Gap between Dash and Windshield

[kevin_tbird]

I finally got around to installing the windshield. The refurbished dash has been in place for some time. There is a fairly large gap between the windshield gasket and the dash. I can see down behind the dash through the gap.

Is this gap normal? It seems too big for me. The dash appears to be tightly mounted to the body and the windshield is seems to be set right.

Thanks for the feedback. I'll try and get a picture posted soon, but if anyone else has a picture of their fit I'd like to see it.

Thanks

Kevin

[Guest]

Hey Kevin,
There are three pieces of trim (metal) that goes there! My car also had them gone when I bought her, I have since found and bought them off Ebay!
Richard D. Hord

[YellowRose]

Gap between Dash and Windshield

Here is the picture that Kevin sent me earlier this evening to post. Unfortunately, I have been gone most of the evening, but here it is. The reason why it is not fitting for you is because you have it flush with the dash pad. On my '59 it is flush with the window. Move it forward and it should all fit in place. I will post a couple pix of mine. I see I still have some paint to get off my white trim and my windshield! I also see I have a dead fly that I need to get out of there. But in my pix, you will see when it is pushed against the windshield, the screw holes wil line up with the metal pieces they screw into and it will or should all fit in place. As you can see in my pix, the screws do screw right into the locking strips underneath the screw heads. So it was not meant to sit flush with the seam like you have it. Just push it forward and it should all fall in place. In your pic, it looks like the leading edge of your strip is right against one of the locking strips. Lift it up, push it forward and you should be able to put the screw in it and lock it down.

[kevin_tbird]

Actually Richard the center trim piece is there and and Ray I believe it is positioned properly. It mates with the dash pad on the detail line on the dash itself. I found the following description in an older post. Look at tips two and three - Ray do you think you and I got a dash pad that is too thick?

Kevin

http://www.squarebirds.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=5415&highlight=dash+windshield

[Dakota Boy]

Kevin tbird,

Is there any chance the the metal dash FRAME underneath your pad is from a '58 or early '59?

58s have different trim pieces without the slots in them. The defroster air exited out along a "gap" (like in your photo) that ran the entire length of the windshield.


Taken from an older post...from a guy who knows his stuff (not me!):

"The dash that was installed is the only one available, and the way it was installed will never look right because the molded front edge was never meant to be exposed. It was to fit up close to the windshield and then covered over with the front trim pieces used on the 60 bird.
You would have to cut holes in the frint edge to get the defrost air to blow up thru the holes in the trim.
Unfortunately to fit the dash correctly for 58's and 59's some of the underneath padding must be removed and othe places must be trimed. There are metal inserts that hold the front lip of the pad to the dash and then the vinyl is tucked up behind the metal strips so the underneath of the dash is painted metal."

[kevin_tbird]

Good thought, but no. This is the original dash from the car.

[Guest]

Hey Kevin,
I went down and looked at "Christines" again. My new dash pad (that the previous owner installed) has a indention for the defrost, that has not been cut out I also tried the trim piece and it also will not work, it will end up just like yours! By looking at it, it seams the dash pad is to thick and will not go into place. I think the slot, or grove in the dash pad is the place the trim fits in and that it also should lay against the windshield!
I will do some more digging later today and see what I can find out!
Richard D. Hord

[Dakota Boy]

This winter, I'm planning on taking my dash out and re-fitting the dashpad. I need to get the heater/defroster and wipers working too.

I go crazy in the winter without any "projects" to work on.

[jopizz]

Kevin,

If it helps I measured my '59 which has the original windshield and dash pad. The gap between the moulding and the windshield is about 5/16" near the wiper post and goes to about 1/2" at the center of the dash. That's the way it came from the factory. Yours doesn't look that far off.

John

[YellowRose]

Gap between Dash and Windshield

I can't tell you if my dashpad has been replaced in the past. From the looks of it, it probably has been. However, I understand that there is a difference between the '58-'59 and '60 dashpads. Alexander covered that in one of his Technical Tips in the Technical Resource Library. As you can see by mine, my curved metal pieces do NOT sit right up against the seam of the dashpad. There is plenty of material underneath them that they sit on. Good luck with getting your strips in place.

[tmjsong1aolcom]

Dash Pad Replacement

This is one of those jobs on a square bird that is not for the faint of heart.
In order to get proper fit on the 58 and 59 birds with the current replacement pad you will need to trim much of the padding on the inside of the pad. This is very time consuming and will require much patience. No other way to describe what needs to be done. The ridges on the front edge of the replacement pad need to fit under the trim on the front of the dash nearest the windshield. If the dash pad ribs are visible as in most of the pics, the dash is not installed correctly.

Ford did not make a replacement for the 59/60 pad but only made the 60 style.

I can help if needed but to actually go thru the install here would be more like a book.

Good Luck
Fuz 58's&64's
Sun Prairie, Wi.
tmjsong1@aol.com

[kevin_tbird]

Just a note. Mine (the red one) is a 1960. I think Rays (yellow) is a 59.

[jopizz]

Actually it was only to about mid-59 that the dash had the metal trim around the inside. After that it was changed to the '60 style of all vinyl. Regardless the metal windshield trim should fit in the groove around the lip of the dash pad. As mentioned earlier if the groove is visible the pad or the trim is not installed correctly. Most times not enough padding was removed and the pad is too short of the windshield. Even so I've never seen a factory dash that didn't have a gap between the trim and the windshield.

[YellowRose]

Gap between Dash and Windshield

Yup, mine is a '59 Squarebird.