removing dash

[Lorna c]

now that I have all the screws out on my dash , is there anything I need to know before I pull it ? I only have windshield screws and the ones up by the heater control levers . I'm thinking gages need to be unhooked probably maybe and knobs to the levers for heat . anything else ?

[mraitch]

gauges, (most can be easily accessible with the dash loose, except for oil pressure line which is a 'hard' line to back of gauge, side vents, all knobs, (make sure you keep each screw with the respective knob, experience has shown they don't always match up if jumbled) probably the under dash console, there are 'buffalo' horns that go from heater to vents on dash,, there are a deal of electrical connections, fortunately they are almost impossible to mess up as OEM, but PO might have substituted different connex, so pix and labelling would be a good thing.
Good time to disassenble ALL electrical connex and thoroughly clean and dielectric grease and replace where necessary - vintageconnections.com is your friend - don't bother with their little extractor - a small 'ground' screwdriver is better - not as likely to bend and personally I have not really liked their crimper, others might disagree.
HTH.

[Lorna c]

thank you . I got pro at removing that oil pressure gage when I was switching to LED I got the wrong kind , then modified them to fit only to have a couple ground out on me as they sat in the sleeve , so and again I took all connections off "to get way up in there to get that one!" haha ugh .. but yeah about 4-5-6 times later , I'mma pro at those now .. side vents and heater hose bullhorn thing and when u say electrical I'm assuming all I see needs to be unhooked up under there ? nothing stays behind when I pull dash off ? shoot my neck do hate me up under there too but what can u do about that one rite . ooh a tiny ottoman for my head .. lol .

[mraitch]

personally, I am a great believer in removing driver seat for any 'serious' dash work! - and even the steering wheel

[Lorna c]

ooh good call on that one . thank ..

[Lorna c]

I got ya ! now what do I do ? haha oh yeah I remember now . I need to fix odometer , and clock . and switch the last light to LED in clock ..I think that's it ..oh , and I need it done by tomorrow now that I've thought about it .. it's going to be a long night I guess .

[Lorna c]

besides cleaning things up , what should ,if anything, I do under here since it's open that the car will appreciate ?

[bobd]

Good time to disassenble ALL electrical connex and thoroughly clean and dielectric grease and replace where necessary - vintageconnections.com is your friend - don't bother with their little extractor - a small 'ground' screwdriver is better - not as likely to bend and personally I have not really liked their crimper, others might disagree.
HTH.

I have the HERO crimper tool from the 70's and I use it to complete the crimp after using the Vintageconnections.com crimper. Using both gives me a better finished product, I guess I'm just fussy.

[Lorna c]

boy you guys are like me except I don't know what I'm doing . I'm picky at how things go back ,but ,Usually , I have to redo something so many times because I'm putting it back wrong or forgot this or this is how you do it , kinda thing (or more like all of the above ) it's usually not pretty when I'm done cuz I'm not expecting it to happen "this time either" so I half ass do it and that's when it works . Then when I'm "back in there " later on something elce , I fix it up correctly . mostly because I'm beat , frustrated , bleeding , hungry , tired , and did I say frustrated ¿ . so if it works, I won and stop for the 20 hour day .. haha God I hope this dash don't do the same to me . . but it will , so only 17 hrs to go . ugh.. sometimes it really sucks to be me .

[mraitch]

Can't be TOO FUSSY with electrics - NEVER - almost all other failures you can kinda sense coming via noise, something being different - electrics will leave you stranded in a heart beat - clean ground (as Linda advocates) and use lots of dialectric.

[Lorna c]

I am .. getting all cleaned up . I've been in electrical before , a few hundred times , so it'll only be ugly where I couldn't reach before. the connections have been done and done again today . ugh I should have allowed a couple days for this one .. when will I learn on this stuff .

[bobd]

boy you guys are like me except I don't know what I'm doing . I'm picky at how things go back ,but ,Usually , I have to redo something so many times because I'm putting it back wrong or forgot this or this is how you do it , kinda thing (or more like all of the above ) it's usually not pretty when I'm done cuz I'm not expecting it to happen "this time either" so I half ass do it and that's when it works . Then when I'm "back in there " later on something elce , I fix it up correctly . mostly because I'm beat , frustrated , bleeding , hungry , tired , and did I say frustrated ¿ . so if it works, I won and stop for the 20 hour day .. haha God I hope this dash don't do the same to me . . but it will , so only 17 hrs to go . ugh.. sometimes it really sucks to be me .

Learn to recognize that you have reached this state, know that this is the time to walk away and come back in half an hour or so. You'll be surprised how a new perspective will smooth out the repair process.

[Lorna c]

boy you guys are like me except I don't know what I'm doing . I'm picky at how things go back ,but ,Usually , I have to redo something so many times because I'm putting it back wrong or forgot this or this is how you do it , kinda thing (or more like all of the above ) it's usually not pretty when I'm done cuz I'm not expecting it to happen "this time either" so I half ass do it and that's when it works . Then when I'm "back in there " later on something elce , I fix it up correctly . mostly because I'm beat , frustrated , bleeding , hungry , tired , and did I say frustrated ¿ . so if it works, I won and stop for the 20 hour day .. haha God I hope this dash don't do the same to me . . but it will , so only 17 hrs to go . ugh.. sometimes it really sucks to be me .

Learn to recognize that you have reached this state, know that this is the time to walk away and come back in half an hour or so. You'll be surprised how a new perspective will smooth out the repair process.

how did u do that ?
and thank you . i.did stop early , for me , this morning /last night . I think i only did 13 hrs yesterday then went to bed . basically I can only clean and oil those parts because I personally can't see anything wrong with them . so we'll see how they go back together and if they work after that .. if not well it's all clean in there now .haha car still will run so I'm not as stressed on this except my neck hates me this morning . anyway thanks for the advice . I'm a bit stubborn to the point of defect sometimes... and it never hurts to rain that in ..

[Lorna c]

I used s spray cleaner on certain areas and discolored the dash and before , months ago , I filled in this one crack gap with gasket maker so I shaved it down with a razor band with the recoat it blends allot better now and no messed up color anymore . I tried flat paint but it didn't cover like this does . we'll see how it turns out in a few more minutes ..

[mraitch]

don't know what bit you did, but looks good to me!!