Vintage Dash Accessories

Thodge

Thodge

Senior Member
While installing a ‘31 steering column bracket I noticed that my dash rail had a couple of holes that had been patched where some type of accessory had been mounted on both ends of the panel. No surprise there, as it seems that a lot of original dash rails have been drilled and/or cut into Swiss cheese to mount various accessories over the course of their life. It got me wondering what some of these add-ons might be. Vacuum fans and extra light switches are the obvious options but that wouldn’t explain the holes on the passenger side of a lot of these rails. Just curious if anyone has any photos or knowledge of interesting add-ons from the period. Every extra hole drilled in one of these cars is as much a part of it’s story as the way it was put together originally.
 
If it spans the dash, I bet the car was used in the 50s and 60s as a daily driver. Possibly in a northern climate, and it was a defroster of some type.
 
A defroster of some type seems plausible. I know the car was restored in NH approximately 40 years ago so it might have spent its whole life in New England. Based on the badly patched hole in the firewall where the manifold heater went through and the amount of rust repair it had, seems very likely. I’ve only ever seen the stick-on windshield defroster elements before but that doesn’t mean somebody didn’t home build something.
 
Ah, I hadn’t thought about an ashtray. I’d heard that people would use the later ribbed instrument panel to light strike anywhere matches. Probably not the best idea if your fuel tank is leaking.
 
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