dash pads
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 26
Likes: 0
From: Houston Texas
dash pads
I have a 71 vette and I need to replace a speaker. How do I get the dash pad off. I see screws on the bottow edge. It that how it comes off and is this a difficult removal and re-install? :smash:
Drifting
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 1,546
Likes: 5
From: Sacramento California
Re: dash pads (b-line)
You will probably need to remove the lower dash pads (drop the wheel also) and then you will have access to the 4 mounting studs, 2 on each end. This will allow the pad and frame removal. Not a lot of fun, but the best way.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 6,001
Likes: 112
From: Saginaw Michigan
Re: dash pads (427basketcase)
I found with my 75 that I could not pull the left side of the dash pad up far enough to reach the two nuts that held the driver side speaker in place. Also, I had removed both windshield pillar (A-pillar) pads and still my dash pad did not have enough clearance to come right out. I figured that my dash pad was 25+ years old and may decide to crack rather than bend in the middle if I tried to bend it and work it past the A-pillars. (The assembly plant either bent the dash pad in the middle to gain clearance to install it or better yet, they may have slipped it in place before the windshield was installed.)
So I dropped the steering column, disconnected and pulled the speedo cluster rearward (toward me), and that gained me sufficient clearance to reach the two speaker nuts without removing the pad.
I did not remove the steering wheel before dropping the steering column. The column does not have to drop very far in order to gain clearance to pull the speedo cluster rearward. If I remember correctly, I may even have used a couple of books or something of that nature on the seat to just let the steering wheel rest. I would also be a good idea to loosen the two nuts down near the floor that hold the lower column plate securely against the floor before removing the two vertical screws that hold the column up into the dash.
The serviceability features of the C3 Vettes were designed in HELL! But it is something we just have to live with. Thank God for the internet and the Corvetteforum.
So I dropped the steering column, disconnected and pulled the speedo cluster rearward (toward me), and that gained me sufficient clearance to reach the two speaker nuts without removing the pad.
I did not remove the steering wheel before dropping the steering column. The column does not have to drop very far in order to gain clearance to pull the speedo cluster rearward. If I remember correctly, I may even have used a couple of books or something of that nature on the seat to just let the steering wheel rest. I would also be a good idea to loosen the two nuts down near the floor that hold the lower column plate securely against the floor before removing the two vertical screws that hold the column up into the dash.
The serviceability features of the C3 Vettes were designed in HELL! But it is something we just have to live with. Thank God for the internet and the Corvetteforum.
