The Story of Ford Original Tooling and the “Golden Girls”
Our story of becoming a Ford licensed Dash Pad manufacture is interesting and we thought It should a good story to share.
(Hand tools used in the Original Ford Mustang dash pad manufacturing in the 1960s)
Starting back in the 1960s, Goodyear Tire and Rubber had a plant in Logan Ohio that manufactured the Ford Dash Pads, including the First Generation Ford Mustang. The Ford program with Goodyear accounted for 85% of the plants sales. Then, in May of 1999 Goodyear decided to close the plant since it was the only one not manufacturing belts, hoses, and related products. At that time Ford had the Tooling locked away and created a restoration program. The program sought manufactures to produce products with Ford’s tooling, then pay a royalty to Ford for each product sold.
(Open house at the Goodyear plant)
Dashes Direct (Under Universal Urethane Inc.) at the time has been producing classic car restoration products for 15 years. The products include door panels, arm rests, dash pads, seat foam, and more. The goal from the start of Dashes Direct is to create reliable products that replicate the look and feel as if these interior pieces were new in the 1960s. Once we heard that the plant was closing down, the idea came up to contact Ford to see if any Tooling was available so we can have the opportunity to manufacture the original. Fortunately, as Ford’s tooling was retired from generation to generation at this plant it was locked in storage containers and set away, compared to other manufactures that order the destruction of tooling as it’s not used anymore. When we contacted Ford the representatives explained that they would love to work with Dashes Direct and knew the quality of manufacturing that we were striving for in the reproduction market. Dashes Direct then partnered with the Ford Restoration Program and then we sent a team from Las Vegas down to Logan Ohio to check out the old containers and see what Tooling was still usable and bring it back to our facility. Dashes Direct then became the third licensee in Ford Motor Company’s restoration program.
(Stamp of Ford logo used in our manufacturing)
Once the Ford Tooling arrived at Dashes Direct, we experimented with it in our manufacturing methods and were able to make a perfect replication of the 1965 and 1966 Ford Mustang Dash Pad. Once it came time to experimenting with the 1969-1970 Ford Mustang Tooling we began having several issues such as keeping the vinyl in place when adding the urethane foam. We continued experimenting and ended up with around 800 rejects until we decided it was time to reach out for some help.
(Photo of one of our Mustang Dash pads)
We decided to reach out to the source and find someone that must know a method of making a perfect 1969-1970 Mustang Dash. First we reached out to the Logan Ohio chamber of commerce to see if there was way to find a person who worked in the original Goodyear plant at the time. The lady we spoke to said she might know some people and told us she would do some looking around and call us back if she finds something. A few hours had passed and we received a call back from her. Excited, she explained that she found the production manager and lead supervisor that worked on the Original Mustang dash pads in the 1960s. These two were known to be a part of the “Golden Girls”, as they were in a team of mostly women that manufactured these dash pads by hand. We then reached out these two ladies who were now in their mid 60sat the time. We explained our situation to them and that we needed help. The two gals were very much excited to come help us in any way that they can. We then flew them and their husbands to Las Vegas and set them up with an all-expenses paid Vegas vacation.
(Tape used to document the manufacturing process before the plant closure)
The two ladies showed up like they were ready to work back in the 60s with aprons on. They brought their old tool boxes and had stop watches in hand; we gave them a tour of our facility. The two checked our process very intensely; measuring, timing, and examining every detail while exchanging notes. Finally at the end they explained how amazed they were to see how similar of a path we took to how it was done in the 1960s, but with modern machinery. They explained that when the dash pads vinyl was formed, they had a team of 4 people that would pull the vinyl onto a mold at temperatures over 200 degrees and form it by hand with heat resistant gloves. Compared to our vacuum form machine that brings the vinyl down and sucks the air out, automatically shaping it. They were also amazed that we use the same vinyl supplier and that the timing of the reaction of our foam when its shot was a perfect match to how it was done back in the day. Once we got to our 69-70 Mustang issue they showed up a trick that involved placing the vinyl with magnets and a special paste to hold it. We expressed our concern of using this kind of paste, but one of the girls told us “that’s how you get that new car smell”. Once we had a few attempts in the end we were able to replicate a perfect 1969-1970 Ford Mustang dash pad.
(Collection of hand tools to produce the original Ford Mustang dash pads)
We then thanked the golden girls for coming out and helping us by showing them Vegas, taking them out to dinners and shows, even the Hoover Dam. Our partnership with Ford has grown as we’ve sought out more Ford original tooling to make perfect reproduction dash pads. Now today we produce 13 Ford Original Tooling dash pads and still appreciate the golden girls for coming out and showing us how it was done in 1960. Pictured above is a small collection tools that the golden girls left for us that we cherish to this day.