Remove these dash bezels?

[Tom S]

I want to cover this dash with something & replace them afterwards.
Somebody must have removed these at some point.  I searched, no luck.  How did you do it?
Tried tapping them a little, no go.  Seems to be a little flange on the inside.  I could probably grind the flange off & glue them back in but rather not.
At least they are metal & not plastic.

[Tom S]

Ground off the flange.



Bezel fell right out.



Didn?t expect that raised rim under the bezel.  For what I want to do I will have to sand that flat.   

[RICH MUISE]

Amazing how our mindset is nowadays..I was surprised they were not plastic. Interesting project you got going..keep us posted on how it turns out. You've got me curious about the "cover it with something".
Rich

[hiball3985]

Interesting, I was just trying to sand around those the other day and come up with an idea to mask them off before painting. Maybe I'll grind the rear off and glue them back in as suggested.

[Tom S]

..I was surprised they were not plastic.

The main reasons I didn't think those little bezels were plastic is that the chrome isn't worn off of them like it is on plastic speedo surround trim.  Also, it didn't break when I tapped hard on the backside of it.
I am wanting to replace the '58 dash that's in the car now with the '57 dash.  I have the rest of the chrome '57 dash pieces, & all but one black knob.
I don't like this 58 dash & it's plastic surround.   I also think the plastic is losing it's chrome & has been painted.  Paint seems to be flaking off. 



This red 57 dash is a spare one that came with the car & happens to be one of the parts that many, (20?), years ago I sold to to the guy I got the car from.
Now I wish had started with this other rusted up spare dash. 





Maybe I'm being silly, but the red dash is in good shape & I have already put a small nick in it while trying to grind down that little raised area with a dremel type tool.  Wanted to do as little 'damage' as possible but it is going to take a lot more aggressive sanding & will destroy the stock red paint.  I stopped here to make up my mind.  Anymore I think that *some* old parts just shouldn't be even slightly molested.



Here's the deal:  The red dash came from a '57 wagon that one of my Uncles bought new.  Years later the wagon was sold to another Uncle on the other side of the family & eventually was passed on to me.  The rusty old 4 door wagon finally died.  Before I moved house in 1974-'75 I saved some parts & junked the car.  That was just before I got into the cars as heavy as I did & I have regretted junking it every since.  I sure wanted that '57 rear axle for my Roadster later!

The paint on the other dash seems fairly good too, but somehow I wouldn't feel so bad about grinding it off.
If I could find a can of spray paint that was close to the right red I could paint the visor of the grey dash to match my existing red dash.  Or maybe just clean up the grey & use it that way?  My interior is red & black.  Paint the dash visor satin black?  Opinions on that?
Am I nuts for worrying about the red dash?     

[hiball3985]

I managed to get the bezels out using a small hobby screwdriver to bend up the lip, I put a bolt through the center to keep it from distorting. My speedo is in pretty fair condition, thought about replacing it but didn't want to spend that much for a new one right now, maybe in the future..

[Tom S]

I managed to get the bezels out using a small hobby screwdriver to bend up the lip, ...

I tried that very briefly but I think my screwdriver was too big.  I'll have to give it another shot.    Wasn't 100% sure what I was dealing with at the time.

[RICH MUISE]

I'm confused as to what you're trying to do here. When you said you had to remove the little ring around the hole that was under the bezel, I thought maybe you were adding a sheet of stainless, or whatever to the face, but if that was the case, you wouldn't have been worried about a little nick in the paint...so as I said, I'm confused.

[hiball3985]

It's the whatevers that scare me . I bought a Falcon one time that they had covered the dash in a wood grain contact/shelving type paper. It took me months to get it all off

[Tom S]

...I thought maybe you were adding a sheet of stainless, or whatever to the face, but if that was the case, you wouldn't have been worried about a little nick in the paint...

Correct, it will be covered, but I'm thinkin' I want to save that stock red paint on that dash face.  I, or somebody else, might want to change it back someday & that would make it real easy to do.

EDIT:  Hiball makes the point.     

[hiball3985]

Just curious as to what you plan to cover it with? Always looking for new ideas.

[Ecode70D]

Tom
     I know that  you have a cool roadster with a 406 and a pet bird that eats motorcycles, but I was just wondering ....   What model 57 Ford are you working on?  If you need a face piece for that 57 dash, you can have my spare one.
Jay in very cold Mass. 

[Tom S]

Sorry, guys.  Been holding off on replies since I thought I would have something good to show you guys long before now.
But being a professional crastinator besides some other self inflicted personal problems I don't. 

First, Ecode Jay, thanks, for the offer of the dash face piece.  That's very generous of you but I think I'm good.  Got the 58 one in the car & two spares. The model of '57 Ford I have is really a '58, a Ranchero.  It's so ugly that it's downright embarrassing & it needs a lot of work.
Nevertheless I posted pix & some info about it along with some other BS when I first snuck in here.
Check it out here ...
http://57fordsforever.com/smf/index.php?topic=3374.0
Very cold in Mass?  What?  Looks like it was around 30 degrees most everywhere in Mass that day. 
Got to around a balmy 7 or 8 for the high here the same day.  At least I don't live in Fairbanks or somewhere in the interior where it routinely gets to minus 40 or 50 and lower in winter. 

Hiball, I didn't want to say what I was going to cover it with before I could show it.  Figured it would get bad mouthed fer sure if I just said tape.  But I am going to use this engine turned tape that I have had around here for years.  It is not the same as the prism tape I see in parts stores now & does look like the real thing.
Kind of going for the look of the '57 T-bird dash.
Always thought the '56 Ford gauge panel was the best layout & not that crazy about the '57 Ford's.  I like the round 56 gauges.
As you know the '57 Bird is the same gauge panel as the 56 Ford but has the engine turned aluminum face.  I am going to go all the way across the narrow strip of dash with this but the chrome '57 heater, radio, & clock faces will stay in place.  Actually, I will replace the existing '58 ones with '57 ones. 

T-bird dash ...




Anyway, needed paint.  Not much luck.  Bought some satin black, still wanted to match that grey but really wanted the red.  Finally ended up at Home Despot looking for some grey spray paint.  Guy come up & says they can color match the red & mix it up.  They did & sold me a sample can & a little spray gizmo.  $7.91 total.
Paint is drying now.

It is pretty flat & looks a bit too orange to me.  Maybe some wax will help with the flatness.  Maybe I can go back & get them to add a little red.  Hard to tell the color difference in pix.   





BTW, Hiball, I followed your lead & pried up the flange on the bezels on the grey dash. 
It was different than the red one.  The bezels were sunk into a round depression & that gave something to pry against.  The red dash was flat there & hard to get anything under the flange.

Grey dash ...





Red dash ...



Unlike the red dash the grey dash had no FoMoCo stamp on the back, no numbers, no nothing.  Weird.

Yes, I'll post a couple pix after I get the engine turned tape on the panel.
Understand that this dash business is just something very minor to do inside since I can't get the Ranchero in my cramped garage most all winter to get at the big things.  Like the engine & trans swap for one. 
Wish I'd remembered to take a pic of where the guy had cut the middle out of the engine X-member just inside of where the rear pivot point attachments for the lower A-arms are to fit that damn slant six.    Gotta fix that somehow too.
My Roadster has the same '57-'64 engine mount, shortened & bolted to the frame, so this will give you the idea.



Guys, please tell me if my pix are too big. 

[Tom S]

Cheepo mod.  Still gotta clean up the speedo & odometer plastics ...







Maybe someday a dash like this but round black gauges, no console, stock heater, radio & clock stuff.  Still want to retain a somewhat original style & a bench seat. 



Getting a tach in there would be nice.

[57 Ford Kustom]

Tom,
   I like it! I think it is a nice look. I too have also thought the 56' had the best gauge cluster. I was thinking of doing something different with my dash, it's pretty bland. Where did you get the tape? Agian nice job!
Thanks,
Tim