I just installed a dash assy out of a 71 monte carlo non AC car to a 70 chevelle originally a ac car, I left the side vents unhooked and in place of the middle vent I left the delete plate in there basically I just need the defrost and the heater for now but if I decide to put air back in I'd like the parts to be there,I did install the ac controls, main question I have is, what does one do to fill the holes from the insert? the dash didn't come with the woodgrain insert, I just used black RTV for now, I think it's better than a bunch of holes but theres gotta be something better, Jim

I have a Monte Carlo and I dorove it for years W/O the wood overlay. It is not like the holes are big enough to but your thumb thru or anything. Seen a lot of people dismiss the Monte Carlo dashboards because of the little holes. Might be I am not all that fussy I guess.

Recently, just for the hell of it, I shot a coat of semi gloss / satin black on the overlay and reinstalled it. I liked the look (with the white face guages I have installed behind the plastic lense) sooooooo much I had the overlay powder coated the same semi gloos / satin sorta black. My dash was really discolored / faded and I just was not up for pulling the entire dash outta the car. Don't know what color your car / interior is but if the holes are makin ya nuts ya might consider this as an alternative.

my nieghbor had one of those dash plates If I can catch him ill see what he wants for it and maybe install it, Jim

Give it a shot it really is a fast, easily reversable mod. If ya like or don't like it it is not a big effort to do.

Another thing I was considering but never did was covering the overlay with black vinyl. Not sure I would have like it but it did have some appeal. If the grain on the vinyl was similar to the seats it could add a more modern look to an old design.

Remember I have a black car with a black interior and black top but I have converted all of the holes in the dash to white face guages. All three little holes have individual guages and the three larger holes have a tach, speedo and a large "quad" instrument which has four guages in the space of 1 of the large center circles. All this stuff is positioned to look totally factory with the overlay and factory lense and all factory parts, this is not one of those Covan dashes which I personally dislike. To each his own on that one. The color contrast with a white 5 Speed shift ball and the white guages really brightened up my interior. Not sure about how blacking out that overlay might work with other interior colors though.

Good luck with it!!!

If you end up not using the overlay, I can give you some tips on fixing the MC dash. What I did on mine was took some strong duct tape and put a patch over each hole and stretched it really tight. Then got some really good 2 part epoxy and mixed it up and applied it from the backside of the dash. Once it all dried up I took a scribe and scribed some grain lines into the filler. The only one that looks funky is the wiper wash hole. Other than that you can never tell it ever had holes in it. Once that was done I taped off the chrome, and used some SEM dye/paint to re paint the entire dash, looks awesome.

Thanks for the tip
JIm

I removed the insert and stripped the woodgrain decal. I then used a semi-flat black paint and repainted the insert and reattached it to the dash panel. http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/tempdsh12.jpg

that insert came out great! If I can hook up with the neighbor I'll definatly talk to him about the insert. Jim

To the fellow member who requested some pictures showing the paint detail, here are some more pictures I have. I hope this helps.

http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/tempdsh10.jpg (http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/tempdsh10.jpg)

http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/tempdsh13.jpg (http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/tempdsh13.jpg)

http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/tempdsh14.jpg (http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/tempdsh14.jpg)

just got in touc with my neighbor and he still had the insert, can you install the insert on the car? Ive already installed the dash and I really dont want to pull it again, Jim

Just for reference, not all year Montes had those holes in them. I think the '72 had them stuck on with some kind of mild adhesive. I salvaged one for the '70 Elky I used to have and it cleaned up perfect - no holes to fix. It did have that annoying little seat belt light bezel though. That hole made a nice NOS arming light. One thing that was kind of wierd is that dash was ever so slightly narrower that the one I pulled off the car. I'd had another Monte dash on it before (woodgrain) and it wasn't narrower.

What stinks is I used to pick these up for $20 with gauge cluster at the local junk yard 15 years ago!

Hey Oman, you mention that you have mounted gauges into your original SS dash. This is what I was interested in doing to my 70 El Camino. How did you mount them in and what size are the dash holes? I have a sweep style dash that is, errr, a bit worse for wear, so I've just ordered a repro SS dash. I was looking at using White Face Autometers and their quad instrument for the center. Any details you have (and pics too if you have any) would be appreciated. Don't want to re-invent the wheel if someone else has a solution
Thanks
Derek

Wow where do I start................I am just finishing up the job now. Essentially all ya gotta do is ................

Take the dash bezel.....the piece that the lense attaches to....the piece with 6 holes in it (3 large and 3 small) and fabricate 3 plates. One plate you make has 3 large holes one plate has 2 holes for two small guages on the passengers side of the dash and one has one hole for a guage above the headlight switch. Ya fab up those three plates out of sheet stock I think it was 22 guage I don't recall but I could micrometer the thickness for ya. Ya gotta put the holes in the plate in PERFECT alignment with the plastic housing...there is NO ROOM for error otherwise the guages are cockeyed in the holes and it looks like ......you know what.

Those three plates mount the guages just like any guage would mount to one of those "old time" under dash mounts. Sorta.....the issue is the standard guage mounting hardware pulls the guage away from the 6 hole plastic unit and up against the plate ....think about the old under dash mounting again. The plates I told ya about mount to the plastic factory unit..I wish I knew what to call it. In principal it is exactly the same mounting process as those old time under dash mounts but ya gott get the guages to stay foreward enough to touch the housing. In order to get the guages to butt up against the plastic housing you have to make a "spacer" for each guage so its face sits tight against the plastic AT THE SAME TIME THAT IT IS held snugly to the plates you fabricated. as I outlined above. This is not difficult it is a PIA though. I fabricate a spacer by winding electrical tape around the body of each guage then trimming the tape till it was just the right thickness. This sounds weird but honestly it works very nicely. It all just takes time.

You also have to correctly position holes in the main large hole plate for the signals and the high beam indicator. Again not hard but the dimensions gotta be VERY VERY precise or it is gonna look rotten.

I used Classic Instruments becase the flange / bezel on the front of their guage fits EXACTLY into the stock 6 hole factory piece..I mean it is perfect. Classic makes the guages with a black bezel and it is a PERFECT match to the factory dash panel. I used three large Classic guages...Tach. speedo and a Quad guage that has gas/ temp/ volts and oil pressure in on . THose three units fill the large holes. Then in the three small holes I put an oil temp guage, a clock and a Vac guage. I REALLY like the way it is coming out but it is a LOT OF WORK. ONe hole outta place even a little on those plates and ya gotta start over YOU MUST BE VERY CAREFUL, TAKE YOUR TIME and WALK AWAY DON"T RUSH WHEN YOU ARE TIRED.

There are more little nitty gritty details and I would be glad to share them but this will turn into a book if I try to put it all here. If you wanna do this and you want to talk send me an e-mail and I will give ya my phone......hpexpatriot@yahoo.com

Take at look at the white face Classic Inctrument guages on their web site. My dealings with them have convinced me they are a top notch operation to work with. I think ya buy their stuff direct OR thru some of the suppliers. Ya just gotta know exactly what to order...but I already have that all figured out. If I can help be glad to do it.

Also the wiring is a piece of cake. The stock wiring can be easily adapted ..figured all that out already.....

Let me know if I can do anything else.

Hi Oman,
Thanks for the info, its precisely what I wanted, I'll definately take a look at the Classic Instruments as well if their bezel fits so well. I'll shoot you off an Email as I have a couple more questions concerning which original parts you re-used. I'm buying a repro SS Dash, and if I don't need to buy the instrument carrier, PCB and suchlike, that'll help keep the cost down. Anyway thanks very much and I'd love to see a photo, it always looks very proffesional when you can use aftermarket instruments behind a stock dash. BTW did you have any depth problems with the instruments getting near the dash frame mounts?
Derek

No not really. The Classic Speedo is deeper than the Quad and deeper than the tack and it is gonna be OK. I think the speedo will likely go in the right most large hole. The way I built the "plate" that holds the guages it bolts right to the plastic carrier......the factory stamped tin carrier gets retired in this install. Actually ya need it for some of the fabrication...it makes a great patern model but after the job is done the tin piece goes away.

Front to back you have the dash itself then the plastic factory lense then the plastic carrier then the plate I described.

I wish I had some pictures to post ...something I have done to keep a friend of mine up to speed on the stuff I have done to the car involves VGR and my cam corder. I just make a cam corder tape and "back feed" it into the VCR with the VCR on record. I mail it to him then he just sits down and takes a tour with me. Audio and all. If ya want when we talk I can gve you an address...send me a VCR tape and I can gen up a copy for you when I make one for him. Not exactly ready yet but I am planning on starting that process in a week or so. I also have what I think is a COOL / EASY way to get rid of the cigarette lighter and put a warning light for the oil pressure in there. I have a guage for OP but the warning light is sorta cool. You could also use it for a gen warning light or even a temp warning. I don't smoke and I dont want a cigarette lighter in the car .....dumping the lighter was just something that occured to me one day while doing something else.

Love to share anything I can with ya.

Hi Oman,
Oooops, read this post after I had replied to your email, so sorry for asking the same questions about pics and the depth issues, you answered them here.
I'll bite the bullet and pic up the plastic carrier and dash lens as well. I've only seem the repro plastic and tin carriers together as an 'instrument carrier', so I'll just pick one up. Might as well do it right.
Thansk again for the Email and the posts, you've been extremely helpful. When I start the conversion I'll post pics as I go along so everyone can see what (and what not) to do.
I'll keep everyone up to speed as I work through the summers.
Cheers
Derek