Aaron's 76 Type LT Project

6 minute(s) of a 383 minute read

I am off this week with the intention of getting some good work done. Today and yday have been mostly about the body. I think tmro will be more about the dash and getting it installed. Once the dash is installed then it will unlock some more "fast" work (hopefully). I got some more body panels installed, minus a few bolts. I also got the G-braces mostly installed (need some different hardware for the passenger side).  

I also did some "improvements" to the NPD dash, which fits pretty well by itself. I added seven threaded inserts along the back edge where the dash rests on the metal lip. These are more to pull the dash tighter to that metal edge and give it a little extra support. It won't be "perfect" but it will be BETTER. I sprayed the dash with SEM paint today and will mess with it more tomorrow after it has proper time to cure.

Now some pics. Sorry for the crummy angle for the front shots but I was limited on space.

Here's some pics of the dash work I did. I started by doing just one threaded insert to make sure it would provide enough benefit. After some testing I did the rest.

I drilled seven holes in the metal lip for some 10-32 screws to help pull the dash a little closer to that metal edge. After drilling the holes I put the dash in place and gently pushed it tight against the metal edge. Then I marked the bottom of the dash with a sharpie pen for the location of the threaded inserts.



There are different hardware you can use but I went with these boogers. I cut the flat base off and then epoxied the threaded part into some holes I created in the dash. But you could use well nuts, coupling/connecting nuts or other similar hardware to achieve the same result. The pieces I used were the best parts I could find at the time but they worked well.





I drilled a pilot hole in the dash (don't drill through it!) and then used my Dremel to enlarge the hole. I made the hole about 2x as big as the threaded insert. I taped the bottom of the threaded insert with masking tape so the epoxy would not ooze back up into the threads. I then filled the hole with epoxy and set the threaded insert in the epoxy.

2-3-2017

BTW, I wanted to add some more info about my dash improvement. When I cut the flat part off the piece I used, I left the little burrs on there so it would add some "tooth" when I set it in epoxy. I had to re-do one of the threaded inserts because it was too smooth and didn't grip the epoxy well enough.  

I'll post some pics without and with the extra screws installed and see if it made enough of a difference. It will also depend on how out of whack your dash is. Mine was fairly good to start with.

2-5-2017

I got the new headliner installed, minus the perimeter trim pieces which is just a formality. This is the 2nd headliner I've tried and I am very happy with how it looks and fits. This is an ABS headliner like the 1st one but the key difference is this new headliner is contoured to fit the profile of the roof. The 1st headliner was just a flat ABS board w/ perforated material so when I bent the headliner along the sides the material developed significant wrinkles. The new headliner is also a slightly thinner ABS so it flexes much better.

There is enough material provided and the dome light & sun visor mount holes are close enough to get the job done. I had to enlarge the sun visor mount holes but just by ~1/8" which the mount covered up.

This is the 2nd headliner: http://www.ebay.com/itm/131618265255?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT The headliner comes w/o any holes (unlike in the photo in the auction) but it's easy to cut the material and glue it to the back. I went with black foam material.

I used the OER sun visor mounts and they are a very good reproduction. They are practically identical in every aspect which was a very nice surprise. The only bad thing was the mounting screws are too big but I had some correct screws from F-body Warehouse

2-5-2017

I worked on the dash as well. I installed some screws to the threaded inserts I added and it helped pull the dash in a little tighter. I am happy with the end result, enough so that I am not going to modify it any more. I will see if I can adjust it a little more. I am not sure an original dash would have fit any better so I concede to the Camaro gods.  

The driver side still sits a little high but that is a function of the dash having more material along that part of the lip. I ended up not feeling comfortable removing material from the dash since it's not something I think can be removed evenly.

FYI, this is an NPD dash, their 2nd run (I think they are on their 3rd run so far).