Hey guys, I'm in a rather weird situation. My car is a 1969 Oldsmobile Cutlass S, it was parked in 1988 and in around 06 it was pulled out of the barn (because the barn collapsed) it was still solid and no floor rot, so it sat from 06 until a few months ago outside (aka, water got in) and while it didnt rot the floors, the moisture did all kinds of damage (interior totally trashed, not even seat frames reusable, dash rusted out) but the floors are still 100% and for the most part the car is very solid. Now, biggest (and weirdest) problem. The metal part of the dash is shot. on the bottom of the dash above where your knees would be (drive side) the metal has rotted. Structurally everything is still fine, just the bottom inch or so of sheet metal. Can I simply unbolt this part and replace it, or do I have to drill out spot welds and brace the body and all kinds of hellish crap?

 

Not as bad as you might think, especially if the interiors out anyway. The dash has no structural role in a hardtop like the cutlass S. Find a donor car drill the welds out and transfer it to your car. The worst part will be taking everything out of your way. What a weird rust situation you have, never seen one like that. How about some pics?

 

Is a patch panel an option?

 

There's nothing to unbolt. Its spot welded in. You can cut a section out and butt weld a donor piece in or cut out the whole dash and spot weld a donor. If you take the whole dash out you're going to have to deal with the VIN plate issue. Before you decide what to do with the lower section check the base of the windshield channel because you're probably going to find that it's rotted as well.

 

I have a couple '69 parts cars with good dash areas in them if you need any parts.
Scott
c. 317-727-7041

 

As long as I'm not bracing stuff its not a huge deal, I still don't like the idea of drilling spot welds and re-welding in a new dash but if its gotta be done its gotta be done. Heres a bunch of pics of the rusty dash:
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Hard to believe the dash looks that that when the floors look like this! (after a good wire brushing and vacuuming)
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Ugh, pain in the ****. hopefully its just the lower part, looking thru the windshield the front doesn't look bad but ya never know until you do some digging.... I'm assuming I have to remove the windshield to check the Channel?

I may be giving you a call later on, theres a few other parts I need that are '69 specific so I'll save your phone number. Thanks!

 

Start by removing the stainless trim piece at the base of the windshield, but yes, to see how bad it is, the windshield has to come out.

 

I'll probably remove the trim and check it out, but being I don't have a garage and its winter in NY I'm probably not gonna pull the windshield yet. It definitely needs some rust repair on the back window passenger side ledge, and the top roof skin so I wouldn't doubt it needing the bottom window channel.

 

If you pull the lower outer windshield trim, that will give you a clue about how bad or not bad it may be. If it looks a bit crusty, you might as well pull the windshield & crack or break it in the process & take a look at that complete channel to be sure. New glass is around $175.00 or so here in Indy from a local glass shop.

 

Wow you can still get glass for these cars at glass shops? Thats pretty convenient. Cool. Still though, I don't want the car to be in the weather without a windshield and its too damn cold anyhow todays high was 37 and thats an improvement over the last week!

 

My suggestion would be to remove the windshield to see what you have. I did a 1966 Impala, it was a bone dry AL car, but still rusted at the base. If there is little to no perforation, you rebuild it using duraglas marine filler. I have replaced the entire area working around the sacred VIN area. It is a skilled welding job. You need to have a windshield to test fit along the way as a guide. I have a 1969 donor car. I just sold the dash, so I can cut the whole structure out if needed.

 

I may be interested in the whole 1969 shell if its solid? Where are you located, I'm in Saugerties NY. Just the body shell, doors, and trunk lid would be enough. I've been considering yanking the body off the car and replacing it. I also have another 1969 Cutlass that a tree fell on but its otherwise almost mint, so ideally I'd like to find two actual body shells and rebuilt these two cars. I considered pulling the vinyl top off and atleast until I get another shell, filling in the soft spots and then masking off the edge-line where the old vinyl top was and going over the roof with a few coats of truck bed liner, so it looked like a black vinyl top once the trim was all back in.

 

Yamaha; Here is what I have; 1969 Cutlass S convertible. Barney Rubble car. It does have a solid steel dash area structure. I will have to pull the windshield to see if the base is still solid. decent rear bumper, trunk lid, plastic grilles/housings. I am keeping convertible parts. All else up for grabs. Upstate 14505

 

I got lucky and picked up a 69 parts car which has most of what I need at the moment, but if I end up needing anything the parts car can't supply then I'll definitely send you a PM and see if you've got it. Thanks!