The dash that came out of my 39 Deluxe project was pretty rough but through the years I accumulated two fairly decent 40 dash's. One stock and one altered with a 50 Ford instrument cluster. With the differences in the 39 verses 40 windshields wondering what the recommended modifications are? Looks like my choices are trimming back the leading edge at the windshield opening to eliminate the gap at the A pillars or fabricating a filler piece at the A pillar, or combination of both. Attached Thumbnails
yes on the trimming off of about 1" of the '40 dash [thickness of the '39 windshield frame] … make a paper template for the mounting holes first... handy later... memory says the lower garnish to dash end's radius differs... . IMO... the main reason the early rodders/ customizers used '40 dashes was that they were the first to have all electric gauges... no more messing with red liquid in a tiny tube running the length of the body from sender to gauge...
If you have the perimeter of the 39 dash bolt it in place then put the 40 dash over it slice & dice to fit. That way your windshield garnish will fit and so will the A pillar. Do you plan on using the crank out windshield ? The dash you have looks like the dash I sold at Parts O Rama many years ago, it had a old SW tac mounted in the hole above the speaker grille.
My 39 deluxe coupe that I had for years had a 40 dash in it with no modifications to it. I tied the windshield in so there was no crank provisions. All the windshield trim worked also
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