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In hindsight I should have bought all new dash pads, but I thought I could salvage the driver side speedo/tach pad. It actually looks new after the dye treatment. But as I am putting everything in the dash back together, I notice that the center gauge console bezel screws are not gripping into anything in the driver lower dash pad. The AIM refers to nuts being in the pad for the bezel to attach to. I don't think this pad has any.
Before I take two steps back again and buy a new driver lower pad, is there anything that I could inject into the two screw holes that when hardened, the bezel screws would be able to bite into and everything stay put? I'm not looking forward to taking everything apart again. Thanks!
Before I take two steps back again and buy a new driver lower pad, is there anything that I could inject into the two screw holes that when hardened, the bezel screws would be able to bite into and everything stay put? I'm not looking forward to taking everything apart again. Thanks!
Yes, there is an excellent repair for that. JB Weld SteelStik epoxy putty (or equivalent).This will harden enough to screw tightly into. SteelStik can be molded, shaped, sanded, drilled and tapped. I use this anywhere old screw holes have been "reamed out". This stuff works on metal as well as fiberglass, plastic, or PVC. This..
2025 C3 ('68-'73) of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
2024 C3 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
2023 C3 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
Originally Posted by C3 Stroker
Yes, there is an excellent repair for that. JB Weld SteelStik epoxy putty (or equivalent).This will harden enough to screw tightly into. SteelStik can be molded, shaped, sanded, drilled and tapped. I use this anywhere old screw holes have been "reamed out". This stuff works on metal as well as fiberglass, plastic, or PVC. This..
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I use this all the time for various projects works GREAT !!
2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (performance mods)
2019 C3 of Year Winner (performance mods)
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there isnt any nuts in there, its a hard plastic piece and you use a sheet metal type oval head phillips screw. Along the way and over the years, Im sure that previous owners have missed the hole and buggered up the pad so you cant telll where the original was. I would take a sharp needle and
poke the area where the screw goes through the console and into the pad
Fill the openings where the screw is to fit with JB Weld stick epoxy. As it is curing (cure time only five minutes after starting the mixing process), stick the end of an ice pick into the soft epoxy as a 'starter' hole for the screws you will be using. You could actually stick the screws you will be using into the epoxy, and then back them out before the epoxy cures and sticks onto them. I've done that...it works.
P.S. JB Weld stick epoxy is good stuff. But, remember that it is still only plastic once it cures. So, don't expect to put much torque on screws if the threads are in the epoxy. Just snug them down. If you need more than that level of retaining torque, epoxy some threaded metal inserts into the pads instead of just putting epoxy into them.
68 corvette dash pad question
I use this all the time for various projects works GREAT !!
