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My goals for Winter break were simple: rebuild the dash, replace the turn signal switch, and get the speedometer working. At the time of writing, I've yet to accomplish the latter two items on the list, but there's still time. The dash rebuild was the most intense, yet least relevant to my car's roadworthiness. Who needs dash lights and a clock to drive legally? Anyways, up until now, I'd been collecting the parts I needed to put the dash back together. I had a new OER clock to replace the original that had been hacked up to fit a battery-operated (why?) quartz movement, a rebuilt factory dash speaker, a JC Whitney gauge cluster with wood grain that matched my dash, and various other parts.
Dash before rebuild.
The plan was simple: take the old dash out, clean it up and paint the plastic gauge cluster, then reassemble and admire all the work. In reality, it went something like this: take the old dash out, paint the plastic, reassemble once, find out the clock is broken and the shift indicator light is out, break the shift indicator light, freak out, wait a day to cool off, fix the shitty repro clock because it has a bad ground, and then reassemble the dash for the last time, realizing you mysteriously have two extra screws now. I still have no idea where the screws came from. They're a different size than the ones used to hold the dash in place, so they must be for something else. Neither David or I can remember taking them out.
Dash removed for rebuild.
This entry will be pretty short, even though it was fairly intense (intense being me shouting obscenities at the dash for an hour as I tried to get the lights back in place. At long last, when I pulled out the switch, all the dash lights, and only the dash lights came on (unlike my first installation attempt where the left blinker and hi-beam light turned on). Oh, and there was the part where I swore and yelled "give it back" at my car when the tiny brass fitting on the oil pressure line fell down on top of the front subframe under the oil pan. That was memorable. But when all the smoke had settled, there it was. A clean dash that looked and worked great.
Dash after rebuild.
I also took the opportunity while the dash was out to replace the glovebox liner, so now I also officially have a glovebox again. I still don't know what's up with the speedometer. It's not the cable because the needle moved when I put the drill on it. Either the transmission wasn't hooked back up properly or the internal gear is damaged or missing. I'll have to figure that out at some point when the weather stays clear enough that I can pull my car out of the garage and work on it. Oh yeah, thanks to the intense cleaning efforts of my dad, I now have a garage to park the car in and keep it out of the rain and snow. Thanks Dad! Yes, this was a relatively short entry, but I felt the dash deserved its own chapter for how much of an ordeal it was. Be sure to check back soon for what will hopefully be functioning turn signals and a speedometer.
Pretty lights
Tucked away in the garage.
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