Loose VIN Plate on Dash – Fixing It Without Removing the Dash? (1 Viewer)

[catavinacruiser]

So I’ve had this annoying issue since I bought my truck in 2019: the VIN plate on the dashboard is loose. Like, missing rivets, flopping around, and I'm worried about it flying out the window. The original owner said it’s been like that forever, and I double-checked all the other VIN stamps, the title, checked with DMV, and even ran a CARFAX to make sure everything’s legit. No red flags, thankfully.

Now that I’m deep into restoring the interior (new seat motors, fresh leather, carpet, and fixing some wear marks & cracks on dash) I want to finally tackle this loose VIN plate. It’s driving me nuts, and with the dash looking clean, I’d love to get that area looking right.

What’s the easiest way to reattach this thing? I purchased replacement rosette rivets to give it a close to OEM look. I’m wondering if I can do it without yanking the entire dash out. The windshield is right there, so space is tight. Is there a trick to getting rivets in without a full teardown? Maybe a special tool or a workaround?

 

[simple]

If I was tackling this project I'd consider pulling the windshield to get to that vin tag. That way I could check for rust along the window frame.
Pulling the dash is time consuming....

 

[BILT4ME]

I'd spend $200 to pull and replace the windshield to make this correct. Otherwise it will bite you when it comes time to sell or if you get stopped and have an enthusiastic LEO.

To do it the cheap and half-assed way, squirt some epoxy under it and glue it in position.

 

[catavinacruiser]

I'd spend $200 to pull and replace the windshield to make this correct. Otherwise it will bite you when it comes time to sell or if you get stopped and have an enthusiastic LEO.

To do it the cheap and half-assed way, squirt some epoxy under it and glue it in position.

Pretty sure the last owner glued the plate down with epoxy — there’s dried up residue under it. No plans to sell the truck and plan on driving it until either of us can't be rebuilt anymore haha. Going to take photos/notes and documentation of EVERY step in case that becomes an issue in the future.

Also, I’m pretty sure the OEM windshield is NLA, so I’ll have to do some digging to find a solid aftermarket option.

So basically, I’m stuck between two options: either yank out the windshield or rip the whole dash out to do this properly.

 

[BILT4ME]

Pretty sure the last owner glued the plate down with epoxy — there’s dried up residue under it. No plans to sell the truck and plan on driving it until either of us can't be rebuilt anymore haha. Going to take photos/notes and documentation of EVERY step in case that becomes an issue in the future.

Also, I’m pretty sure the OEM windshield is NLA, so I’ll have to do some digging to find a solid aftermarket option.

So basically, I’m stuck between two options: either yank out the windshield or rip the whole dash out to do this properly.

Pretty sure that even if you rip out the dash, that plate bracket is still welded to the firewall, so you still won't have access.

 

[catavinacruiser]

Pretty sure that even if you rip out the dash, that plate bracket is still welded to the firewall, so you still won't have access.

I was just gonna drop the plate back in its slot and pop some rivets in. Wasn’t planning to touch the bracket underneath.