Purpose Of Fixed Stud On Rear Of Dash Panel

When I took the dash off of my '67 recently, I noticed a fixed stud on the rear side of the panel I hadn't realized was there. It's the same size as the attachment studs for the speedometer, and is visible in the photo below near the right edge.

What was this stud originally for? I'm guessing it may have been to attach a dash-to-body ground wire....but if so, mine had long been disconnected.

If that is its intended purpose, where did the other end of that ground wire originally attach?

 

That is where the turn signal flasher was mounted.

 

Okay, that makes sense.....thanks very much, Walt!

Maury

 

Interesting, my turn signal flasher is attached to the firewall. Is mine in the wrong position?

 

Jeep made changes, but without "making changes". My 73 firewall still has the cover for the frame mounted master cylinder. Could be they moved the flasher location but never eliminated the stud?

 

It's hard to say at this point what the cost/benefit calculations were in 1973. The intermediates used mostly the same floors as the earlys, including the vestigial master cylinder cover. I expect that, even in 1973, AMC/Jeep knew there were major changes coming for a more complete revision within a few years. In 1975 (and maybe for some 1974s) they decided they could eliminate all the nuts and bolts for the firewall and floor pieces and simply weld all these legacy pieces in place, except for the transmission cover. They had decided to make a one-piece floor and firewall for 1976, and apparently it cost less to revise production and weld than to carry the removable pieces through to 1976.

Regarding MickeyKelley's observation, maybe the stud came later than 1958 but was carried along until the major revisions in 1976. I recall there is an unused stud on the back-side of my '75s dash somewhere.

 

So out of curiosity I got a flashlight and looked up under there. There is no stud back there on my dash and I'm 99.99% sure the dash is original. The only thing is the screw for the windshield latch.

 

My ‘61 had four ways. Not sure if it was aftermarket due to tha addition of the snow plow. I haven’t looked under the dash for any of the studs though.

 

Now I gotta go look at the back side of MY dash.....

 

mine has the stud ike the OP, still being used for the flasher.