Still trying to address an issue with upper dash/lower windshield channel rot. The repair appears difficult because there are no GTO metal dash replacements available. The cowl is in excellent shape.
Question. Is the cowl a chevelle which is then mated to a Pontiac GTO dash? Or would I be good to find someone to chop out a 1968 GTO cowl with dash portion?
Any leads on source for this type of part would be appreciated. Also, any suggestions to tackle this repair would be much appreciated.
It's a heck of a job, but if the rot hasn't travelled too far up into the dash and down into the cowl and you still have the meat to attach to, you can just piece and weld new sections back in. I did it on my 65 B.
Just the one thing to be considerate of, is you must follow the same positioning and shape of the channel all the way across. The glass absolutely must sit in the factory position for the reveal molding to fit properly. The sealing system you use and the rubber shims buy you some leeway, but not much.
The one good thing is that the appearance of the work matters not. Just that it's strong, seals well and is long lasting. It all gets covered up anyway. I have images of the repair if you'd like.
__________________
65 Laurentian post, 67 Grande Parisienne 4 door HT.
I will be receiving a Dash Panel Patch from AMD next week. If anything we might be able to use it in the repairs. But the fitting I learned is not exact. Nor is there enough metal to patch the rot which has migrated further up the dash (the cowl is fine).
I came across the new replacement cowl sections during my search Carl. The issue is the dash overlaps the cowl, at the windshield channel, so that piece is of no use. The body tech is almost ready to commit some extensive time/labour in fabrication, as we have almost exhausted our search. Desert Valley Auto Parts in Arizona, and GM Sport Salvage in California are two sources of used, rust free, cowl and dash section with the windshield channel intact (still welded to the cowl). Problem is, $550 US + a whole ton of shipping. But this might be a good thing because a whole ton of labour could be saved.
Here are a couple pics- the part ill receive next week, and the cowl section I could bring up from the deep south (The used part is for a different car, but Desert Valley can supply the 68 GTO similar piece)
We are looking for good results in this repair. Do not want this kind of damage happening again. I know the repair will be mostly buried. But I do not want any worries down the road. Here is a pic of what the rot looks like
Thats settled. I believe we need to find the same part Cliff!! (For a 68 GTO- cowl, upper cowl, dash cutout) This forum site is awesome! All the input helps point in the right direction. Thank you everybody.