I plan to install a Garmin 7" in my 56 Dodge pickup upside down onto the center glove box door. I also plan to rehinge the glove box door so the hinge will be on the top instead of on the bottom. I also plan to install the HVAC controls and stereo into the center glove box area. So when the door is down the dash will look stock. But with the door flipped up I've access to the HVAC controls and stereo, and with the door flipped up and open, the Garmin will be right wide up and accessible. Kind of like in a position similar to the common touch screens in many vehicles these days.

Which gets me thinking, could a modern touch screen be installed into a vintage pickup? Is the center touch screen basically a small stand alone computer with inputs and outputs to display functions and operate various functions? Some of these touch screens feature HVAC controls, stereo controls, Nav systems, Web access/Bluetooth/etc. Could a touch screen from a modern car be integrated into a vintage pickup to use these features but also be hidden in a way to maintain a vintage dashboard look.

A few thought about that Garmin 7 system on that glove box door. 1) When the door hinge is reversed, will it open far enough for the screen to be upright so the screen is easily seen? 2) How are you going to hold the door open, in the straight upright position with the weight of the navigation screen on it?

As far as modern navigation systems, go, I believe they are well tied into the computer and wiring system. From what I've read, when there is a problem with them, the repairs are complex, expensive, and they are not easily removed. That would lead me to believe they are far from "free standing".

Gene, always the voice of reason, and knowledge.

Hopefully, re-hinging the glove box door to swing upward will allow it to swing over-center and lean forward about 15 degrees. That's the plan. I'm thinking a strategic placed set of small round high strength magnets on the door hinge will hold the door in the fully up postion. To close it just pull it back until the magnets have no effect, and swing it down to latch shut. The Garmin 7 should fit on the inside of the door, with some type of mount to hold it onto the door (adhesive backed Velcro). With the door down, the Garmin is mounted to the inside of the door, facing forward upside down. With the door swung up the Garmin would be visible/usable like if it were mounted off the windshield. With the right Garmin unit I could add a Bluetooth camera license plate frame on the rear, and the Garmin then works as a back up camera.

When at a car show, or for that matter when out/about daily driving, I swing the center door down and the dash looks plain like a 56 Dodge should look, and it covers the HVAC controls and stereo.

When I had my 54 Dodge, I had the radio, the headlight switch, and a pair of cup holders in the glove box. The radio and headlight switch were both mounted on a sliding panel connected to the glove box door (I think I hijacked the slides from an old slide out ashtray). When the door was opened, it slid forward for easy access, to almost flush with the dash. When the door was closed, the panel slid back about 3". On the inside of the glove box door I built 2 cup holders. When the door was open, the door folded down and the cup holders were upright, when the door was closed, and the panel slid back, there was plenty of space to accommodate the cup holders that were attached to the glove box door. My heat and defrost panel was under the dash, I don't believe a cable operated heat control would have worked with the sliding panel, but a modern vacuum unit may have worked. When the door was closed, it just looked like a normal glove box. As I remember the 54 glove box, the door had a pretty big curve, and I don't believe it would fold flat against the dash in the upright position, but a 56 could be completely different.


The 54 truck was also imported to countries that required right hand drive. Dodge had the holes in the dash for the speedo and the other gauge cluster formed in the dash. Then there was a cover like the cover that surrounded the left side speedo and gauge cluster but without the holes that covered the holes in the dash. I cut those two separate openings for the speedo and the gauges into one larger opening and hid the fuse box and a small glove box behind the now hinged cover and added a simple pull knob at the top. You pulled the cover down to open, and it had a simple snap latch at the top that held it closed. That gauge opening panel would be able to be folded against the dash in either the down or upright position. When it was closed, other then the small knob, it looked very factory but gave me an easy to see location for the fuse panel, and it gave me a small storage box for all the small stuff that seems to collect.

The pictures of that 54 dash are long gone.

I pretty much have my dash plans worked out, in theory anyway. The Dakota gauge panel will fit behind the opening in the current gauge set, already confirmed that. The Dak HVAC and stereo will fit inside the current central glove box space, confirmed that too, and if I set it in a bit I'll have clearance for a Gamnin 7 series mounted to the backside of the glove box door. I will not be using the cowl vent so I plan to use that space for the Dakota wiper system. I'll hinge the glove box door to the top so it opens flipped up instead of down, then the Garmin will be facing up. The shift control dial/knob for the 8HP-70 trans will go to the left side of the steering colum on the dash panel, in the area where the old push button trans control option would have been. Assuming I'll have room under the dash I hope to use the original Dakota tip down glove box ahead of the passenger seat, like it is now in the Dakota, and I'll make a panel that extends from the glove box acrss and under the dash to conceal all the wiring etc. I'll probably make some sort of center console under the dash but set forward, with pullout cup holders, small inset tray for whatever, and then heating ducts/vents to direct heat/AC airflow onto the footwell areas. My goal is to keep any major mods to the original dash to a minimum, with the exception of installing round vents for the HVAC mid-high position, which will also allow me to direct airflow to the side windows. I definitely want the best HVAC I can set up in the cab for defrost, mid-vents and floor vents, as much like my current Dakota setup as possible. Since the controls for the 8HP-70 trans is all wiring I save a lot of space and complexity under/behind the dash for shifitng controls.

On the stock Dakota steering wheel I already have the cruise control buttons. I will replace the steering wheel clockspring to add the radio control switches to the back of the steering wheel. But, those switches will be used to manually shift the 8-speed trans. Left hand switch will activate manual control and cancel control, and the right hand switch will control shift up/down. I can get the program for the trans control set up to allow me to start in 1st, 2nd or 3rd for slippery conditions, or for towing. I may also be able to shift for 2nd overdrive to 1st overdrive for towing. We'll see.

"modern" stereos have been being installed in vehicles since they came out. Having the dash look stock is not going to happen since touch screens weren't available back then. I'm sure you have seen many customs (sema) with touch screens in the dash. Custom installation but can be done. I get people wanting to keep the dash 100% stock but on the other hand want convenience of access to stereo etc. A touch screen will have gps and the stereo. A flip style unit if space is an issue. It comes down to your decision.

Perhaps a picture of the current dash would be helpful, most here really have no idea what a 56 Dodge truck dash looks like. Each of the different series of the old Dodge pickups had a completely different dash then the series before it or after it. The dashes didn't look the same until about the mid 60s, then the 72-93 pretty much were the same, then the 94+ were much alike.

attached pic shows the plan for the dash in my 56. The red circles will be the round chrome vent controls. The yellow circle is approximately where the dial shifter control will locate. The yellow rectangle represents what I hope the center glove box door will be when hinged to swing up instead of down, so the Garmin will be located on the backside of the center door.

I believe the picture will clear up a lot those that wonder what the dash 56 looks like. I'm sure most did not have any idea what that dash looks like. For those that don't know, that switch on the top of the dash at the center is the wiper control. It will be relocated to the steering column when he uses the Dakota column.

The 56 dash isn't much different then my 54 dash was, I was right about the curved glove box door, but the curve was different then I remembered. The 53 and older dash is completely different then this dash is. That panel on the dash on the right side was where I put an actual glove box (OK, it was really a required hidden storage area for my better 1/2) and my fuse panel.

So the yellow circle will be the shift knob location? Isn't that at or very near the headlight switch? What are you going to do with the headlight switch?

The headlight controls from the Dakota can be mounted through the under dash panel to the left of the steering column. My primary focus will be mounting the dial shift control and then mount the headlight swotch where it makes the most sense.