'95 Mainframe & Top Dash Replacment

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Slowhand

Junior Member
Joined
May 15, 2017
Posts
27
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10
Location
Charlotte, NC
Ram Year
1995
Engine
5.9
While replacing the top dash cover on my '95.. the whole mainframe dash cracked & broke. So for the last few months I've been replacing the whole dash assembly.

I bought the mainframe from a guy who parted out a '97 2nd-gen, but I had to drive to a neighboring state to get it. (for the price it was worth the drive). However, since this was a used mainframe that was just as old as the original mainframe, I used aluminum tape on the back of the mainframe to keep it from cracking while assembling & reinstalling the dash. The aluminum tape worked great at stiffening the mainframe without any interference and the tape was also useful as a backing-plate when I plastic-welded a couple of holes from where a CB had been mounted.

The mainframe also needed to be painted to match the interior, so I used ColorBond spray-dye (med gray) with their pre-dye adhesive and it's a perfect match. Just hope it doesn't peel over time. (i also spray-dyed the original carpet while the seat was removed).

I bought the top cover off craigslist. The top cover is a new Mopar dash that was made in 2013. Mopar only offers their reissued dashes in one color -slate blue. When I bought the dash it was in the original box & I noticed that Mopar had placed a expiration date on the dash that read; Use Before 2043. lol.. But I didn't paint the top dash b/c the slate-blue is a nice contrast to the original seat colors & I also liked the darker colored top cover against the gray interior.

I finally cranked the truck yesterday after sitting for 7 months. It cranked on the 1st start, but I had pulled the coil wire and cranked it a few times to build oil pressure before I started the truck. After cranking the truck, it ran nice, with good oil pressure & didn't overheat while idling for an hour. It was good to see the ole truck running again..

I was hoping to have the truck back together this weekend, but I've found another unexpected problem. The aluminum bracket that secures the steering column has some stripped threads, so i'm going to buy a helicoil kit & rethread the screw hole. I also want to buy new bulbs for the instrument cluster & paint the seat brackets before I install the seat too.. So for now, it's still a ongoing project.

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DodgeTx

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 29, 2015
Posts
899
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244
Location
SEGUIN
Ram Year
2001
Engine
5.9L Cummins, 5.2l v8
WOW! Great job! I need to do something like this for my flatbed. The main frame is all sorts of messed up, I keep going to junk yard and putting patch its on lol.

Love the ambition and welcome to the forum!
 
OP
OP
Slowhand

Slowhand

Junior Member
Joined
May 15, 2017
Posts
27
Reaction score
10
Location
Charlotte, NC
Ram Year
1995
Engine
5.9
Thanks everyone for the nice compliments.. I'll post more pictures as I complete the project. Thanks again for the warm welcoming.
 
Joined
Apr 21, 2017
Posts
32
Reaction score
4
Ram Year
2000 Dodge Ram 2500 Cummins diesel
Engine
2000
Look fantastic I need to fix mine in my 2000 Dodge Ram 2500 Cummings Turbo Diesel [emoji4]


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Tarmac

Junior Member
Joined
Feb 2, 2016
Posts
11
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1
Location
North of Youngstown, Ohio
Ram Year
2000
Engine
5.2
Thank you.
Gives me hope for mine, like the idea about the tape you used. Good thinking. My dash is mostly cracked around instrument cluster, radio opening, and glove box. Interior is still mostly intact so going to leave it alone for now, but maybe slide some of that tape along the buttress areas.
Planning to use some walnut to dress it up, and trim out the rest of the edges. After seeing your work, I can it see it being successful. Thanks again for the posts...
 

ouch1011

Member
Joined
Dec 3, 2017
Posts
58
Reaction score
12
Ram Year
1996
Engine
Magnum 5.2
Just did this job a couple weekends ago. Definitely not for the faint of heart, but I got it done in a day. I was going to repair my existimg dash, but I came across an absolutely mint dash frame in the JY and pulled it out immediately. The top pad of the replacement wasn't perfect, so I replaced it with one of the LMC truck ones. Big job, but absolutely worth it. My old one was trashed because, apparently, the PO cross-threaded the driver side dash pivot bolt when he replaced the heater core (along with leaving several screws out) and just didn't bother to tighten it down, the the drivers side of the dash was basically just flopping around over every bump.
 
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