GMC An original dash refinish

Hey James, hasn’t anyone counseled you yet that calling me and working this out isn’t in your best interest?  If you are a friend of his or even if you aren’t I think you would be helping the community by contacting James and telling him to call me.  Come on this is stupid…. 8

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Morning guys, let me process a few pics and come back, I see there are already lurkers out there wanting some words….. get some more coffee and I’ll be right back…

After all that lip smacking Mac Dashes, I didn’t want you to think that’s the only option on our restorations.  Some folks do not want to replace their dash rather just refinish what’s there.  Of course doing this would cost less money so money is not the only gauge on how finished a coach dash can be.  Sometimes as in this case, you can go another way and still have a nice look.  Here is the dash in one of my coaches (Larry) as I was doing errands yesterday.  Let me show it to you then talk about it:

This 1974 dash started out like this  A transmode owned by the government there were not many flashy things there.  It did have an am/fm/8 track deck in the dash and before this pic I had already updated the air ride system with one of JR’s “Power Level II” air ride controls…. the original dash controls were not cutting it at all.

Taking the bezel out, I first refinished it with one of our brushed aluminum bezel overlay panels.    You can see the surround pad partially covered with new gauges cut in between the main clusters with a volt meter replacing the original 12 volt outlet.  Everything else stayed the same.    The original oil and water gauges while not being actually calibrated they can still give you important information on your motor.  If you know where the gauges usually run when the motor is running good just watch them for some change.  The gas gauge accuracy is a function of the fuel sneders which honestly you don’t really know WHAT they are telling you!

Listen… these coaches are too big to push and as you know a tiow could melt your wallet so running out of gas really should not be something you wanna deal with … so do not believe your gas gauge.  Drive distance with your odometer.  Drive 250 miles, stop…. hit the bathroom, check the temps on all 6 wheels, fill up and go again.  This way no matter what the gauge says… you will never produce fuel and if you say you get more than 10 mpg all the time you may have a growing nose…..  There are no trophies for how empty your tank is when filling so hey…. just stop and fill up… DO NOT run outa fuel!

I do like a tach which is clamped in true red nect fassion with a big hose clamp around the steering column.  I also love a manifold vacuum gauge so it’s right up to in the middle.  If you driver hills, your speed is determined not by the speedometer but by your transmission temp gauge which is also centered but lower.  Your temp goes up while pulling a hill tells you to slow down a bit.  The pressure pulling hills or heavy loads is determined by your trans temp.  The volt meter to the far right is connected directly to the alternator.  No alternator and this gauge goes to 0, with the motor running it shows the maximum voltage in your system coming right out of the alternator…. that’s really good information…

I have installed a single DIN (which fits in the original radio location) which has a motorized 7″ LCD screen for a really easy radio to use but I can also connect my rear view camera.   It not only will play CD’s but also DVD’s, USB thumbdrives, Blue Tooth interconnecting to your phone, mini phono input for your portable player.  Will give an AV signal for another full sized monitor, run a power amp and sub woofers…. oh yea and it’s AM and FM too!  What… $200, heck why not!    no wait, lemme get the steering wheel straight if we’re gonna take a pic, right?    I gotta tell ya I like my dash….. and you should too.  I mean while you are at the wheel….. it’s you, it and the road and ya just goots KNOW!

The main updating part is the dash bezel which we have in 2 materials….. the real brushed aluminum as I used  and simulated carbon fiber  which has a hound’s-tooth weave   They both have their own look  and finish out with a unique look.  Cost is $65 for this CNC good fitting overlay….. I have them in stock.

I have some important stuff this morning so lets call this a wrap.  Hope this was interesting, lemme know if you would like some help in refinishing your dash.

See ya tomorrow….

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