Hey guys, the dash in my 79 is garbage. My dad is an experienced woodworker and we thought it woudl be awesome to build a custom hardwood dash. You guys have any thoughts on this? Anyone know where I can get a guide on removing the dash? My idea was to take the dash out first, its practically useless as is, get some Autometer gauges and strap em to the steering column and start doing my measurements then. Two of the gauges I have on the dash are working, the heater console is non functional and the glove compartment barely works.

Am I signing my death warrant if I wanna build my own dash? We've built simple projects together like desks and tables, and my dad has done alot of complex, precision stuff like clocks, so we have some experience woodworking. He has a full shop with just about every tool. I don't mind not having a dash for 3-4 months. Is it still beyond our skill level? Is there another option?

I wish I had a camera for pictures :(

Is it still beyond our skill level?

You answered your own question ↑, (depends on your skill level.:dontknow:

I know it's beyond my skill level. I'm afraid of my jigsaw!

:nanawrench:

anybody know of any good guides that would be helpful in replacing the 79 dash? I figure we can probably do the woodwork, since no one has leaped out of the shadows and tried to save me yet.

i actually gave this a thought myself, in the same boat with my 81, the dash is in need of replacing and woodworking is a hobby of my fathers and myself. I'm thinking if a wood dash does make it, it's going to be fairly boxy, or you're going to use a lot of material. throw some sketch ideas up? perhaps bounce ideas off one another.

Well, the boxy look would fit the era these came from. But, you can just use layers of veneer that you form, then glue together if you want to get slight curves. Of course there are still limitations, don't expect to make 90 corners :(

But, if you did use layers of veneer and form/glue them together, you could get some beautiful sweeping curves, and it would be incredibly strong, seeing as wood glue is stronger than wood. I'm looking at custom gauges currently, thank goodness Autometer has quite the selection.

Something to keep in mind is the wood's weathering, how will it look after sitting in the sun for a few years? Mahogany might be a good wood to stick with, they use it for boat building because it withstands weathering well. Also, does the wood withstand mold? I don't think termites would be a huge issue, since its a car... but who knows? Perhaps if its not your daily driver you should find out a good wood thats also insect resistant.

Workability is another factor, some woods look great but are a huge pain to work with. Using veneers gets around that a little, you can have one or two layers of tough wood then more workable wood underneath it. Sky is the limit! sorta...

Not to take the idea away from you, it sounds very original, it just seems like a lot of work. They sell the covers for the dash that look very good, some people are covering their dash with fiberglass. You might be able to do a combination of wood inserts, center console, etc. Anyway if you would still wood you can always call it a Woodamino.

Nice! I might just go with the Woodamino. Is there a place to pickup a whole fiberglass dash? Or is it just covers? I wanna redo the whole dash.

If i stick with the woodamino, I might just do the rest of the interior. My dad was goign to help me build a nice coffee table, but my new place is too small for more furniture... I think I'm gonna use that money towards the all wood interior :D. Big project, alot of heart is going into this. I got no lady and no school anymore, so I have to do something aside from play computer games in my freetime! I'm pumped up!

Too bad I will have to use all Mahogany, I might be able to get away with cherry, but mahogany ages best in the sun, hence it being popular in boat construction. They cost about the same anyways... I think cherry has a better sheen and color to it after a while. I'm gonna see if there is a camera i can use to take some before and after pics. Regardless of what route I go, this should be a fun project to document.:nanawrench:

Choose whatever wood you want to and use a varnish with a UV inhibiter in it. I saw some at Home Depot the other day. Also use a dash mat cover on the top of the dash whenever it's parked in the sun. My Jaguar has lot's of wood in the interior and so do other high end cars. English cars have used real wood in the interiors since they started building them.

Doug

Honest i would NOT use a veneer, it will only peal and crack in time, wood glue is strong, but you also have to think it'll be baking in the sun for long periods of time (assuming it wont be garage kept) It would be pricey but worth it if you picked up solid pieces, for the most part, a type of plywood for the larger sections if need be. I've been putting a lot of thought into this myself, and my dad enjoyed the concept as well, to carry the wood throughout the entire interior, not only the dash.

My dad works in sheet metal, and i've planned from the start of my car to do a ceiling liner out of a thin sheet of aluminum the doors as well. The wood dash idea gives me some other pretty good ideas to incorporate into my doors and ceiling as well.

I'd have to say over all a wood dash would be unique even if we both did it. no two dashes will look alike, and as far as type of wood or color, i'd probably go with a think solid piece of Cypress, mostly due to the fact that it's a lighter color, it's what i had in mind. Mahogony is nice, and so is cherry but i think out of them all cypress would be a tougher wood (as it's used in exterior/siding on houses commonly). Plus i live in Cypress! haha.:texas:

I think that the whole dash could be created out of three or four simple large pieces (excluding the gauge cluster, assuming it looks like the original dash). i drew up an idea, however it looks so close to an original dash, the only difference is i plan on having a CB in the car, so i moved my radio/AC controls further up, to incorperate that into my dash. Hopefully i can start getting deminsions this week, im taking advantage of spring break to finish up my suspension/wiring kit and start talking about a dash.:yell:

Hmm, mahogany is supposed to be pretty resilient to weathering. They use it in boat construction for that reason. Perhaps using veneer wouldn't be such a good idea. Maybe only using it in small sections in certain areas that need to be curved could avoid large scale shrinking and cracking. I'll have to do some more research on the properties of it. I'm torn between using a lighter or darker wood, I mainly went with mahogany because it seemed like the ideal wood for the project.

If memory serves me right, cypress is on the softer side. Strong, but softer. Perhaps that is just how it grows in southeast USA. It might grow different in its home territory :D

In any case, I have also been considering redoing the whole interior. If I leave it how it is... its going to smell like mildew,pardon me, its going to CONTINUE to smell like mildew.

Have you found any sources on disassembling the dash on our car models? I have a 79 and it appears taht you have a 81, so the disassembly should be the same. I only ask because when I look at the dash I only see two screws. The dash feels pretty firm, so I can only guess where the rest of them are :(

follow this link - search is your friend

http://elcaminocentral.com/showthread.php?p=157802&highlight=dash+remove#post157802

Yeah the screws are hidden pretty well, but if you look over that post it'll help you out, cypress is supposed to be some tough stuff, i think using a solid piece, and using other solid pieces for rounds and fillets would work really well, you can shape them using drum sanders or by hand, and glue and fasten them in the corners. I'd say use solid over veneer for this particular project, simply because of the weathering.

Perhaps later today or this weekend i can cut up some scrap plywood in the shop and get some rough dimensions, if i can ill post pics/dimensions on what i used to help give us both a better idea. Be better i believe to build a prototype dash and scrap/screw up on that one that's only 20$ a sheet than a solid piece that's almost double.

thanks 464elky! why search when i got folks like you ;)

go for it cryptic, i wanna tear out my dash this weekend and see the screw hardpoints, limitations due to the heat vents and steering column etc. im just gonna tape my tach to the steering column, the speedo has been broken for years :D. i suppose i should tape the thermostat and oil pressure too...

in any case, ill see if i can borrow my dads camera and document this as much as possible. this doesnt seem like that odd of a project, yet i can find almost no documentation on removing and custom building the dash.

Oh, here is a great link! http://elcaminocentral.com/showthread.php?t=20209
That has good info for removing the dash on a 79, i assume its the same for all 5th gen

yeah it'll be the same on all 5th gens, yeah i already have my dash out, i've been trying to find where all the different wires go, i dont want to think about it much but i know im going to have to sit down with a wiring diagram and redo all my wiring, (it's all dry rotted).

I pulled out some of my dash, interior trim, and pod stuff like heater controls etc today. I just wanted to get a feel for what i was up against. I'm surprised at how well that car has held up, I found very little rust upon lifting up the floor mat and pulling the interior apart. Looks like the previous owner threw in some generic padding that was meant for house carpeting. Looks exactly like the stuff we have leftover from carpeting our house :D. In any case, I had to stop myself from going to town on the whole dash before going to work. I'm so excited I picked up a new passion/project. Ever since I got my job as a computer tech, gaming and computer stuff just isn't appealing anymore. I need a big project involving something I can learn and design and get my hands dirty.

I want to replace my headliner as well, that should be fairly easy since its more or less going to mean a few boards joiner'd together, fastening it should be fun. I keep wanting to draw up designs but I have to wait till I tear out the whole dash and interior and get measurements. In any case, I gotta stick with this one step at a time.

It appears that I have a leak coming from the top of my windshield. I'll fill in more when i know more, but it caused my passenger visor to mold over the two years it was sitting in the forest :D. There's also a ton of mouse turds and collectings, I thought I got most of them out with a vacuum -_- I even found a mousetrap that went missing years ago. Kinda stinky in there.

Lol, i think i'd pick me up an air freshener.:poke:

Yeah if you're using it as your daily driver i wouldn't pull everything out at once, pick a good couple of days where you wouldnt need your car to do it all is my suggestion.

The roof has a concave structure to it, im planning on using a big piece of aluminum to cover most of the roof from front to back of the car and on the left and right where the roof begins to curve down towards the doors, is where im going to use a small spot of the same wood i use for my dash.

interesting, yeah starting today im going to pull it apart. i got nothing to do the next two days so i should be able to pull it apart and get the stuff i NEED back together. my dad is an electrical engineer so he should be able to help with the circuitry, i cant imagine its too crazy, so far it looks alright! hopefully i can get some pictures.

i may have to get some advice on my wiring then! :P if your fathers an electrical engineer, i've got the diagrams but it's like looking at spaghetti, it seems to be a big mess. but first i need my wiring kit.

Here is the new dash I am installing in my 1970 El Camino
http://i614.photobucket.com/albums/tt223/PART70/P3070035.jpg?t=1236470543

I was just at a wood show last week. There are many types of glues and finishes that will work for you. Once you get all the coverings off there is just the frame that holds the steering colunm. Most of the service manuals for year will show you what the dash looks like exploded. I picked mine up off of e-bay they have the wiring diagrams for each motor and all the optional equipment.
At the wood show they had 'profilers' that attach to a router and you can make any shape wood piece. There is a magazine 'Wood' it may still be on the stands, a guy built a totally wood exotic sports car, vette engine, wheels. There are lots of photos you can see how they built it and good text explaining the downfalls plus a web site with more stuff. Don't forget you'll have to run ground wires to everything with a wood dash.:smileyb:

One little comment if you do use solid wood (which could be really great as I am a wood person)
You will want to make sure that the wood has been in the same humidity (before and while you are building it) as it will be after it is finished. If you don't it will shrink and crack. I am sure that you know that, but I just thought I would add that comment.
Post pictures while you are building.
elamott--- Duke

You might also consider using Teak. This wood is also used in the construction of boats, for the same reasons as Mahogany. Teak is, however, a somewhat harder wood and should resist the harsh effects of weathering longer than the softer Mahogany, especially if you use a polyurethane with UV inhibitor to finish as someone else suggested. I would echo the advice to stay away from veneer! (In a much earlier life I had a great deal of experience in cabinetry and outdoor wood finish.)..........Ken