Removing Instrument Cluster, 1974

halboyles

halboyles

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I need to remove the instrument cluster to perform maintenance and redo some wiring. According to a couple of posts, the '74 uses a different mounting method and must be removed as a piece just like the 2002 version.

“On 74 USA models gauges can only be accessed by removing retaining nuts and gently sliding whole mess forward, might also have to loosen speedo and tach cables. There is an extra metal brace behind dash that earlier models don't have.” (lost the attribution for this statement)

I only want to remove the instrument cluster if possible. The center console/under dash panels/left fuse box door are already removed.
 
I've only done two so not an expert, but I think fitment might change from one car to the next. That wood dash piece gets wedged under the black dash cover, which over time may change shape. The wood section with gauges in my 1970 is held in place with 2 studs that pass through metal dash, then retained with wing nuts. The wire harness is fairly short which doesn't help.
 
Thanks for that insight Thomas. Though there is a lot of discussion about removing the gauges one at a time, I couldn't find one article about removing the entire cluster at one go on the '74s. There also seems to be a paucity of photos of the actual locations of the connectors that must be removed in order to accomplish a clean removal.
 
There are two studs with nuts at the instrument cluster you must remove. Also two vertical screws must be removed of the black dash cover to create some space to remove the cluster. And the steering colum with steering wheel has to be lowered to get the cluster out of the dash. A tough job

dashboard 35.jpg
dashboard 33.jpg
dashboard 30.jpg



dashboard 37.jpg
 
HB Chris said:
Besides the two vertical studs in the binnacle that point downwards, I think there is one or two screws at back of binnacle.
Click to expand...
Henny said:
There are two studs with nuts at the instrument cluster you must remove. Also two vertical screws must be removed of the black dash cover to create some space to remove the cluster.
Click to expand...
Thank you both. These are the most explicit answers to this question and I believe exactly what I was looking for. It seems to be slightly more arduous than removing the cluster from the 2002s. But that only requires the loss of a square inch or so of flesh so this shouldn't be more than a two square inch job.
 
I was told that you need to remove the windshield to remove the dash wood. I see that the instrument cluster can be removed without removing the windshield, what about the other piece (on the passenger side)?
 
removing the upper dash / wood without removing the window would be very difficult, putting it back in would be 100x harder, but people have done it
 
I found it very difficult to get the dash back in even with the window out, just the way it fits and is held in, with little clips that won't stay in
Not sure this was covered, to take the instruments out, you loosen the fasteners on the vinyl hood and the wood part and you sort of wiggle both of the out a bit at a time
As mentioned, the hood has a screw up from the bottom that is not real obvious, near the front of the hood, near where I drew the magenta arrow
I have a 72, but I think it is the same as a 74, Chris can tell you, I think that was your original question
 

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the dash wood, the long part on the right and sort on the left, is attached to the horizontal shelf, from the bottom of the shelf, so that comes out, goes in as an assembly, the upper dash pad comes out before this assembly
 
I bought new wood from bela, new dash parts from just dashes, re-laminated and recovered the shelf and put it all back together
It was very difficult, took many days, new wood and dash parts caused me lots of grief as the holes no longer lined up, and other problems
Here is a giant tip I got from the forum, the upper dash pad is held on with clips, they are little V shaped things that fit into metal slots that are in the dash pad molding, they are pressed into slots in the car, sheet metal
The problems are, the V's don't stay in the dash, and they don't stay in the slots in the car
On a couple of them, the V's stayed in the dash, but wouldn't hold in the sheet metal, so I made wedges from hardwood
A bigger problem is the V's that won't stay in the dash, buy a threaded rod, use a torch to soften the end and make a small hook, that goes over insert in the dash
put a metal tube over the threaded rod as a nut space, and put a nut on it

edit, fixed some typos
 
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