I did a search on dash removal and came up with some great info, but I'd like to ask for some specific advice on this job I have planned. I need to do three things:

1. Replace the headlight switch and ****
2. Replace the vacuum hoses associated with the headlight switch and override
3. Replace the tach cable ('74 model, so its mechanical)

What would be the easiest and most efficient way to achieve this? If I drop the steering column, can I bing the right-side instrument panel forward far enough to work on these items? Should I take the top dash pad off?

 

I tackled dash removal over the winter and I would probably say that it would be a hard job without removing the top dash pad.

It's a tight fit under there to get to the tach cable and the vacuum hoses run pretty high up under the driver's dash pad so I think they would hard to reach and manipulate.

The goods thing is, once the whole dash is out, it opens the door to detailing and bulb replacement. I was also able to fix a lot of the cracks and breaks in the dash pads, which really tightened up the whole dash.

I also detailed the gauges and got rid of about 40 years worth of dust and grime up under there. I'd give yourself a good week to do it right

 

Drop the steering column, remove steering column lower trim, remove the dash pad trim screws, and you should come up with enough wiggle room to move the dash pad far enough forward to reach what you want.

Vacuum hoses are color coded. Are you sure they need to be replaced? My advice is to replace them one at a time.

 

Not sure on the hoses. I can hear a vacuum leak inside the dash, in the upper-left corner, so I am planning to replace everything--light switch, hoses, etc.

 

I just pulled the dash apart on my '70, for no real reason other than checking things out and general cleaning of 37 years of crud. It wasn't too hard, took 4 hours of very careful removing to get it completely apart and maybe 2 1/2 of careful re-assembly.

One thing I found helped a lot was removing the seats (sounds strange I know), since they are only 4 bolts each taking them out is only 10 mins work and you have so much more room to move around in the car with them removed

 

Unless you're a midget, removing the seats is a great idea.

 

If you have the chassis manual for your year, it will have step by step instructions which will also be very helpful. I also agree, remove the seats! Take pics as you do it for reference and so we can all benefit from your sweat and blood!
Glenn

 

I've completely dissassembled and reassembled C3 interiors about three times. I've never removed the top dash board, maybe I'll give that a try next time.

I recently reassembled my 68 interior. I had the speedo/tach panel removed to also replace the ignition switch, headlamp switch, vacuum hoses. I also ran another self made harness up to the ignition switch to pick up switched 12 volts for my electric fan and fuel pump relays. (Didn't want to butcher my new lectric limited 68 engine harness.) However, with all the pulling/pushing on the interior firewall harness to route vacuum lines and mate my new harness, I got all the hoses/harnesses out of place and couldn't reinstall my speedo/tach panel because of internal interference. I long ago had dropped my steering column, removed the steering wheel, and removed the front seat. After a lot of frustration, I removed the entire steering column. A John O'Shea posting said it was an easy task. I was relatively, surprisingly easy. Then I removed the tach and tried to remount the panel. Looking in through the tach "hole" I could see several interference points. I rerouted my harnesses and hose lines and the panel mounted for the first time. I removed it installed the tach and the tach and speedo cables and easily reinstalled the panel.

Oh..about reconnecting all those pesky gauge lamps. I long ago made a seperate harness for all of them and a single multipin connector to reconnect to the firewall internal harness. When I finally reinstalled by panel, I had the two connector halfs hanging down. Simply shapping them together reconnected all the guage lamps. Then I tuck my selfmade connector and harness up behind the panel out of sight.

Re-installing the steering column was a more difficult than removing it but all in all not too bad.

 

Here you go. (dash pad being out made it a LOT easier)

 

with Easy Mike... Do not reverse the headlight switch vacuum lines or you will get to remove the dash again!

I have never had to remove the dash pad to work on the cluster, although I would agree, it could make access easier. One other thing to be careful with is the Trip-Ometer cable. It is originally wrapped around a brace behind the cluster. Many are tempted to reinstall it before installing the cluster. The cluster can be then pushed into place, but this will put a good kink in the cable and make it difficult to reset the Trip-Ometer. It can also damage the speedometer.

This happened to mine when I had a frame off done on the car and discovered my Trip-Ometer no longer worked. I decided to remove the cluster and see what the problem was. Sure enough the cable was kinked and the speedometer head was damaged. What I do is install the cable into the speedometer head and let the other end dangle. As I insert the cluster, I feed it over the brace and then when all is situated, reattach it to the lower bracket at the bottom of the cluster.

Good luck... GUSTO

 

- You'll need to drop or pull the column.

- You don't need to pull the top dash pad.

- While you have the lower dash pads out, consider putting new speakers in the upper dash pad.

- If you pull the center instrument bezel out, replace the plastic lens in front of the instruments.

 

Thanks for all the excellent advice! It sounds like a good idea to go ahead an knock out everything I need to do in there in one shot, so I will need to round up a quartz clock, some new speakers and other bits and pieces.

Special thanks to ccs96 for the pics--helps greatly to see what I am going to be getting into!

 

You will end up pulling out the entire dash as the "while I'm at it" bug will bite you hard.

Good time to replace the dash bulbs, clean lenses, check wiring, vacumn hoses. etc etc etc

 

I think removing the dash pad would sure make it easier but mine was so brittle it would never come out in one piece.
To lower the steering column you will need to loosen the bolts that go through the firewall. If you don't loosen those bolts it won't come down much.
Leave the seats in - you'll need a comfortable place to sit while contemplating how to get all this back together.
Seriously, it's not that bad of a job. The hardest part for me was trying to get the wiring back in place and keeping the instrument lights from popping out of their hole in the back of the clusters. If the dash pad was out it would be easier to maneuver the wires.
Also it might be a good time to replace the steering rag joint.

 

Well, since I had some time tonight I decided to crack it open a bit and see if I could replace the headlight switch. Dropped the steering column down a couple of inches and was able to move the cluster far enough forward to replace the switch. Didn't seem to fix the vacuum leak I hear but at least now the headlight **** doesn't come off in my hand every time I turn them on!

It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but I'm still not looking forward to tackling the tach cable...

Thanks again for all the advice!