Dash, Fender Alignment, and Tailgate

As I mentioned earlier, the dashboard is easily removed/installed with 8 bolts across the top of the firewall and a single bolt located on each side under the dash. In order to access the 8 bolts across the top, however, you must first remove the inner window frame which is attached with simple metal screws. Be very careful removing or reinstalling the inner 2-piece window frame, however, as it is not very flexible, and has a tendency to reach right out and scratch new paint! As you'll note in the picture, the dash has already been installed, along with the steering column shroud and windshield. The wiring connnections to the gauges were individually marked prior to removal, and reinstalled prior to actually bolting the dash in place. With the dash connected to the vehicle only by the steering column U-bolt, I sat on a milk crate inside the car cradling the dash on my lap, and easily made all electrical connections prior to bolting the dash in place. You can also see wiring running across the floor of the car. When I re-wired the car after initially purchasing it, I did not want to deal with removing the headliner or trying to force a new wiring harness through it, so I opted to rewire to the rear of the car under the floor mats and through the rear access panel. Out of sight, out of mind, and a lot easier to troubleshoot or replace if necessary. I did fail to mention earlier, that in addition to not removing the headliner, I also did not remove the steering wheel. It does have some age cracks in it, and having had other steering wheels disintegrate on me while trying to use a puller on them, I decided to leave this one alone and just work around it. The fender is just setting on top of the inner fender and firewall in this picture, as I was trying to determine exactly how the front splash shield was going to line up with everything once it started going back together.

As I mentioned earlier, the tailgate is the only thing that I sent out to have done by a professional body shop. They cut out the lower inner and outer portion that was rusted beyond saving, and re-welded small graduated pieces of metal to maintain the curvature of the tailgate. They also chemically dipped the tailgate to (hopefully) protect it against any future rust. The tailgate looks very yellow in color compared to the door next to it, but it is strictly due to lighting in the garage at that time.

I was pleasantly surprised at the really nice alignment of the tailgate when placed into the proper position on the car. The body shop that did the work on the tailgate did not have the car, just the tailgate, and they did a great job of maintaining its original lines. The tailgate is attached to the lower portion of the car with an 8-bolt hinge - four bolts through the tailgate, and four bolts through holes drilled in the rear body. The hinge is made out of white metal, and it's not unusual at all to have one or more broken bolt shafts in the hinge. Fortunately, all four bolt shafts in the hinge are still in great condition on this car. After initially sizing the tailgate to the opening, I decided to install the weather stripping before actually installing the tailgate, to keep the nicks and scratches on the tailgate to a minimum while aligning it. At this point, I was eager for the car to actually start looking like a Kaiser again, so I installed the tail lights, using NORS rubber gaskets obtained through one of our club members. The tail pipe is setting at a strange angle, as the exhaust system was still just resting in the hangers, and had not yet been connected to the engine. I started to install the 3-piece rear splash pan in individual pieces, but ended up pulling them off and bolting all three pieces together on the work table, and then installing it as a single unit. Much better for alignment and ease of installation.