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Date:   Sun, 7 Jan 1996 19:08:27 -0500 (EST)
Sender:   Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:   "Mark M. Schirmer" <mmschirm@mailbox.syr.edu>
Subject:   dashboard removal

I had a request from Mike Catlin to describe how I took off the dash, so here goes....( I hope I remember everything):

1. Take out the radio and the glove box (undo the plastic straps on each top corner, let the box drop down and slide the whole thing to the left out of the hinges). Remove the face plate for the heating/vent controls, this requires pulling off the four knobs on the levers (or maybe the plastic extension for the levers comes off too-I took of the knobs because I couldn't pull off the said plastic lever parts, but I think that something broke in the knobs-they work after reinstallation, but are a little loose-use your own judgement...)

2. Remove the instrument panel: -The shell is easily removed with a tug towards the steering wheel -take off the dust cover (note the master cylinder and brake fluid reservoir-be careful when finally taking the dash off-you may need to disconnect the wire the the top of the reservoir, but remember to plug it back in-I don't know what it's for (anyone?) but if it has to do with the brakes, must be important...) -remove the for screws holding the panel in place -disconnect the switches and pull the wires down so they dangle freely below the dash (plug the switches back in or mark the wires so you can remember what goes where) -disconnect the speedometer cable and the other electronic connection behind the tach. The cluster should now be free... -Remove the steering wheel (pull out the center to reveal a 24mm nut- it's one or two sizes larger than the lugs, so the lug wrench won't work, I used a breaker bar with a 24mm? socket. The wheel should come off with a good tug) -Take off the steering column housing (remove the two philips screws on the underside and pull the pieces apart.) -I also removed, because I always break things, the signal and wiper switches. (pull the plugs, take out the three regular-head screws, and pull the controls straight off. It shouldn't be necessary to do anything with the ignition.) -Take out the three philips screws holding the heat/vent controls to the dash. One is on the near right side of where the instruments were and the other two are on the left and right inside the hole when you remove the control face. (when you put everything back together, reassemble this first)

3. You'll notice two c-channel braces running from some basically inaccessible niche up high under the dash, past the brake cylinder, down to where the steering column connects to the dash. Free these from the dashboard and steering column. Good Luck..... -on my '85 GL there is a bolt at each end of these channels. The inaccessible one has an 8 or 10 mm hex head, the accessible one is a smooth cone, not designed to be removed....get yourself a good pair of vise-grips. With said vise-grips I was able to extricate the bolts. The bolts are of a rather soft metal, so it may be possible to file a few flat sides into the heads to get a normal wrench around them. Consider replacing these with normal bolts if you plan or foresee a future dashboard removal. -the steering column should now be free, and fall into your lap- guys, be careful.

4.Remove the five or six black colored Philips screws where the dash meets the window (they are the smaller screws, greater in number- I think the larger screws hold together the wiper assembly) -open the front doors -remove the two philips screws in each door jamb -with the doors open carefully lift the dashboard out of place-It's heavy and bulky. the vent hoses should pop off and you will need to remove some residual wiring (cig. lighter, glovebox light, rear heater control.)

5.Now we are so happy, we do the Dance of Joy. (before we get frustrated at trying to fix the real problem-actually I think that as a reward for having successfully removed the dashboard, the problem we were trying to fix underneath is easily remedied and costs nothing to do so...)

Good Luck!

Mark '85 Retrowestie


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