the other thread about those headliner clips -- not sure I'm getting it. But as far as getting the upper interior chrome rails off -- it looks to me like I have to remove the track for the weatherstripping to get those off. Is that correct?

Now that I've got the clock out, I'm going to want to try Tom Fox's trick for cleaning the points. But, how do you take it apart, Tom? I see little detents on the bezel -- do I just pry those back to remove the cover, and extract the works from the front?

I'm pretty good when it comes to taking stuff apart. Now, if I can figure out how to put this all back together... I might even make it to Carlisle

Dan