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today i started the long painful process of pulling the dash in my 68 any tips tricks or advice on the best way to do this and the best paint to use if going black?

joshua Wrote:today i started the long painful process of pulling the dash in my 68 any tips tricks or advice on the best way to do this and the best paint to use if going black?

There are always several ways to do any particular project, but when it comes to working on and restoring complete dashboard assemblies, especially when you need to repaint the metal dashboard shell, here's my recommendations.

(1) Remove all of the exterior and interior front windshield molding trim including the interior A-pillar trim.
(2) Remove the front windshield glass and old gasket. (I'd highly recommend having a professional glass shop do this task)
(3) Disconnect and lower the steering column assembly from it's mounting location on the dashboard shell. (does not have to be removed from the car)
(4) Disconnect and remove all of the various parts such as the a/c and heater duct work, wiring harness connections at the bulkhead connector, steering column and other sub-assemblies that will stay in the car when the dashboard assembly is removed from the car, the accelerator cable, etc.
(5) Remove the entire dashboard assembly as a single unit.

The reason that the front windshield needs to be removed, is because most of the attaching hardware that bolts the dashboard assembly into the car are located underneath the front windshield glass and it's gasket.

The are a couple of reasons that the complete dashboard assembly should be removed when a serious restoration is being done.
(A) It will be a royal p.i.t.a. to try and prep and paint the dashboard shell properly while it's still in the car with the windshield in place.
(B) It will be MUCH easier to disassemble and reassemble the complete assembly while it's sitting on your workbench rather than laying on your back inside of the car. You will also be able to take lots of digital pictures to document where all of the parts are located in the dash before you start dismantling the dash assembly. Trust me, your neck, back and arms will thank me if you do this project outside of the car!

One last recommendation that I will offer you is to purchase a factory shop manual for your car. It will give you LOTS of helpful tips on working on your Coronet and it will also give you many of the original paint color names and original Chrysler paint codes which you can take to your local automotive paint supply store so they can cross match those original codes to current paint products.

Ebay link for a 1968 Coronet factory shop manual in a CD format

http://www.ebay.com/itm/360555070369?ssP...1438.l2648



Ebay link for a 1968 Coronet factory shop manual in a printed book format

http://www.ebay.com/itm/160992841217?ssP...1438.l2648



Richard

Sawzall?

(Sorry.. that was rude of me... I'll go back and play in the woodpile...)