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,,,,

thanx merlin,what funcion do these pods serve ? my hvac system works great,it blows so cold it hurts,,i shut off the heater core valve with a wire tie just to see temp change,

no way, UPS rules. They bought me a new tranny when they dropped my old one and cracked the case. Just plan on packing the speedo to survive a 10 yard throw.

Wow, this looks like a major undertaking for sure. Hope it all goes back together OK.

The Pods have rubber diaphragms in them and as with anything rubber and old, they deteriorate and leak, which will make a lot of your HVAC controls not work. He's saying preventative maintenance while your in there.

well i already got screwed by UPS, i paid them to pick up cluster this morning over the phone, by 2:oo they hadnt shown up so i called and they scheduled another pickup, when they arrived at 4 they wanted another check to take package,so i had to pay them again to expidite the process,, after they left i called customer service who told me they picked up the package in the morning also so there is no refund,, i cant believe this happened,,,i really lost more time than the seven dollars i lost,,,,and i will not pursue because its too ridiculous,,and to make things worse the 4 oclock pick up guy did not bring a shipping label but promised he would affix when he got back to the terminal,,,, i may have lost my cluster

Yikes! That's a terrible story. Hope all is well. I have a local UPS Store that I drop my UPS Stuff off. I don't trust pick up service by them.

i wish now i just changed the gear myself,,,it wont be in hollywood till friday , if it makes it and ive spent 40 to send it one way so far by ground it was 90 to fly it there for thursday,,, what a racket,,,, all for an odometer,,,, i hope i dont regret this decision later,,, but my new dash looks so sweet,,i spent all day rewiring a music system installed by previous owner,,,,,, what a bird brain,,, you wouldnt believe if you seen it,,,, six speakers tied together powered by a mono amp and a sub powered by rear surround outputs to 2 channel amp,,,,, all wires taped together with hospital tape,,, white cloth,,,,,, i thought ive seen it all

all ready to go,,,now i have to wait out my cluster,,,,,or can the car run without it?http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1313701517.jpg
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Yes, it will run without a cluster - I know one car around here owned by a R-lister that runs that way all the time! Not mine :-)
May need to jump the alterantor blue wire at the pod connector with a resistor to 'excite ' the alternator, though...

i guess i will wait,,if thats the case,,,i will have to drive my 79 for a week,its next on my schedule for gas line replacement,, rubber and steel , and thanx to lfausty i have an ac compressor that just may work in that car,,, i hate to disable both carshttp://forums.pelicanparts.com/suppo...leys/freak.gif

too bad an 88 cluster wouldn't work.. I have an extra you could have borrowed. fuel lines at the engine or tank? I just did my tank. had to do some splicing to the return but it's all good now. btw. I'm on my 3rd week waiting for the sender unit seal

Since there is a thread open on dashes, I hate to ask this question but one never knows until one asks, has anyone ever painted their dash, I had a camaro before and I changed the tan interior to black, I shopped around for a good paint produst and actually found it in autozone in watertown, NY. it has a flex agent in the paint. lasted 2 years of pretty rough abuse, I was thinking of ordering new carpet for the car and spraying the upper half, (if I decide to keep it) what are your guys thoughts and opinions on this.

Wow - I caught myself with my jaw dropped as I looked at your pictures with the dash out. Quite an undertaking. Great job. My dash is cracked too, but I have far more pressing issues to deal with first. I too will go down this road but I think I'll take it to my interior guy to be recovered. He works magic. Odometer gear anyone...can I ask for one for Christmas?

I'm running my 80 Euro without a cluster - but I found my Garmin does a fine job of acting speedo and odometer. I say a short prayer for temp and oil pressure each time I start it. PO attempted to repair the cluster connectors and it's FUBAR now. Waiting on a spare $300 to get a replacement flex circuit. More important fuel issues get attention first.

i need to do all the fuel lines, steel and rubber complete

How are you going to do it? Are you going to redo with the stock stuff or run your own stainless braided line or something.

not positive on the steel line pete,,,i got the rubber lines from roger, but my steel lines under the car have some rust, and the vent lines in back are rusted away,,,, i want to change the whole system,,, all the plumbing of gas ,, when i drop the tank with all the lines i will try and decide how,,, i found some metric size line in 20 ft rolls,,,, do you have any suggestions? i have no clue about fittings at this point,,can stainless braided be adapted to stock fittings ?

I got the idea from a kit Lindey Racing makes for my 951. They splice in braided line to the factory engine connection. (it should work for a 928 too) I'll start a new thread and show how I repaired my return line.

well the cluster came back from no hollywood speedometer , the charge was 135 and they claim they replaced capacitors with the service, so now i have a running odometer again, and im not quite sure if this is normal but the first tankful on the clock only averaged 10mpg,,,i was hoping for 15 at least the exhaust smells really rich but she purrs like a kitten, any one else have mpg data?