Ready to tackle restoring the dash on your 1967 / 19678 Mercury Cougar or Ford Mustang?
Here are links to our Toggle Switch Nut Remover Tool and our Dash Parts section.
YouTube Transcript:
00:05 today we're going to tackle our own
00:07 Javier Cueva's 1968 xr7 cougar dash pad
00:11 replacement a lot of people have emailed
00:14 in and said can you show us a video on
00:16 this or that or the other one by one
00:18 we're going to get to them this is a
00:20 driver it needs everything so we got
00:23 ninety seven thousand miles but it's
00:25 been parked out in a driveway for about
00:27 a decade and the moisture with all the
00:30 pitting going on and the UV rays have
00:32 not been kind to it
00:33 Javier can't afford to do everything
00:35 right off the bat but he wants to focus
00:38 on this area when he gets in the car
00:40 this is what he looks at and this is
00:41 sorry-looking everything about this dash
00:44 is tired the bezel the Chrome's bad the
00:49 gauges the backgrounds bad we got broken
00:52 off knobs bad dash pad bad paint here
00:55 this is bad everything here so he
01:00 doesn't have a lot of money so we're
01:02 going to try to on a budget make this
01:04 look as nice as possible and the first
01:08 thing we're going to start off with is
01:09 disassembly I like to start off with
01:11 these toggle tips on the xr7
01:13 you can take them off after the fact we
01:15 got this handy little tool here don't
01:18 use a screw driver you'll screw up the
01:21 chrome bezel and if you have good wood
01:24 grain you you risk the chance of
01:26 slipping and putting a big gouge on it
01:29 it's much more stable to do it on the
01:32 car when you have this fragile flexible
01:34 old plastic piece in your hand or on the
01:38 bench you don't want a muscle on them
01:41 you risk the chance of cracking them as
01:43 some of these are unusually tight now we
01:46 got a row a Phillips screw sole on the
01:48 bottom here I would refrain from using a
01:54 power tool here because as I feel this
01:59 coming out I see that the head of the
02:01 screw is catching on this plastic if I
02:04 had a power drill here I would have
02:06 snapped this already
02:09 and by the way this last screw over here
02:13 and I can tell this is an original screw
02:15 this last screw over here is supposed to
02:18 be chocolate brown painted to match or
02:22 at least not stand out too drastically
02:25 from the wood grain fascia that it sits
02:27 with I can see the remnants of the
02:29 chocolate paint on there I can see the
02:31 small head that is what's supposed to be
02:34 on the car and rarely is at this point
02:43 if you got a nice car you're going to
02:45 want to put a towel right over here
02:48 because you don't want to scratch this
02:49 column we're going to repaint this
02:51 column now if you have a nice dash pad
03:02 that's a definite no-no but what you saw
03:04 me do was rip this out of its foam
03:07 setting here because this is so warped
03:11 it was interfering with the cluster this
03:13 pads getting thrown away never would you
03:15 want to pull on this dash pad on it on a
03:17 good dash pad okay it's giving me some
03:22 resistance right here that's the
03:24 speedometer cable you should be able to
03:26 gently thread that speedometer cable
03:29 through the firewall enough to get your
03:32 hand back there barely enough room to
03:35 get your hand back there I should say I
03:38 stress be careful here all this is very
03:41 fragile and if you just bump it on the
03:44 wrong place you can break it so we're
03:46 going to go slow here and usually
03:50 they're just finger tight there we go
03:55 now we can take it a little further the
03:59 next thing we'll need to do start
04:02 unplugging this main plug usually comes
04:05 apart real easy if you know where to
04:08 squeeze right here and on the opposite
04:11 side and a little bit of a wiggle here's
04:18 a plug next to it gentle now we can get
04:23 it a little further here comes the wiper
04:27 switch let's wiggle as we pull that's
04:31 the wiper switch
04:36 lastly the tachometer
04:48 some of you will find that your
04:50 tachometer doesn't work and when you get
04:52 behind this - you're going to find these
04:54 two wires hooked into each other
04:58 that's the only way the Carl run if the
05:00 tachometer is missing or broken so a
05:03 correctly working tachometer of course
05:06 will be hooked red red black to black
05:09 now as I took this dash out I wiggled
05:13 and I notice there's no nut on here
05:15 almost always that nut is broken in fact
05:18 most times they'll get in and you'll
05:19 find that this whole stud has been
05:21 broken off reason being that's a pretty
05:23 hard stud to get to now if you are so
05:27 fortunate to have a car that has been
05:29 put back together properly or never
05:31 having been taken apart in the first
05:32 place the way you're going to get to
05:34 this nut on the back side by the way it
05:37 goes right in there the easiest way is
05:40 if you don't have a console you would
05:43 take out your radio assembly and reach
05:46 in there and get it I suppose you could
05:48 take out your ashtray assembly including
05:52 you know the housing here and reach in
05:54 there - but one of these two areas is
05:57 going to have to come apart if you have
05:59 a car that still has that stud I highly
06:02 suggest if it's if it's still there take
06:05 the extra time don't just pull on your dash
06:08 I'm going to take off the whole glovebox
06:10 assembly it's easier than taking out
06:13 just the liner
06:19 oops we got a nut that broke this car's
06:22 rusty in some areas from all the
06:25 moisture it's had in the interior too
06:29 we're in trouble this is held on with
06:33 the screws up here and five-speed nuts
06:38 also known as self-tapping nuts I think
06:41 on the back and they're shallow and a
06:44 5/8 socket we'll take them off I like
06:46 using a spark plug socket because I can
06:50 grip this with my hands or I can put a
06:51 wrench on that but I don't like putting
06:54 a ratchet back there reason being as
06:56 those studs are so fragile that if you
06:59 can't get it off with finger pressure
07:01 the next step is it's going to break
07:04 with the ratchet anyway so I'm going to
07:06 feel for these five studs back there and
07:09 I'm going to take them off with my
07:10 fingers and if it gets stuck and it's
07:12 more than my finger pressure can do I'm
07:15 going to back it off and try it again
07:16 and work it back and forth and
07:18 inevitably I'll go back there and I'll
07:21 either find it already has broken studs
07:23 or I'll break a stud in the process it's
07:26 actually no big deal because it's an
07:27 easy fix and the fix is actually makes
07:30 it better than factory okay your first
07:35 stud is about right here and look at
07:41 that I broke a stud and that one was
07:44 already cracked see that discoloration
07:48 don't sweat it it's going to happen
07:54 okay we got it we get out one of these
07:56 nuts off without breaking a stud so we
07:58 know we got one good stud back there by
08:01 the way we have these on our website
08:26 these plugs probably have not been
08:28 undone since they were new so don't be
08:32 ashamed to use a little help
08:39 now comes the dash pad now we have
08:54 another set of screws from the dash pad
08:58 itself to the cowl your next row of
09:13 fasteners is 3/8 nuts that studs are
09:17 embedded into these dash pad so these
09:22 are pretty easy to get to after the
09:24 clusters out just little guys with a
09:28 captured washer on them
09:38 okay your next challenge is getting to
09:41 these studs right here this is a non AC
09:44 car so it's not going to be too hard to
09:46 pull this out if you got a
09:47 air-conditioning car you just got that
09:49 much more to deal with there it's not
09:52 too bad though
09:55 so just let that hang there although
09:57 we're probably going to replace it with
09:58 a good used one look how pitted that is
10:07 that was embedded in the corner of the
10:10 dash pad and there's the flange to nut
10:13 that was holding it on the other side
10:15 now let's get the other side stud
10:24 don't put away that 5/8 inch socket yet
10:26 you got one more speed nut holding a
10:29 stud right here you probably actually
10:37 don't need to take this panel off to get
10:40 to the stud you can reach over there
10:42 we're going to do some dash painting
10:43 today so we want to get that out of the
10:46 way now to wrestle this stud out the sad
10:56 part is
10:56 had it been embedded in a good dash pad
10:59 and been that rusty there'd be no way to
11:02 not rip this out of its anchor here okay
11:09 now we're ready to take out the dash pad
11:11 we have to give it some forward pressure
11:14 towards the windshield because these
11:16 studs if you notice right up against the
11:19 metal there we go okay now we are going
11:31 to strip these down all the way when we
11:34 send these into West Coast classic
11:36 cougar for restoration there doesn't
11:38 need to be anything on them now this
11:40 little middle piece here it's kind of
11:43 more off than on leave it on what we're
11:47 going to do is when you get it back
11:49 suppose you could epoxy it in place but
11:53 I like to use these little trim screws
11:54 we sell on our website and then take it
11:57 over the grinder grind a little bit off
11:58 and put one screw there there there
12:04 there and there you can't put any screws
12:07 here because it'll interfere with the
12:09 installation of this metal so now that
12:13 was kind of a weak system from the
12:15 factory those peen Dover melted over
12:18 plastic studs they're always broken
12:20 everything else is coming off let's get
12:24 our handy dandy tool again to take off
12:26 these rocker switches or toggle switches
12:30 I should say keep in mind which way they
12:34 go
12:38 each plug is different Ford was always
12:40 good that way you couldn't hook them up
12:43 to the wrong piece so from the driver's
12:46 side black to red three black three blue
12:50 two three eights on that socket okay now
13:01 we're going to take this woodgrain
13:02 fascia off be careful not to pry too
13:11 much here you'll break that plastic
13:13 especially over here because if you pry
13:15 on this too much you'll take a chunk out
13:19 so we really want to be gentle in that
13:23 region we're not going to go for that
13:46 one we're going to use a screwdriver on
13:47 that one
13:56 this is a 68 in 67 this wiper knob
14:01 switch is a little more low-profile 68
14:05 you're going to have to get your allen
14:06 wrench out
14:10 don't forget your set screw priming your
14:14 it's your trip ometer and this is your
14:17 reset that has to come out now you can
14:21 take it off in every one of these I see
14:35 well just about every one of these I see
14:37 somebody's been in there and done
14:39 something wrong looks like they over
14:41 tighten some screws here when we go to
14:45 replate this will will go ahead and
14:49 enforce it with epoxy this little piece
14:53 when you send it in just tape it to the
14:56 bezel and we'll try to do something with
14:58 that other places you'll see little
15:02 cracks where they've over tighten screws
15:04 or just from age probably just from age
15:06 the most part we're going to nor cracks
15:09 like that the assembly still going to go
15:11 together okay with a crack like that I
15:29 think it's best to use a screwdriver in
15:31 tight spots
15:36 okay the only thing that holds this
15:39 woodgrain fascia on are these bezels
15:42 nothing else it's important we take
15:46 these out properly because from my
15:50 experience you're able to bend those
15:52 tabs once and then twice when you
15:57 reinstall them but any more than that if
15:59 you bend those tabs back and forth three
16:01 and four times they're pretty much going
16:03 to break off so we're going to bend
16:05 these tabs as gently as we can up and we
16:09 aren't going to go any further than we
16:11 have to because if we go any further
16:12 than we have to we're going to pucker
16:14 this area and leave a wrinkle in our
16:19 bezel there we want to want to make it
16:22 look like there's no trace like nobody
16:24 was ever here also I found that you
16:27 don't have to bend up all three tabs you
16:30 can just bend up these two tabs and
16:32 leave that one alone and just hook it in
16:34 there let's see how good we can get how
16:37 these come out notice the rest on that
16:43 that might even break when I go to
16:44 reinstall it it's weak if yours does
16:48 break we do have used replacements
16:59 there we go it's ready to be bead
17:01 blasted we're going to repaint those
17:03 black
17:19 okay that's what we want to see it
17:21 looking like when you send it in for
17:22 restoration we got one more step though
17:26 oh no we're not done yet
17:29 these have to come off for two reasons
17:35 one you're going to send them in for
17:36 rechromed and two it's going to be
17:39 easier to polish this lens with them off
17:42 let's get a little blade here now if you
17:49 happen to slip and scratch this I don't
17:51 think it's a big deal nobody's going to
17:52 see the backside of this
18:03 that gets carefully put in a ziplock bag
18:06 and sent to us for restoration here's
18:22 one piece everybody forgets to remove
18:23 see that piece there so if we can light
18:26 this up and show you what it is it says
18:29 high beam in red in 68 you need to pull
18:33 that lens out of there because we don't
18:35 want it to be chrome-plated and you're
18:39 going to reach in on this side and this
18:40 cavity and push on that stud ever so
18:45 gently and as we push on the stud look
18:47 what's happening there you go it's got a
18:52 little leg there so push on the stud the
18:55 tape comes undone put it off to the side
18:57 you will reinstall it later I know our
19:03 how-to videos are a little bit dry
19:05 they're good to put you to sleep
19:06 if you ignore everything in this video
19:09 start paying attention now this is the
19:11 critical part when you send these idiot
19:22 anyway yeah wrap these right
19:26 I mean don't don't skimp I know bubble
19:28 wrap is expensive and they hose you for
19:30 it down at the office supply place
19:32 wherever you get it but this thing needs
19:34 to be cocooned like multiple layers like
19:40 keep going spray foam I don't care what
19:45 you do and don't wrap them together wrap
19:47 them individually I know you know how to
19:50 wrap stuff but it's just so
19:52 heartbreaking for me to call you back
19:54 when your stuff gets here from another
19:57 country and say yeah we got Chrome's
19:59 here newspaper doesn't cut it
20:05 you know I would go another three or
20:08 four labor layers after this bundle it
20:11 with this then go a couple more layers
20:14 put it in a big sturdy box and insure it
20:18 for two hundred and fifty dollars okay
20:22 now we're going to start putting it back
20:24 together
20:24 got a couple products here that are
20:26 going to make a world of difference easy
20:28 to install check that out that is a
20:33 little ugly so we're going to go to the
20:36 website and get a set of these overlays
20:40 and these are 3m and they are designed
20:45 to be left in the Sun without fear of
20:49 them curling or delaminating or fading
20:54 and of course they're not a perfect fit
20:57 but you don't see that that you only see
21:00 a little bit through the gauge lens
21:11 we'll put all four of these on and that
21:13 is going to make the world a difference
21:15 be good to splash a little white paint
21:18 on these needles to make them show again
21:20 now is the time we're going to change
21:22 these translucent filters as you can see
21:29 they all got burn spots and they're
21:30 cloudy look at the difference between
21:32 this translucent filter and this one
21:35 you're going to have much brighter gauge
21:38 lights with this
21:49 to expedite this video I chose to grab
21:52 the already completed pieces that we've
21:56 been using these as demos in the
21:58 showroom for well a year and a half so
22:02 you know got a little bit of shelf wear
22:04 on them I bet over a hundred and fifty
22:06 people have handled these in the last
22:07 year and a half but it's a good
22:10 testament how well this product holds up
22:12 so we're going to skip right over how to
22:16 install all this overlay on the faded
22:19 bezels and these are actually our
22:21 Javier's faded bezels here we Darrel
22:24 just did these for us but that's on
22:26 another video keep in mind when you get
22:29 this service from us it required it does
22:32 include this emblem and these two
22:35 buttons will be rechromed although on
22:37 this demo they are not rechromed but
22:39 yours will be do know that now do you
22:43 remember how our switches go I think I
22:46 do I think it went black red the bigger
22:51 black and blue in that order and the
22:55 foMoCo logo goes in the up position I
23:01 use simple fine steel will to clean
23:04 these up and this tool is just as handy
23:07 for installation as it is for taking
23:09 them off
23:15 then we get put on remember how his tips
23:19 are broken off on a couple we have these
23:21 tips brand-new and man are they tight
23:25 you will have difficulty getting these
23:27 on I sell these products all the time I
23:37 have my hands on them all the time and
23:39 even I'm kind of surprised how nice this
23:42 turned out so we skipped ahead and
23:44 assembled at all actually Xavier did he
23:47 sprayed this with gloss black which now
23:49 he realizes with his mistake but still
23:51 it looks much better the big news here
23:54 this vinyl wrap three pieces it also
23:58 includes the overhead console piece
24:03 we sell them with these in cap pieces
24:05 and this piece that's the number one big
24:08 improvement here biggest bang for the
24:11 buck too by the way number two a big
24:14 improvement is the reek Rome
24:18 also we got new gauge faces remember how
24:21 faded these were before that really
24:24 helped we put new toggle tips on we got
24:27 a non-working junk radio out of the
24:30 wrecking yard just because he's going to
24:32 go with a secret audio system and
24:34 doesn't care if this works we put
24:35 reproduction knobs on it he opted for a
24:38 junkyard shift handle instead of a new
24:42 one
24:42 haven't rebuilt the clock yet but that's
24:45 later he's got a lot of work to do on
24:46 this car the floor mats I think are a
24:48 big improvement overhead console bezels
24:52 in place a few bulbs a turn signal wand
24:56 and that's about it it really turned
24:59 this interior around just doing those
25:02 minor a couple of major but mostly minor
25:04 touches so this just changes your
25:08 attitude as you drive down the road
25:10 looking at your car this is such a focal
25:11 point and gives them inspiration to do
25:14 the rest but overall for not a lot of
25:17 money I say he turned around the
25:19 interior of this car and probably
25:22 increased the value of it 1,500 to 2,000
25:26 bucks considering how shabby this looked
25:29 before... I like it