1960-63 FALCON DASH PAD REPLACEMENT

1960-63 FALCON DASH PAD REPLACEMENT Is it time to replace that cracked and hard dash on your Falcon or maybe you want to upgrade your metal dash to a dash. It is not a difficult task to replace your existing but and care must be exercised so that the dash is installed correctly. If you want to upgrade your Falcon and install a where none was before, you will need to obtain the underside trim, end caps and the top dash trim that goes against the windshield lower gasket. MACs Auto Parts manufactures a dash that fits right and it is made right here in the good old USA (Part 41-44542). Cleaner, vinyl spray and dye. New dash with one coat of dye. Dyeing the Pad The first step in replacing a dash is to dye the to match your interior. Dyeing is a simple task, but is a must to get the OEM finish and color match. The first step is cleaning the dash MACs recommends that Tide laundry detergent be used to clean the dash It has to be an effective cleaner to remove any residue due to the manufacturing and handling. Once the dash has dried, a coat of vinyl spray is applied (41-75606), remember it is a good idea to do these steps in a well-ventilated area, wear an approved respirator and vinyl gloves. Vinyl spray is a bonding agent that will lock the vinyl dye to the so will not take A nice light coat is applied to the entire and allowed to dry for about 30 minutes. Once the vinyl spray has dried follow with the color dye to match your interior (many colors available, (Click Here) Spray nice thin coats and allow drying between coats, 10 -15 minutes is enough time between coats. Spray each coat at a 90-degree angle to the coat. Apply enough coats to get full coverage, expect about 7-8 to be required. Obviously the final color will affect the number of coats required. Removal of the Old Pad The lower edge of the dash is retained by chrome trim strips. The trim is retained by spring clips, carefully slide either a trim removal tool or a knife under the trim and gently lift to the trim off. The speaker grill, defroster duct hats and radio speaker also need to be removed. If the defroster duct hats are original, they will need to be replaced (you might be lucky if you own an early Falcon, some of them were metal). Remove the end caps on each side of the There are three base of windshield trim that also need to be taken off. Once all the trim is removed, the old dash can be lifted to break any glue bond that may exist between the and the metal dash. Once the is removed, use a solvent cleaner to remove any old adhesive that remained on the metal dash. (Click Here) Trimming the New Pad The lower edge of the new dash and the defrosterradio speaker area will require trimming. Install the dash using some double side carpet tape to keep it from sliding around. Use an Exacto knife to cut the defroster ducts and the speaker holes. Re-install the speaker and defroster duct hats. Installing the speaker grill will hold the dash in Locate the spring clip trim holes along the lower edge with a scratch awl. Exercise extreme caution as a hole in the wrong location could ruin your new dash Once all the under-dash trim holes are located, mount the lower dash trim. Using an Exacto knife CAREFULLY remove the excess dash below the trim line. To cutting into the metal dash, I used a of milk bottle slipped up under the trim. The holes for the radio speaker and defroster duct hats are trimmed out Carefully locate the holes that mount the lower dash trim. The excess material at the bottom of the dash is trimmed with an Exacto knife, notice a of milk bottle used to the metal dash from a score line. The end caps installed, for a final touch, use stainless steel screws. If your round body Falcon never had a dash installed, holes had to be drilled at each of the masking tape markers. I used a Falcon that had a dash and took measurements for each hole. The trim was then over the masking tape to confirm the whole locations were close to correct. data-pb-style"636B5E093AF97"justify-content: ; ; ; border- : 1px; : 0px 0px 10px; : 10px; data-pb-style"636B5E093AFA1" border- : 1px; : 0px; : 0px;