I'm having a terrible time getting my driver's side dash re-installed on my '69 after a frame off. There appear to be too many big wiring harnesses and vacuum hoses to get the dash back in. I am afraid to push on it too hard afraid of breaking anything. One dash light wire has already broken. Have tired to move stuff out of the way, but back of tach and speedo do not go in far enough to get attaching screws started. Any ideas?

 

I have no clue how they put those things together in the plant. It's a nearly impossible task. What I ended up doing was lengthening several of the dash light wires to get enough slack to put them in and move things around. One of these years I'm going to put in some modern connectors to try to ease things a bit.

Unfortunately, I'm not much help other than confirming that it's a pain.

 

you have to use a little muscle to get the left side in.....

 

the wiring harness in question is held in place around the tach/speedo with metal tabs screwed to the gauges.they should not be in behind.

 

These are some pics of the wiring in my 69 coupe when I disassembled it. I hope they help. Note the harness clip on the back of the speedo.
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I hear ya. Just got my drivers side dash installed last night. Will never remove it again. Couple of hints. Put the upper horizontal dash on AFTER you put on drivers side. Also, make sure your two guages are screwed into the dash before pushing the dash in. Then connect the dash on the left hand side in the door jamb. From there you can reach in from the top and right side to move stuff around. Note of Caution, be gentle when putting in the large horizontal dash. If you bend too much they'll crack. Trust me, I found out the hard way.

 

I made a short wire harness that connects all of the tack and speedo lamps and installed a connector. With the driver's dash pad at a manageable distance away from it's mounting position, I can easily make electrical connection to the lamps.

How did they put these things together in the factory? The body was wired before mounting the body on the frame. The underdash wiring would be much easier to install in the factory if the body were upside down and held about 6 feet in the air. Someone standing on the ground could then work easily on.

I have always thought about a way to ease working on the dash. My thoughts so far do seem a little strange. That is cut an opening in the floor in front of the seats, an opening bit enough for arms and sholders to get into. The put the car on a lift and standing on the ground, work on the dashboard with your upper body in the hole in the floor!! Make some nice edges with dzus fasteners or screws and then firmly mount the cover in place after working on the dash. (This idea is something like that of cutting an access door in the behind the driver storage area floor to access the differential/crossmember bolts)....I know, making an access door for the under dash floor seems silly but if you think about it is there something really wrong? I don't have exhaust pipes under any of my cars.

 

My best guess is that the underdash harnesses were installed in the factory before the body was mounted to the frame, before (of course) any of the interior parts were installed, and before the windshield was installed. With pretty much of a bare body, the underdash harness could be installed by someone standing in the engine compartment, leaning forward through what would later be the windshield (there was no horizontal dash at this time). After the basic harness was installed, the front drivers instrument panel and the passenger's panel could be installed. Then the dash could be installed. With no windshield, it's a geat bit easier to install the dash. After the dash, then the windshield is installed. This works out well on the assembly line, but for us who have to go repair things 30 years later, it's very difficult. Worst of all, the plastics become brittle. Bending a 30 year old dashboard creates a big risk it will crack (you have to bend it to get it out because of the windshield). Also the plastic in the driver's instrument panel is also brittle. I've bought repro drivers/passengers panels and a dash panel. I hope the repro panels fit!!!

 

Thanks guys for all the comments. I finally got the thing in after using a small electric heater to soften all the wiring harnesses and make them easier to move around. Then I had to move it a little about 3 times to get speedwarning cable and odometer reset cable down in the proper location. Still the stuff behind the dash is impossibly tight. I hope everything works properly.

 

I was gentle with it for the first hour , i think i used my feet during some part of the final install

 

I was just fighting this last night and finally gave up. How did you route the odometer reset cable? I have tried between both dash braces, above both and below both without any success. It seems that whatever way I try routing the reset cable it gets pinched behind the speedometer and steering column bracing.

Thanks

Jay

 

I tried to aim the reset cables straight back and then pull them down from below. My speed control cable came out in about the right spot, but the trip odometer was way up behind everything. I finally could see it from the bottom and could get a hand on it and pull it down into position. I have to say they don't give you much extra length on either of these to play around with. Don't know any majic tricks, just keep at it.