New dash on BJ8

[tomnanney]

Well I have the drivers side out, but not the glove box side. From what I understand this side is a little harder? Also, any suggestions on the best way to put them back in? Does the center switch cluster need to come out and be reinstalled together with the rest of the dash?
thanks
tom

 

[rjc157]

Even if you take out the steering wheel you can't get the whole dash in ,I did mine alittle while ago and it was a real pain in the ass I put on the drivers side and the center piece then I attached the glovebox side it was still very hard ,I never took the dash pad off though I would try that and see if it will fit

 

[Marvin Gruber]

Its been 5 years since I restored my BJ8, but I want to say I put it back in as one piece, gauges all installed.

Marv

 

[tomnanney]

Thanks for the info. Also does the center piece vinyl match the car interior or is it black?

 

[rjc157]

it should match the interior

 

[Patrick67BJ8]

Well I have the drivers side out, but not the glove box side. From what I understand this side is a little harder? Also, any suggestions on the best way to put them back in? Does the center switch cluster need to come out and be reinstalled together with the rest of the dash?
thanks
tom

Does your new dash have ALL the holes drilled behind it for the screws?

 

[tomnanney]

No the dash wasn't predrilled for the screws(that would have been nice!). I thought I would try and match it up with the old one and drill the screw holes. Any suggestions?

 

[Patrick67BJ8]

No the dash wasn't predrilled for the screws(that would have been nice!). I thought I would try and match it up with the old one and drill the screw holes. Any suggestions?

I made these two templates from clear plexiglas using a router with a template bit. I then drilled the holes directly through the plexiglas using a small cheap bench drillpress(Harbor Freight). Caution should be used in making sure you use the same screws in the same holes and do not go too deep in the wood. Use a scribe to measure the hole depth and then get a correct size drill bit and install a collar on the bit so it won't allow the bit to go too deep.

I have spare dashboards and the templates line up with them so it's probably something like this that the factory used. The new glove boxes you can buy today do not line up with the same holes so keep that in mind but the other screws on the glove box side do line up such as the center panel and end curved piece.

 

[tomnanney]

The dash is in and all the wiring hooked up! Thanks for the help!
tom