Time to repaint the dashboard. After the dash had been coated with K38 High Build primer it was blocked smooth with 180, 220 and 400 wet sandpaper. I then coated it with DC 3030 sealer and let it set up for two hours prior to masking off the orange portion of the dash so that I could paint the lower part with Driftwood Beige. After a good three wet coats of single stage I let the dash sit over night before re-taping and masking off the beige paint so that I could lay down thee wet coats of Madagascar Orange. In addition to the dash I also painted the glove box door and the cowl vent.

After I had originally painted the cowl vent I had wet sanded it with 1500, 2000 and 2500. To hold it while I was buffing it, I clamped it in the bench vise on my welding table. Unfortunately, the vent slipped in the vise while I was using the buffer on it and it went flying off on to the floor. Of course it landed paint side down and had sustained some damage. Knowing that I had to paint the dash, I repaired the damage and set it aside until now.

The Dashboard Gets A New Coat of Paint

The next surprise I got was the glove box door. To be honest, I really had not paid much attention to it since it was a die cast piece. I sandblasted it and then primed it with epoxy and then K38. I figuring that a die cast piece would be straight by definition, I didn’t bother guide coating it, and just hit it with 220 and then 400 prior to seal coating. Well, guess what, it had a decent sized dent where the hinge boss was on the lower right side. Some time ago I had picked up a spare glove box door during one of my trips to Desert Valley. Lo and behold, the spare was dented in exactly the same way in the same place. As Lady GaGa would say, “It Was Born That Way”. Even though it was okay for the factory to send it out that way, I couldn’t let it go by, so I scuffed the dented area with 180 and filled it with Slick Sand. Tomorrow I will block it out and repaint the patched area using my air brush.

Next up, final cut and buff on the dash, install the cowl vent, check out the windshield wiper motor and if it still works, do the final install on it and the wiper levers and arms. Then it is on to installing the gauges and switches in the dashboard and then bolting the dash back into the wagon so that I can begin rewiring everything. Also, this week I got a new 5′ x 20′ roll of ProRod insulation for the doors, firewall and floors. This is really good stuff, both sound deadening and thermal closed cell insulation. The great thing about it is that it only cost $110 for the roll plus $10 shipping. I bought it from Larry Phillips over in Escondido, I will try to remember to add him to my links. I also am expecting the door and windshield rubber along with the window channels and whiskers that I ordered from Andy Bernbaum Old Mopar Parts. Still have more rubber pieces to order from Steele and also the trim clips so that I can hang the stainless back on the wagon. Oh yeah, I still need the damn screws for the tail gate hinges and a set of chrome bumper bolts. It’s getting down to the nickel and dime stage, except it is now the $1 to $5 bucks stage … 🙁

Progress is being made, slow but sure.