1935 Coupe front 6 dash screws and mounting?

[bob35]

I was wondering if anyone has a photo of the front side of their 35/36 dash, under the windshield frame. I'm trying to figure out how the dash mounted along that top edge with 6 screws of some sort. What I had in the car I think was installed wrong... the dash didn't have threaded nuts affixed - just holes - and someone just hung the dash OVER the body - so I had screw head, then dash, then body. They had used giant sheet metal screws that "sort of" threaded into the body holes to hold the thing in place (and then they used black RTV to actually "glue" the screws and everything in place, since the screws were barely holding anything... ugh).

I found a new dash and discovered it has threaded nuts affixed at those 6 screw positions, so it looks to me like the dash should not hang over the body, but rather butt against it, with the 6 screws coming through the body holes and then threading into the dash. Is this correct? I hope I explained that well. If anyone has a photo of those 6 screws and how they mount the dash, I sure would appreciate it!

~Bob

[JM 35 Sedan]

I recently removed the windshield in my '35 to install a new Drake rubber gasket. I had to remove those six slotted pan head screws w/fiber washers to allow removal of a defective windshield wind out mechanism and replace it with a new mechanism from Drake. I believe I took some pictures that will show those six screws. I will post here if I can find them or I could take more pictures and post them. I believe the nuts attached to the back of the dash are captive 'D' shaped nuts that can be purchased new from various suppliers including Roy Nacewicz. The dash definitely does not hang over the body but does butt against it. There is also a peice of what looks like fender welting between the dash and the body on each side of the windshield winding mechanism. Maybe my pictures will also show this.

[bob35]

Thanks John... that was a HUGE help!

~Bob

[coupe5w36]

I'm interested re the fender welting, I've not seen it used here before. Was that standard, or has someone fitted it at a later date???

[Tom Morookian]

Not sure about the 35 but, on my 36, the dash has square nuts welded to the inside edge of the dash. There was some thin welting between the dash and the body metal (maybe 1/16" or even less) The 6 screws are flat head just slightly larger than the holes in the body and they fit nearly flush with the body metal.

[flatheadfan]

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I can't say what was used in late '35s or in '36 models but my '35 (with 19K miles) had something like 1" friction tape across the dash panel lip. I replace it with some thicker fender welt which turned-out to be a bad idea. It spaced out the dash panel enough to give me a poor fit where the window surround moulding meets the dash panel on the sides. I eventually replaced it with some heavy-duty black gasket stock. Now, everything fits like it should.

Tom

[bbrust]

Bob, I've attached 3 pictures of one of the screws. They are #10 slotted fine thread and are about 5/8" long. The washers appear to be a hard rubber or fiber, They are slightly wider than the screw head. Hope this helps. Bob

[Randy in ca]

Things have been pretty much covered here, but I'll add some more photo's that I took and labelled a few years ago when I was taking apart an early 1935. On it there were caged nuts on the back of the dash. The anti-squeak material was like friction tape and was wrapped around the edge as shown in the pic's. Also including one of the windshield regulator mounting (goes on before the dash) - it has a couple of fairly thick fabric insulating pads as shown.

[JM 35 Sedan]

Originally Posted by coupe5w36

I'm interested re the fender welting, I've not seen it used here before. Was that standard, or has someone fitted it at a later date???

The pictures I posted here on an earlier post were taken of my Rouge class '35 fordor sedan that has never been apart. This car was manufactured in June of 1935, serial #2033xxx. The material used between the top of the dash and body is definitely a fender welting type material. I will check my other '35's to see what material was used on those cars in that same area. With all the different Ford plants that built these cars here in the USA, it's difficult to say what materials were actually used in some cases. The name of the game was obviously to get these cars built asap and out the door to make money. We will never know exactly what deviations actually occurred at those different plants from day to day regardless of how many written books we read and how much research is actually done.


The six nuts on the dashes of all my '35's are definitely captive (not welded) 'D' shaped nuts (not square) w/#10-32 threads. The six screws at the top of the dash are #10-32 x 5/8" slotted pan head machine screws w/fiber washers under the heads on the fordor sedan and round head machine screws on the early 5W coupe. No flathead machine screws are used on any of my cars.

My early '35 5W coupe, manufactured in March of 1935, serial #1612xxx, also has fender welting material between the dash and the body.

More close up pictures to be added as soon as I have them downloaded.

[dave m]

so is there just --cloth tape dash to body-- or is it suppose to have a small bead like j m 35 sedan's photos show ?

[Steel 35]

I asked our boy Roy (Ford bolts) about replacing this type material and was told cut cotton? strips and spray them with undercoating and you will have as close as you will come to the original. It was in my truck as well.
Thanks again Roy for all your help........

[bob35]

Thanks everyone!! This really cleared things up for me. Who knows what material might have been between my dash and body, but I like the way that fender welting looks, and may do it that way anyway.

~Bob

[FlatheadTed]

its Fender welting about 3/16 Di .I restored my car and did the reserch ,I beleave this to be the case ,

[bbrust]

I noticed this morning that Bob Drake has a brown oil treated fabric that is 1/16" thick, 25 foot roll. They advertise it as "Used between body and frame. Also works great between any sheetmetal parts". It comes in 1" or 1 1/2" wide rolls. http://store.bobdrake.com/1948upframwe.html

[JM 35 Sedan]

Pictures have been added to previous post #9. It turns out that three of my original '35's all have the fender welting material between dash and body. These cars have never been taken apart in those areas. My forth '35 (original std tudor sedan) has been completely disassembled and I am not sure what type of material was between dash and body but I have boxed and saved every piece of material removed from that car so I may be able to determine what material was used on that car as well. I'm not suggesting that all '35 Fords used this fender welting material in that area but I know for a fact that three of my cars did. Hope this info helps the original poster and maybe others who may have the need to know.

[Randy in ca]

So clearly there were 2 different styles of nuts used on the 1935 dashes. The dash on my early '35 3W has caged nuts rather than the D style used on John's. I also checked a build thread on the HAMB (also an early '35 3W) and found pictures showing the same setup as mine. Also note that the dashes using the caged nuts do not have the indentation around the nuts that John's pictures show.

The anti-squeak material on mine was weathered enough that all of the bead could easily have been gone, but somehow it seems like this material would have to be considerably lighter than conventional fender welt for it to be wrapped tightly around the lower lip the way it was on mine(?).

[rotorwrench]

The welt looks kind of like the pyroxylin coated stuff that was used on the cowl (gas tank) of the model A. It's a little smaller than the fender welt but made just like it with a smaller cord for the beaded side. The pyroxylin was pretty much just like aircraft nitro-cellulose dope. The cloth was wrapped around the piping cord then dipped in dope. This way paint will stick to it and it would be water proofed.

[Nytro]

Fantastic thread. Great photos some even with text. This was a great help to a V8 Ford newbe. Thanks!!

[Brian]

My late 35 Canadian assembled, had the tape, definitely no bead.

[weemark]

the beaded material looks like piping used on the edge of seats and the like, that piping only has a 3mm bead on it.


you can buy piping cord and cover it in cotton for a similar look I guess.