Hi there, I’m working on removing the dash from my driver 64 Wildcat and I’m stuck. Rather than ripping into this and creating more of a mess, I’d like some advice on proper removal and the service manuals for the car. You can’t get a Haynes or Clymer that I can find, but eBay has some old Buick chassis and body manuals that look correct. Are those the best? How much detail do they have? I’m starting with removal of the steering column which looks self explanatory. I want to sand and prep it and also deal with some wiring issues. Dash has smaller nuts on the back side and I can reach some but not all. There’s gotta be a magic trick to getting this out and I’d rather not reinvent the wheel. Any advice is appreciated, I don’t expect a walkthrough but advice on the manuals would be awesome. Thanks!
The old service and chassis manuals are great. But then, I'm one of them old guys that greased up lots of paper in the old days. The "exploded" diagrams and the "Lettered Details" really help you get an idea of how the "speedo bone is connected to the dash bone", and so forth. I got "Lefty Loosey" down to a science.
Yeah I've got the seat out and I was crawling around underneath the dash trying to figure it out. The dash is designed to hide the fasteners so it's hard to reverse engineer, to me anyhow. I do like how older cars have less junk to deal with. I think this is what I need but not positive https://m.ebay.com/itm/152704125920
Yes, those two will be a great help. On the '1964 Skylark, the dash pad ring has screws on the bottom. Once those are removed, the ring is off and the left, right bezels (speedo/radio) and heater/AC controls can be removed. The steering mast has two bolts under the dash/mast that hold it up, and dropping that few inches to remove the left speedo bezel, then the heater/AC controls, then the right bezel (radio/speaker). The Wildcat might be similar, but the manuals will be a great help. If you can, buy them and wait until you get them. The few days you wait, might mean not breaking something, and parts being nearly 55 years old, can be hard to find. Good luck, and don't be shy about posting how to remove something.
You can't beat the original Buick manuals. Be careful when removing the dash components. 50 year old plastic can be brittle. Don't ask me how I know. There is a sequence to disassembling the dash so be sure to follow the directions in the manual. Some parts can only be removed after other parts are removed.
Are you trying to get out the dash pad (the foam part that squishes) or the entire metal dash? The metal dash is welded in. Let me know if you haven't bought the manuals yet and I'll scan some pages.
What I'm really interested in is removing the gauges and bezels as much as possible, so I can go through the wiring and grounds to make sure they are ok. My lights go out at night until I hit a bump. So the metal part can stay. I do have the manuals now. It's -5 in my garage right now, so work has ceased until this spring.
Matthew, I came across the picture below from fellow member Larry Lorence off his facebook. It may be of some help as you can see where the fasteners come through for both the dash and trim, and the safety pad. If I'm remembering right, the black trim comes off around the dash by a few speed nuts, and then the Phillips screws that hold the dash in are visible.
