I decided to replace my cracked old wooden dash with a nice new shiny Stainless one from Leven in the chequerboard pattern.
The only problem was, do i fit it myself or pay someone for the privilege? I thought that the hardest part would be removing the top of the dash itself and that elusive 3rd bolt.
At the weekend I decided to give it a go myself and here's how it went.
Don't forget to disconnect the battery before you start!
This first pic shows the original dash complete with cracking veneer around the blower switch.
The next one shows the position that i had to get myself in to get access to the 3rd bolt. It was however, very easy to find and undo with my right hand and a 10mm spanner.
The two 10mm nuts on the other side were no problem again and all you have to do is remove the small panel on the passenger side below the dash which is secured by 2 screws.
Once the top of the dash is off you then have access to behind the clocks.
It looks daunting but its not too bad.
Make sure that you remove one clock at a time, labelling it and drawing a sketch of the location of the spade connectors behind it as you go along.
The dash itself then simply pulls up from 4 slots in the shelf below.
The only tricky part is pulling out the horizontal heater dials as a complete unit and removing the 3 small screws (1 top and 2 bottom) which secure the small unit to the dash itself.
Once the dash is lifted away this is what you are left with.
Replacing this part was straightforward and the only bits that needed re gluing were the 3 warning lights which are between the Speedo and Rev Counter.
The small radio panel was the most difficult bit to replace and indeed was the only part that needed the 4 old fixings to be reused and re glued.
You have to be careful here because they must go back in exactly the same place.
Refitting is a little fiddly with the 2 block connectors behind which hold the warning lights on one end and the hazard warning lights on the other.
Once they are all together again, check that all the bulbs and dials are working correctly then refit the top of the dash.This has to be tilted backwards and the elusive 3rd bolt on the drivers side needs to be located in its holes first then the other 2 will simply slot back into place.
Reconnect the battery and away you go.
This is what the finished job looks like and im sure that you will agree that it looks superb and well worth the effort.
-- Additional --
I recently had to remove my dash top, this image shows the location and direction on the three bolts:
The red markers indicate the nuts which need to be removed. You'll also note that the bolts face in contradictory directions meaning that it's impossible to remove the dash top without flexing it.
