The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Interiors 1948 GMC 1ton Dashboard components

Hello,

I am working to restore a 1948 Canadian GMC 1ton back to as much original as possible.

How can I rejuvenate this dash cover back to original? I was going to wash it first good and see what needs fixing.

The top and bottom bars are stainless, as is the ashtray handle. They will polish up very well. The rest is paint. Have at it.

I noticed cracks in the dashboard right above the steering column-cutout.

We will need to weld this and clean it all up again, but my question is, how did it come about?

Is it fatigue from time-stress or something indicating an accident?

My 54 had a few cracks as well ,also on the firewall were the support from the dash rods are .No signs of collision damage on frame or fenders maybe rough roads ?

My cab was also in bad shape there, due to the fact that the floor and front cab supports had collapsed from rust. That put a bunch of stress on that area from the steering column which is rigidly attached to the frame. I didn't have as many cracks in the dashboard itself though.

The sheet metal support running from the firewall was badly cracked as well. That component changed from a stamping to separate rods in later trucks. Here's a pic of the end of that support where the steering column clamp bolts in during repair. Also a picture of the cab support that was installed to shore things up.

Alright, on it goes.

The wiper motor and gauges are out. What a miserable job for an old guy.

First the wiper (vacuum) motor, it came out pretty easy, nothing got damaged and the motor still works. I carefully opened it up. Some grease was deposited in the lowest spot and the vane got stuck on it. I removed most of it and moved the vane by hand without problem. All got assembled again and I replaced the #6 special screw with slotted head screw from the local store.

Vacuum from my 53 truck got the sweetheart moving easy.

Some pictures below.

Instruments, what a job, but persistence finishes the race.

I just got all wires / cables and tubes since I will install all new goods anyway.

The trick will be the gauges, if possible I want to rebuild them and re-use.

How does the hand for the speedometer comes off? I don't want to bend the shaft.

The odometer must have been rebuild in 1949 (one year old truck?) and 1957. the later had the marking '88888 miles', kind of unrealistic by my thinking. Now it is sitting at 29039 miles.

Is the oil pressure and water temperature gauges usable or would they be not accurate enough?

What seals the glass to the chrome ring? Looks like old heated-up tar.

Again a few pic's.

Pull
Speedometer needle is press fit
You just pull it off and pray
-s

Use a fork out of the kitchen drawer and carefully pull the needle straight up.

As for your question about accuracy, my original gauges (temp and oil pressure) are dead on accurate. Fuel gauge gives a good approximation.

The crack above the column is from yanking on the wheel to pull yourself up onto the seat… and yarding left/right with manual steering. Only way to save that is to put power steering in…and crawling up into the seat.

In my experience the cracks at the steering column mount to the dash is because the front body mounts and maybe also cab mounts have rusted too much and collapsed. Now the steering column is having too much stress on it because it’s bolted to the frame at the bottom and has no flex joint. It’s trying to hold the whole cab in place with normal road driving chassis flex. I suggest you examine the main cab and front sheet metal mounting points.

I bet your brake and clutch pedal holes on the floor are worn oval or elongated too.
-s

2MT, no the holes for the pedals are not oval. But we all know that the steering wheel is the only 'solid' piece to hold on to when we get into getting into a truck. Also, because of the manual steering and to get the power needed the steering wheel size we have, otherwise a smaller steering wheel would be the right thing to have.

Hell, we love our four-wheel babies.