Help - Rally dash install in 68 Coronet RT???

[Jace]

Hey everyone - in need of some help by somebody who has been down this road before. I'm restoring a '68 Coronet RT (not a number matching car, simply a money-hungry labor of love). It came with the rectangular speedo so I bought the rally dash frame + parts from a yard and went to install it. The threaded bolts for the steering column look like they are seated right, and the frame is resting on the bolts behind the kicker panels okay. It also seems to be seated properly inside the door jam and all of the bolt holes line up at the windshield. What baffles me is the pitch of the dashboard. It tilts up more than I expected (I expected the top of the dash to be more or less a flat, level surface rather than inclined up toward the driver (me). Am I missing something here or is the dash wrong for the car? I thought these buggers were pretty much interchangeable with Dodge. I did some searching in here and couldn't find an answer. Anyone else encounter this? Pics included for reference.

All advice welcome and feel free to poke fun at my incompetence at what I thought would be a pretty straightforward install...

 

[mmissile]

It does look odd in a couple pictures...Sorry, I got nothin'.

 

[gdrill]

It kinda looks high. I went to my thread where I changed my dash pad but my pics didn't quite get the same angle. Maybe with the 68's the pad being pointy and out there gives it an appearance. I would say if the key is basically vertical, it's right. Heck it is in position properly so it has no option. Throw the A-pillar mouldings in and see how they fit.

 

[Jace]

Good point on the dash pad. It's a "reproduction" but the originals seemed thicker and seemed to have a somewhat softer profile. At this point, I guess it is what it is.

 

[SoCal440GTX]

Your center console top is woodgrain. I though that was a 69 look.

 

[moparnation74]

Something is not right with the dash frame just based on your first pic. The angle of the frame itself appears way too high. Maybe someone can measure from their center of their dash pad to the roof and compare measurements for a 68. If I had a 68 I would do it....

 

[oldbee]

Just measured 9-3/4" from rearward edge at center of dashpad to w/shield moulding forward of mirror brkt.Unmolested '68.

 

[Jace]

Just measured 9-3/4" from rearward edge at center of dashpad to w/shield moulding forward of mirror brkt.Unmolested '68.

Thanks for the measurement. I'll check it and report back.