Bummer uncovered
 

So my dash had vinyl covering the dash pad all the way to the bottom of the windshield. I bought a new brown (saddle) dash pad as I plan on changing the color over on my interior.

This is what I found when pulling the vinyl and padding off...

Yes, one on each side, covered with aluminum and aluminum ducting tape...

Re: Bummer uncovered
 

Yikes....looks like a previous owner wanted a set of 6x9's in the front dash.
did it mess up the defrost vents or are they still intact?

C

Re: Bummer uncovered
 

What's the plan now? Patch up the holes, or install new 6x9s and enjoy better-than-stock sound, or.....?

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I have always wanted dash speakers in my truck but I want them over towards each side further. Don't want that big of a speaker either!:chevy:

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Fixing that looks like taking the windshield out, and having patches welded in. Lot of work. Sorry to see this situation.

Re: Bummer uncovered
 

It was such a bummer to find.

Well, they are 4x6 holes and the defroster and center speaker vents are OK and intact.

My plan is to cover them back up with the aluminum and the aluminum duct tape, then while the pad is off, have someone install thick flat black vinyl wrap over it (like used on outsides of cars) that way the speaker grille and defroster vent holes will all be ok and usable.

I figured:
1. That matte gold will be hard to color match with paint after all the welding and body work are complete.
2. Thick material will hopefully hide imperfections.
3. I don't want to disassemble the dash and pull the windshield just for this.

Also, I want to add a pair of 4" round speakers under the grille while in here.

Re: Bummer uncovered
 

Why not find some thin 6x9 speaker covers. Paint em the same color as the dash, Im assuming semi glossish black for the metal part. Maybe put some speaker cloth down (or even cut up a black t-shirt) first so you cant see all the way through if you are staring down outside the windshield.

Make it look good, uniform. No need to put actual speaker in there if you don't want to.

Re: Bummer uncovered
 

you can cover the holes with whatever and get a carpet dash cover to hide it...I am putting a new pad in mine and have a carpet dash cover to protect the new pad..

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If it was mine I'd install a nice set of 2 way 4x6 plate speakers.. allowing stereo separation that the dual center speaker set up's don't give you..
paint the speaker grills to match the dash color and call it good..

Re: Bummer uncovered
 

I guess it's time for someone to step up and make a replacement panel for these truck dashes. Like the radio replacement pieces. It's a big deal on a cut dash for the radio but not the top side I guess!:lol::lol::lol::lol:

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What I'm interested in are the stickers... they look almost "new", are they repo's?

It says contestant in the NHRA winter nationals in '83... it was still a fairly new truck then, is there a lot of "customization" done to the truck?

As for the hole, that's going to be tough to replace with the windshield in.

Re: Bummer uncovered
 

maybe the holes where from a rollbar

stickers don't fade when vehicle sits in a shop or trailer..
but they do look mighty new..

Re: Bummer uncovered
 

Unless you're going to have a new piece of metal go accross the entire dash you're probably still going to see seams and such with vinyl wrap material. I've had good luck using vinyl upholstery material on package trays/shelfs that were patched as it's thicker and hides imperfections better.

If it was me I'd consider putting speakers in the holes. Mount the speakers from under the dash so only the screws are on top of the dash and make new speaker grills. Use some 1/8 steel rod and bend it to the contour of the outer edge of the speaker, weld where the ends meet. Alternatively you can make something similar out of wood, sheets of plastic, etc. Spray some adhesive on the rings you just made and wrap them with speaker cloth. You can glue them down, glue some magnets to the rings to hold them down, or whatever else I'm not thinking of. Either way you now have a simple looking, low profile speaker grill that's way more attractive than what comes with most speakers these days.

Re: Bummer uncovered
 

I have kick panel speakers and just want a clean dash. One thing I dislike is cutting up a car to put speakers in. There is always another way around it...

I have dual 4" in my impalas single dash speaker opening and they sound great.

The stickers are repops from a vendor at hot rod reunion. The goal is to make a period correct looking shop truck as I change things. It had a lecarra wheel and billet rear view mirror when I got it that were soon replaced with a corvette wood wheel and stock mirror.

Re: Bummer uncovered
 

Couldn't agree more! Only thing worse than cutting holes for speakers is the hack jobs some do cutting the holes. You'd think they did it with a can opener in the dark.

Re: Bummer uncovered
 

you could panel bond some sheet metal there

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Well his fix went un-noticed until you took it apart. Just a thought. You could use that dash pad carpet, a thin strip, cut holes in the pad for the defrosters and mount them over it. In black might work out.

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Many of the tools everyone can find cheap today were not avail. years ago..
Way to many forget this nugget

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Those are pretty cool! :metal:

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Well, until I can pull the windshield and weld it up right, here is what I did. A couple pieces of galvanized metal with double sided tape. It sat much more flush before the tape. And I needed tape for 2 reasons:
1. Ease of removal to properly repair at a later date.
2. less chance of rattle/vibration.

I'll spray the top of the dash satin black this weekend and put my new dash pad on.

I also got a new gauge bezel. I am considering painting the black part "Brown" (since it is a GMC) but not sure what color brown that would be. Any ideas?

Re: Bummer uncovered
 

Wow, I totally misread your initial post, I thought they cut the original center speaker hole open, they cut one on each side of the dash and left the center one alone.

Re: Bummer uncovered
 

Exactly what I was thinking...

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=731165

Re: Bummer uncovered
 

I'd toss the metal..
and use maybe something like this.

one on 1 side


https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon....16HbgoWVwL.jpg


and this on the other
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com...2ac9d9f00f.jpg


It not look out of place, and unless you tell someone no one will know they are covering holes.

Re: Bummer uncovered
 

Wow! That really blows.

You could make a peice of formica or similar shapeable material tinted lexan comes to mind.
Both materials can be had in all kinds of textures and colors.

You could slowly and carefully router in the oe pattern for the ducts and radio slots.

A peice of that cheap auto carpeting like the parts store sells,like the stuff they cover woofer boxes in.

Or you could try too epoxy in your patch plates from the bottom fill in and smooth out the top and vinyl wrap it.

I know its easier said than done but might not look bad at all.

Really not a bad idea too have speakers up there if you wanted a "system" so they call it.
I have some(dusty) new vintage radio shack speaker grills that would probably look ok on there.
but I see it's not what you want.

That dash pad looks to be the easiest best route though.

Re: Bummer uncovered
 

Here is how it turned out after painting.

The end results with the new dash pad are in this thread.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=732767