70 Cuda rallye light bar

[B5fourspeed]

My light bar will not sit right on the new dash pad.It will not sit flush against the pad.It looks like the light bulb housings are hitting extra foam and the metal at the area of a step up.I do not want to start cutting or trimming anything until I get some feedback from someone.Has anyone here had this issue with the mating of the light bar to the pad.Thanks

Linkback: https://forum.e-bodies.org/interior/6/70-cuda-rallye-light-bar/19791/

[anlauto]

The first step before installing a new dash pad is to remove a lot of that black foam from that area, take a look at an original pad, it's mostly bare metal in that area...

[B5fourspeed]

So the foam under the metal lip is not there on an original dash.

[anlauto]

So the foam under the metal lip is not there on an original dash.

Correct...I just found this image on the internet....I think inside the top lip is important to be clear of foam

[B5fourspeed]

Great picture Alan Thanks.What is the easiest way to remove the foam?

[anlauto]

Sharp knife ...patience ...

[anlauto]

Make sure you have the three little clip nuts (whatever you call them) for the screws to screw into...The new pad likely does not have them on there.

[B5fourspeed]

I did not know that u nuts were used there.The whole area there on this dash is covered with vinyl.

[Jay Bee]

I had the same issue. Here's a couple of my original.

[Tony 73]

I have just put my new pad on my dash frame ( 71 cuda) and was mocking everything up and noticed  the same issue , light bar would not sit in. I got my original pad out and noticed way less foam. I also did not want to cut till asking questions. thanks for posting this thread. I will trim my pad tomorrow. If you want me to post photos of my old one , I am happy to do so. Will post before and after ones.

[anlauto]

It's not that hard of a material to cut. I usually find the metal edge and cut along that first...sharp knife and patience  

[B5fourspeed]

I got the light bar to sit down into the cutout.In mine the bar will not sit square in the opening.I think that is because of how the repop dashes are made.When I screwed down the light bar it sucked down pretty flush.Like Alan said I used a sharp knife and a screwdriver to remove the foam.I needed to cut back the vinyl in the opening to expose the metal lip to attach the 3 U nuts over the holes.Do not cut to much of the vinyl or you will have metal being expose because the light bar does not fit squarely.

[Tony 73]

Good advice.
I see what you mean by having to expose the 3 clips.
Will have a go today hopefully. Meant to rain here so good inside job.

[anlauto]

I got the light bar to sit down into the cutout.In mine the bar will not sit square in the opening.I think that is because of how the repop dashes are made.When I screwed down the light bar it sucked down pretty flush.Like Alan said I used a sharp knife and a screwdriver to remove the foam.I needed to cut back the vinyl in the opening to expose the metal lip to attach the 3 U nuts over the holes.Do not cut to much of the vinyl or you will have metal being expose because the light bar does not fit squarely.

Exactly

[Tony 73]

Dash pad question,  do I have to cut out the hole where the speaker cover sits in to ? my original pad has it cut out but just want to check. Can I just trim where the posts of the speaker go ?
Cheers
Tony