dash pad and vinyl

[magaoidh]

Does anyone know if the dashpad on a 73 or 74 can be removed without the glass windscreen being removed? The original basket weave vinyl:can you still buy it? Thanks Geoff

[EJP914]

Geoff: You do not need to remove the windshield. There are 5 or 6 or 7( been awhile since I had mine out) under the dash. You will most likely have to remove the radio, glove box, and loosen up the face of the instrument cluster to get to these. It's not a hard job. You just have to contort yourself into wierd positions to get to the nuts. You will also have to remove the vinyl covers from the inside windshield posts so the dash pad will lift off easily.

Dash face vinyl should still be available. Bought some about a year ago. Did you call Pelican?

Good luck on the dash. Ed

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

I think it's 8 or 9 plastic nuts. Here, let me find the pics that SammyG took....

OK, here they are! These are taken as if you were looking up at the bottom of the dashboard, with the front of the car toward the top of the picture.









The two hardest ones, IMHO, are the ones at the front of the instrument binnacle. You can only see the nuts edge-on, and you get a pretty limited amount of space to swing a wrench when undoing them.

You'll need several extensions of different lengths to get at all of the nuts. I used a 1/4" drive socket, with at least two or three different extensions (and a ratchet handle of course) and an open-end wrench. I removed the radio, the glovebox, the instrument panel, and the side vents in order to be able to get at all of them.

--DD

[mike95125]

Since the nuts are plastic, you can use a bent pair of needle nose pliers on the ones behind the instraments especially.

Worked like a charm for me every time

Oh, nope, no window removal needed.