I need a little guidance. I need to drop the dash on my 71' to get at my speedometer, to attach a new needle. Any tricks of the trade or first hand experience would be appreciated. Thanks.


[Modified by Vette_47E, 9:07 PM 8/20/2003]


[Modified by Vette_47E, 9:08 PM 8/20/2003]

 

well , here it is ....

1. remove the pillar post trim on the front window trim.
2. remove the center console chrome bezel and the part up top that controls the air flow.
3. remove the side panels next to the stereo.
4. remove the two screws on the side of the dash (between door and front door jamb).
5. remove the screws that hold the front panel of the dash drivers side.
6. remove the screws that hold the front panel of the dash passenger side.
7. carefullyt remove the front panel on the passenger side of the car.
8. the is going to be a support brace that holds the dash pad(top) to teh fire-wall, remove the screw.
9. there may be a support on the drivers side, you will need to check this.
10. you can now slide the dash pad (top) out from between the two front pillar posts. be careful not to flex it to hard, it can crack.


11. once the top dash pad is removed, you can now concentrate on removing all the screws which hold the driver front panel in. You will have to remove the plastic peice under the steering column (3 screws). You will have the remove the cross brace which holds the vaccum over-ride switches under the dash ( 2 screws). You will need to remove the small lamp from its holding bracket under the drivers dash. You will need to remove the trip reset cable from the under dash support bracket.

12. You will need to loosen the two bolts that hold the steering column to the bracket under the drivers dash.

if you want to remove the entire gauge cluster from the dash unit you wil need to disconnect the tach and speedo cables.
I had to actually drop and detach the steering column from the steering box under the hood (round pieced with rubber between the steering box - coupler)

this will get you enough room to safely remove the front dash panel on the drivers side.

While you have it apart:
replace the light switch and the speakers and any small dash lights too.

I did this once - give yourself a weekend to mess around with it.

Hope this helps some. Maybe a more senior member can correct and add to this with their experience.

Bill

:chevy

 

With time and patience you could probably remove everything without dropping the column. Honestly I didn't have the patience and removed the column to make more room. It's not a fun job removing the speedo and tach I can tell you that. :nonod:

Best of luck :cheers:

 

Very detailed...thank you. I'm not much of a wrench turner, but what the heck, it only hurts for a second. Thanks again, I'll let you know how it turns out. I think I'll wait for the long weekend to start the project. :flag

 

I just reinstalled mine into my 77 and it took 4 hours. Take your time. :smash:

 

Purchase a bulb set for all your dash lights, change 'em "while you're at it".

may as well do it while you're in there :thumbs: