Dashboard change
 

well after searching hi and low ,i finally found a new dashboard on ebay without cracks,it just so happens it was done in vinyl and withstood the test of time, 30 yrs later it still looks brand new,i thought it would be a difficult job but it was not bad at all, turns out the dash is only held on by 4 screws, once all the bologna is out of the way,


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The term "WYAIT" comes to mind! How does your air conditioner work? The vacuum servos are ALWAYS a liability, and typically dead at this point. It would be good to refresh all of them, and buy a rebuilt climate control head while your at it. I just spent $1000 trying to get my AC working, and it is about.....50%. If the car has been in the garage it is cool. If it is in the sun for any time at all...I bake while driving. I should pull the dashboard, but this will likely take me a month or more, with my schedule, and I enjoy driving the car- My other car, a Ford Aerostar really is not exactly an inspiration toward spirited driving....

[It hauls plants and much very well!]

Good luck.

N!

my ac is great,, works perfectly but i did close off the line to heater core for the summer, the only issue i have is the cluster odometer,, and i have a small crack in the pod

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i want to send the cluster to vdo for odometer gear,,, anyone have a suggestion? and recover the pod?? norm so far i have six hrs in the job its pretty simple

FTE LAUDERDALE SPPEDO wants 225 and i just got off the phone with no hollywood speedo and they are at 110, tommorow i will ship to cali.......i dont know what to do with the pod?

There are absolutely great instructions available on how to do the odometer drive gear yourself. Since you have the pod out already I would guess it would take no more than an hour to do it yourself. I have done it to 3 cars and it is no big deal....

How necessary was it to take seats out?

i am told the aftermarket gears are no good,, tom at 928 told me to send to vdo and i will get the original parts, they will also check the other guages for accuracy, some times somethings are better left to the professional...

the seats out of the way made things much easier, console screws are to close to seats,and the dash comes out a little hectic because of pod bracket, seats are only six screws each and the plug for power,there is very little room to work as it is,so i would recommend taking the five minutes to remove them

Changing an odometer drive gear doesn't screw up anything, unless you do! Where do you think the odometer rebuilders get their parts? I have also rebuilt many, and none have since failed.
Oh, and accuracy of gauges on a 928 pod are a joke !

i never said changing a gear screwed up anything, i am told the after market gears are not all good, i think the vdo speedometer shop gets their gears from the factory which is vdo, and they are not offerd to the public,, congrads on your success with your gearchanges,sorrt to hear your guages are not accurate,, maybe you should send them out to a profesional also

LOL. So your voltmeter, temp and others is accurate?
I don't doubt that a VDO shop can get parts from the factory for a 79 or 85; I suspect that Roger, Mark and others get from the same source .
I'll watch your post, and not respond again......

Sheesh........relax, fellas.

now is the time to replace the console pods 2 of them and you can test the defroster but probably leave it alone as it seldom leaks also replace the pod in the blower box and fit a new heater control valve and short hose with new parts the system will work as advertised

I can think of a few things on a 928 only a professional should do, fuel injection brains, wheel alignment, but plenty of stuff needs to be kept out of the hands of professionals and done slowly and carefully by the owner using methods worked out by other owners.

Number of factory VDO gears that have failed, all of them.
Number of aftermarket gears that have failed, none I know of.

nice find on the clean used used dash.. It looks great. The dashes do come out easy.. so do piston rings...once you get there. :D

[QUOTE=neil30076;6198188]LOL. So your voltmeter, temp and others is accurate?
I don't doubt that a VDO shop can get parts from the factory for a 79 or 85; I suspect that Roger, Mark and others get from the same source .
I'll watch your post, and not respond again......[/QUOT

your response is not a problem neil but an authorized vdo repair shop does get their parts from the factory., im all for do yourself but im not a great big fan of aftermarket,,, i will use aftermarket when their is no other solution,but in this case i choose to go with oem,,,btw my other guages all work perfectly in this 85, in my experience the guages can be calibrated, the signal is usually the issue

how many years did it take for the vdo gear to fail? and the only reason to keep something out of the hands of a true proffesional is not having the ability to fund the repair or having nothing better to do,i appreciate your opinion but this recommendation has been given by voices that know betterSmileWavy

thanx pete,, not bad for 150 plus the same to ship.. great improvement didnt want to deal with cluster after hearing horror stories ..these days professionals dont get alot of credit,,,i guess there are too many jokers calling themseves pros that will work for peanuts, and thats why getting something repaired correctly is hard to find, i doubt no hollywood speedo is going to let me down, now UPS on the other hand is my biggest concern,,,,