I need some suggestions....

[leghumpingjihadkiller]

I'm planning on completely dismantling the interior of my 74, including completely removing the dash all the way to the firewall.  I found the seats I want to put in, and am wanting to build my own dash.  Here's the really tricky part....it's my daily driver.  I figure if I can get everything ripped out, and still leave the speedo, fuel and temp guages hooked up, and temporarily mounted to something, I can work on it while I drive it.  I'm looking at a complete custom job, including custom air ducts, control panel, putting a CD/DVD/MP3 player in the planned center console, with at least a 5" screen, complete Autometer guage set, custom glovebox, etc.   I have quite a bit of metal working experience, and I'm kind of wanting to build it out of aluminum, and then make some wood panelling to go over all of it.  I bought the truck for cheap, and if I destroy it or whatever, I can always yank the motor and tranny and drop it off at the junk yard, and I won't lose any sleep.  

Anyone have any suggestions or comments or help?????

[shaved80]

are you gonna sit on a milk crate?

just messin with ya...that's how my truck was a few times, completely stripped. best way to drive it!

how do you plan on mounting the temp gauges? personally, i'd leave the stock metal dash, with the stock gauges in there, then take measurements and start building a dash outside of the truck, but that's just me. but then again, i haven't really thought it out and don't know how you're gonna mount them temporarily...

is the wood panelling going to be showing, or is it just for the structure?

if you have the skill and tools, do it, if this is your first attempt at it, then i'd get a spare cab to mess with.

just my $0.02

[leghumpingjihadkiller]

nah, I'll leave the original bench seat in it till I'm ready for the new seat...it's a seat with big armrest that I found in the Summit catalog...after rethinking about the guages, I'll have to use the whole instrument cluster until my new guages are ready to be installed/wired, since the original cluster has a circuit card on it...the wood is going to be what shows, less the sides of the center console, which will be fiberglass panels that I'll have upholstered to match the carpet/seats.  Building it outside the truck is a possibility, however, I really hadn't planned on having many metal pieces to cut and weld, since it's mostly going to be wood.  

Another question...I was thinking of using redwood, any idea how well that would hold up for a dash?  

[toplessblazer]

You can take the dash out and temporarily attach the cluster to the support that hangs down for the steering column. The dash is spot welded all along the top by the windshield. I am going to make a dash for my truck as well. I really hate the dash setup in these trucks. I am thinking of either a newer unit out of a mid 90s truck or a dash from a 67-72 chevy truck.  

[leghumpingjihadkiller]

you think I can remove the spot welds without having to remove the windshield?   I'm eventually going to have the windshield seal replaced, but that's one of the last things I plan on doing to the truck.

[toplessblazer]

You will need the winshield out if you don't want to brake it.