Packard Forum Index » Project Blogs

Everything has been removed from the dash. I still have a few more trim pieces to be removed before sending them off to be re-woodgrained.

I do have a question regarding the three dash panels. On the speedometer panel and the glove box door, the chrome trim pieces are screwed on and easy to remove and re-install.

However, on the center gauge panel, the chrome trim is permanently fastened in place. It looks like I’ll need to drill out the swaged tabs to remove. That shouldn’t be difficult.

My question, though, is what have others done to re-attach the trim piece. It looks to me like it likely will need to be glued in place. I don’t want to do anything to remove it until I know how it will go back on.

I used an adhesive powder with hardner called "Q-Bond". Good stuff!! Available at most auto parts stores.

On my 1940 which was similar, the pieces popped off but not without some difficulty. I seem to recall that I was able to do so using a wide scraper or spatula. There is a flat metal bar riveted to the dash, then the chrome pieces are pushed on over them so with care you should be able to reverse the process without drilling out the rivets. Once removed, you can probably leave the bars in place but be sure to not paint them as you may have trouble getting the chrome pieces back on if you do.

Any good adhesive of your choosing....nothing to worry about. Grab the dremel tool with a small sanding drum and move on.

It's for sure different than the 115 panels that have studs with nuts that hold that guage face in place.

Thanks everyone! That’s what I figured, but wanted to be sure. I’ll get the chrome removed from that panel tomorrow. Then, I can start polishing the chrome pieces.

Then, when I get the last few trim pieces, I’ll send them off to TX for woodgraining.

In the meantime, I had some of the old gasket material floating around in my gauges, so I removed them. The 87 year old cork between the glass and the frame was brittle to say the least.

I made some measurements and gave them to The Craft Wizard (my wife) and she cut a new gasket on her laser cutter/engraver. It came out perfect.

Couldn’t help myself….started polishing to see what kind of results I might get.

I started with the smaller piece on the right side of the speedometer panel.




After about 15 minutes of polishing with Simichrome, here is the result. I’m going to be very happy with this!