UNDER DASH  GAUGE  PANEL

Lower Dash Instrument Panel (1977 - 1978)

Lower Dash Instrument Panel (1973 - 1976)
Depending on the year of your coach there are two different panels.  The layout of the gauges and switches is a personal preference and usually takes more thought than mounting the panel.
  This is Al Hamilton's layout.

The Panels are available from:

Frank's Auto & Fleet Service, Frank Jenkins, 18214 N.E. 21st gmcfrank@juno.com
                        Street, Gainesville, FL 32609 (352) 485-1397 - GMC Fiberglass
                        & Aluminum Fabrication, Dash, Fan Shroud, Lower Dash, Grill,
                        & Bumper Tool Boxes, Front and Rear.

Bert and Faye Curtis - 707-443-8523
http://www.bdub.net/curtis-unlimited/index.html

Applied GMC  -(800) 752-7502

I placed a hinge on the bottom so I can swing down the panel to add / repair gauges.
O2 gauge and EFI test switch

I used brass flat head screws (to match the hinge) with washers  and nuts on the glass side.  When I am finished I will put a strip along the outside of the panel to make a sandwich of the glass and the hinge.  This will remove the stress from the bolts in the glass.  On the dash side, so far I have just used the original two mounting bolts to hold the hinge to the dash support strip. They were a perfect fit to the hinge.

I used the existing dash mounting holes to hold up the panel.  There are two on the right side that are below the AC vent and they are in hard plastic used to mount the original panel.  They were in a great position, since I was able to come up under the glass panel and the screws did not show.
On the left, I used the existing mounting hole by placing an eye bolt into the side of the new glass panel .  I did not like the looks of this last one, but I wanted a hold down that would have some adjustable tension for how hard I held up the panel.  The thumb screw went through the eye bolt into the existing reinforced mounting hole in the dash.

To work the glass, I used one of those flexible abrasive disks in my electric drill.  Worked great because I could cut off with the thin edge  or sand with the side. They are very thin about 1/16 of an inch thick. The panel took a lot of fitting and I am not sure I am done yet.  There comes a time when I want to get on with the project and stop fitting.  I got the AC vents from the wrecking yard, found lots of them there and I picked the best ones.  I was glad I took my old one with me, since there were a lot of them that looked alike  but were a little different.  I did not want to use the old ones, because I thought someone might want the old dash panel.
 

To get started, I mounted the hinge to the glass with two bolts and just aligned it with the edge of the glass panel.  As I ground and ground and ground away the glass, I moved the right side out a little by drilling a new hole.   I say this, because I had a real hard time trying to decide how to start aligning the panel.

I agonized for several days about two holding tabs in the middle of the glass panel..... and finally I decided to cut them off.  I have a thumb screw on the right and one one the left of the new panel and that seems to hold it up tight.  We will see when I get it loaded.  The tabs also were in the way of switches I  want to put up there
gene