Dash Question

[bridgeguy]

I've tried doing some searching, but so far haven't found "the" answer to my question.

What started out as "throwing an engine in the '74 K5" has rapidly devolved into tearing it completely apart. Seems that everytime I turned around, found something else that I needed to fix that required taking something else apart.

In the last 2 days, completely disassembled the front clip, piece by piece, and removed the entire interior. At this point, I've gotten to the actual dash panel which is secured to the body with 1/4" bolts and have removed all of those, the HVAC venting, etc. but need to remove the dash to continue chasing the rust.

Do I have to pull the windshield to pull the actual metal portion of the dash out or is there something I'm missing? I hadn't planned on removing glass, but if it has to be done, then guess I'll do that and see how damaged the windshield frame actually is.

I've also gone through some of the posts regarding coating bare metal, but did not have the time to go through all 100+ pages of ryoken's post on zinc chromate so if someone could tell me (short version) why it's better than a 2-part epoxy primer or one of the more "traditional" bare metal protection systems, I would greatly appreciate it as it has been 20 years since I've done bodywork and I know things have changed more than a little since then and I have a lot of bare metal to be covered at this point.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Alpha1victor]

The dash is spot welded all along the windshield frame. It cannot be removed without cutting it.

 

[sweetk30]

here pics from kirt @ diy4x.com under black sealer spot welds all along.

and 2 bolts per side in to a-piller.

have to pull winshield to remove.

search here for kirts dash kits installed . http://coloradok5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=247011&highlight=dash

 

[Deuling]

Its gotta be cut

 

[ryoken]

2 part epoxy is nice if you don't have to sand it.. it's kind of an archaic tech imo... it's nice for frames, or bridges, where your just gonna go right to paint... finish painted body panels requiring bodywork and sanding, not the best choice imo..

but there are plenty of bodymen who would probably argue with me, so take it for what it is, my opinion, and my .02

 

[bridgeguy]

Actually, I was hoping that you would find this post as I've been doing my best to get through the 100+ pages on the one where I first heard about zinc chromate but there is that over 100+ pages hurdle.

From what I understand (and I apologize as I'm sure you have explained this a LOT of times) I can use zinc chromate over bare metal and then go straight to high build primer or bedliner over zinc? The end goal for the interior is a 2 part polyurethane bedliner. I haven't picked the winner yet, but Durabak is right in there as they have both the textured and smooth varients and I was seriously considering getting lazy and using the smooth on the exterior but I'm leaning towards a flattened color coat still.

Everything else I've found online seems to point to zinc being the preferred coating for marine and aeronautical applications, but is it something I can put filler over or will it be something good for the final coating prior to bedliner? If I put it on bare metal and need to do bodywork, does it need to come off prior to filler or does filler adhere to it nicely and then continue with primer over the filler?

Basically, the last time I really did any bodywork was in the DP 40 era which was the end all/be all greatest thing ever at that point so I'm trying to learn 20+ years of enough to not hose myself while not being a complete idiot (not working as I'm feeling like an idiot at this point on some of these topics.)