Quick question - Remove windshield to get the dash out?

[darshie76]

Rattisnack, that would be an interesting info.....how you removed the dash without removing the WS?

[Fritz Peyerl]

I am just in progress of assembling my 72T
there are 5 sheet metal screws which hold the front of the dash down. You can't get to those with out removing the wind shield , than there are 5 studs which go through the vertical part of the dash. Some of the outside once you can reach easy, but the center once are hidden by the ventilation system. It's not a fun job.

We have a company in Calgary which is mobile and they come to you and can actually fix the dash when it is in the car. check if you have such a company in your home town.

[joefrantz]

Here are a few pictures that may help. The car shown here is a 73, and I believe the dash cover to be a late seventies/early 80’s oem replacement, because of the integrated speaker grill.

The two pics of the under side show seven studs - Five across the face, and two extending downward in the instrument cluster area. There are also seven plastic clips running just behind the leading edge. These plug into corresponding holes in the chassis dash. The holes are filled with soft plastic receptacles that accept the clips. In the pics, two of the pins/receptacles are black, and the rest are white because I bought them at different times, but they are essentially the same thing.





In the chassis picture below you can see some of the receptacles and the defroster ducts in place. The defroster ducts just snap in/out and it’s very easy to break the pins off of them, so be careful there.




If these were the only attachments, I might be able to remove and install the dash cover with the windscreen in place, but --- there are several sheet metal screws that run along the leading edge and thread into the angled surface at the front of the chassis dash, just behind the cowl. These are also referenced by Fritz. You can see one of the screw holes in the chassis picture just slightly east northeast of the passenger side defroster vent. If you squint you can make out the corresponding holes in the leading edge of the dash cover.

I don’t know of any way to remove or insert these screws with the windscreen in place. There is virtually zero clearance.

Hope this helps.

Joe

[darshie76]

thanks for your reply; at this point i wonder how he did it without removing the windshield.

Is this a dirty way to say "change the windshield seal everytime that you wanna fix your dash ? :P