With the center A/C vent printed and installed I went ahead and remade all the knobs for the A/C (x3), wiper switch, light switch and lighter so they all somewhat matched. I reused the knob inserts I had for the A/C knobs. I tore apart the wiper knob on the aftermarket wiper kit to extract the insert to use for the new printed knob for the wiper. I had to fab an insert out of aluminum for the light switch since it was an odd size (an aftermarket light switch that came with the wiring harness). I made a cap for the cigarette lighter and bonded it on top of the existing knob.... but found out while bonding it on that the knob simply screwed on with a short threaded shaft. So I could have removed it and made a replacement knob instead of capping it but I was already committed. I think they turned out pretty good.
For the three A/C knobs I need to figure out if I want to use the stickers that came with the A/C system or if I want to have something else made. I was thinking about having some stainless, aluminum or chromed dial markings engraved to make it more retro looking but I'm still looking into it. Another site suggested seeing if a trophy shop can make what I'm looking to use.
I also repainted the center dash and glovebox door to satin black with silver highlights instead of the brown that it came with. The interior is going to be primarily black so the brown would have clashed so it had to go.
With that repainted, I worked on a new glovebox/fusebox. The A/C unit cuts into the glovebox depth considerably so I knew I had to have a shallow glovebox...which is available from Vintage Air but I also needed to find a place for the fusebox. Space is pretty tight under these dashes and the shallow glovebox is very limited on what it can hold, so I decided to see if I could mount the fusebox inside of the glovebox instead of cramming it elsewhere.
The wiring harness I selected is a generic harness from Speedway Motors and the first thing I needed to do was to check and see if the fusebox would even fit in the glovebox. I had a repro original glovebox to check it against and it looked to be close but doable. I used the repro box to come up with a cardboard template and utilized that to fab a shallow box out of 22 Ga steel. I welded up the “hoop” and test fit it to the opening,drilled the mounting holes and then made a template for the back as well as a template for the fusebox hole that needed to be cut in the back.
I then cut the back out of metal, located the fusebox cutout on the back piece and test fit it to the fusebox. After a few test fits and subsequent trims, I mig welded it all together. I also drilled a hole for a large p-clamp next to the fusebx to help hold the wires that connect it. The p-clamp will hopefully act as a strain-relief for the wires. Next, it was epoxy primed and I decided to paint it with the black Raptor bedliner. Then I installed it and after a few more trims (around the glovebox latch and paint touch-ups), considered it complete.
Next up is getting the front sheet metal mounted and all the gaps checked.
1949 Chevy Panel Truck A Project Journal I'm old but I make up for it by being immature.
