HARDWARE
The dash is held in place by 6 nuts along the top edge that are accessible after removing the centre vent, glove box and Rev counter. There are little straps attaching it at the bottom to the square tube that runs from side to side on the car
REMOVAL.
At this point you have lost about 15% of the skin from the back of your hands. But wiggle the dash up/out and around the steering wheel
This car (as many do) has been fitted with a manual choke
and these are usually easier to get to once the dash is
dislocated. (You can do a better job of installing them with
the dash out too.
The oil pressure line came off at this point, as well as the
harness connectors
Place the dash on a bench and prepare to strip off the components and dash covering.
With the switches lamps and gauges out, it is time to carefully remove the cover. BUT NOTE: you will not be removing ALL of the foam. There is a block across the centre vent and glove box that is NOT REPLACED
The block that stays can be clearly seen here as I pull
off the vinyl covering. Then remove any excess, lumps and
bumps and finally sand the surfaces ready for gluing.
I had to drill out and retap a hole for one of the glove box
hinge screws also.
I trial fitted the new dash several times and made sure I
was happy with its fit, and trimmed as necessary. In terms
of fit and finish most of the work was to come but I now had
an idea of possible problem areas.
I then glued the dash surfaces with contact cement.
I knew I might have to deliberatly misalign or stretch
the cover into position.
I opted to use the speedo aperture to locate the dash and
base my fit of other components. So I cut the hole out and
inserted the gauge for alignment, before gluing the dash in
place and cutting the major holes
Before getting too far I warmed up the edges with a heat gun and folded them into place, trimming around hardware.
Then its time to to pull out the craft knife and carefully cut out all the little holes that are less critical for location
To get the deep moulding to fit well I needed to heat up the surface and ...
Pull the dash into place using the centre vent frame and hardware
Then I started installing the gauges, lamps and switches trimming the holes for each component as I went
Insert all the pieces and clips as they were when disassembled, add the glove box liner and lid
And this is what you end up with
As the workshop manuals say, " replacement is the reversal of the removal procedure". Complete with skinned knuckles.