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I’m trying to rebuild my left hand (drivers side) dash on my 69. I’ve attempted to attach the headlamp switch nut to the switch but on the new aftermarket panel it doesn’t allow the nut on the plastic light bezel to come out far enough in the back to screw into the switch. My original panel had been modified so I couldn’t refer to that for a solution.
My question is should the vinyl and padding under the plastic light be completely cut away so that it can sit flush on the hard plastic? I’v cut away from the actual hole for the nut to pass through so it is clear but still not reaching. I’m just worried that if I cut out the outlying for that plastic light bezel that some of the material on the dash will start coming loose around the light switch. Or is there a slightly longer nut from another GM car that would work?
Here’s a pic of the plastic light bezel I’m talking about:
Not sure how your model is, but on my 78 the switch needs to be rotated to a certain position and THEN it sticks out far enough to put the nut/bezel or whatever you have. On mine the back side of the dash isn't flat, so all the little indentations on the switch need to mach up with the ones in the dash.
The switch itself in the back is flush when it’s rotated in the correct position. The problem is the nut coming in from the front only protrudes out the back of the dash panel maybe 1 thread. I need about 1/8-1/4” more.
2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (performance mods)
2019 C3 of Year Winner (performance mods)
2016 C3 of Year Finalist
i wouldnt cut the panel, or vinyl. What we used to do to fit ski boots was use a hard backing and tap on the padded liner of the boot with a hammer to break down the padding to create more room for peoples feet. You could do the same, back that small area with a wooden block and tap the pad in front to get it to flatten out a tiny bit to give you the 3 or 4 more threads you need. Just be careful not to break the panel backing.
cutting into the material may just give it an option to start tearing and openning up larger
I got a C2 late model headlamp switch nut and it is slightly longer than the C3 nut and the same diameter/thread so it worked perfect. Forcing the C3 nut I would still only grab about 2 threads but this new nut is at least 1/4” longer so gets a real good hold in the headlamp switch.
Headlamp switch and new dash panel
