What were the designers thinking when they put this stuff together? Did they ever plan on some poor sap down the road having to change a lightbulb? Had some ongoing issues with things behind the dash of the Riv. I waited untill there was enough going on to justify the effort in pulling out the instrument cluster. A few weeks ago the cable behind the A/C controls bent and wouldn't open and close the blend door anymore so I decided to pull it all apart and fix everything and while I was in there replace all the bulbs with LED. I have a chassis manual and it says remove this unplug that remove this screw and that screw like its no big deal What it dont say is that theres no freaking way to get your hands behind the panel to do this. This thing had to have been built as a unit and then the complete dash welded into the car. Anyway 3.5 hours later I have the cluster on my bench. replaced the headlight switch, all the bulbs. Straightened the bent cable and now looking at doing some house keeping back there before reassembly. I think I will look at a way to re route that cable in a more direct path to avoid the stress that caused it to bend in the first place. Also might be a good time to install the hidden stereo behind the dash so I dont have to take it apart again in the future. Any of you guys go through this?
I've often suspected what GM really did was set the completed dash units on the line and built the cars around them.
See my "mad dash" thred on wrenching secrets below... razor blades and all. My hands are a size 12 BTW and it was a rff'n... Bill in TR
I agree. This is what I do. I remove the ash tray, center vent and dash pad. It is easier to do installation as you can see things better particularly the ac controls. But defininately a pita, BTW I use wing nuts for the two studs located on each side of the steering column.this expedites removal as well install without the frustration of trying to get a socket &ratchet on the nut. It is also easier to recover a wing nut than a nut when it falls between the sheet metal in the dash.
I did just this also. Its all off down to the basic frame work. The wing nut idea was in the plan from the start. Gonna get them today. I found out that the LED bulbs have the + and - reversed so anything that uses the car body as ground will have to have a new socket installed. the clock and HVAC controls work like this. Stuff in the cluster should work without mods.
I practiced removing clusters on two 'parts cars' I had - the object of the exercise was to remove everything intact, without breaking anything, using the 'book' as a guide. :Smarty: Ashtray out, radio out, heater/ac duct work removed, and upper dash pad off, steering column dropped as per the 'book' - laying on your back on the floor under the dash, with your legs draped over the front seat and your head jacked up like a prize male peacock 'in heat' !! :laugh: 2 boxes of 'Band Aids' later, I soon realized they were just not designed to be removed as easily as outlined in the 'book' - all those sharp metal edges and sheet metal screws were ready to snag prying hands and fingers at any time, and those little plastic push in connector tabs for the courtesy lights, power antenna, and rear defroster broke off when you tried to compress the 30 year old plastic tabs to remove them from the cluster !! :eek2: Some of the nuts holding the cluster in the dash were not that easy to access either, and separating the heater/ac control unit was a delight also !! :rant: Git-er-done 'right' Steve, while it's out of the dash, as it's definitely a job I would not tackle again if I can avoid it, all-in-all, a real P-I-T-A !! :moonu: I also used snap apart 'butt connectors' on all the dash switch wiring, so it will be a little easier, should the exercise need repeating in the future. :TU:
The Damper cable was shot. once the bend was in the steel it wants to bend every time theres pressure against it. had some other cables from the ACC system. Re routed one through the grommet for the cruise control vac line and it seems to work ok. Wish there was a more visually pleasing way to route that cable. cant get the LED to light in the fixture for the fiber optics Reversed polarity on both fixtures still wont light. Just gonna have to go with stock bulbs in them. Will replace the sockets for the clock and heater controls with the bayonet type fixtures.
Are you saying the LEDs simply don't work or are you saying they aren't bright enough? When I attempted my LED conversion the LEDs were simply not bright enough and were not omnidirectional enough either.
One stoopid word of caution... disconnect the battery. Its a DUH thing but gets overlooked, just like it did for me last week. The wiper switch connections are all grounds for parking the wiper motor etc. Its right next to the headlight switch which has a big ol' fat wire right to the, well, you know what! And... you know what was next! Id also suggest if it isnt too much extra, pull the steering wheel off. Bill in TR
Let me guess...one of the directional bulbs was out in the cluster. I forget which one is out on mine, but it hasnt been working for 5 years
After the bezel was up in place, I hand my fist up in there and brushed the wiper plug into the headlight switch... looked like scene from star trek, but only a glancing flash. No fuse to blow and not long enough for it to take out the fusible link. Besides, mine is gone. Where should it go? From the + battery post to the.... ??? Bill in TR
They just wont light. I have several different types of bulbs that should be plenty bright enough. I may put the bayonet fixture on those as well. Thats what mine looks like right now. The chassis manual said disconnect the neg terminal on the batt first so thats what I did. Hooked it up and unhooked a few times for testing stuff.
'Just sayin... How many guys actually read the book verbatim? Outa the whole deal, dropping the column was "suggested" but actually helped the most! Bill in TR
After an hour trying to get that 1 nut to the left of the column I was considering taking the thing completely out. In the end a 1/4" ratchet, 3 ext's 1 swivel and a 3/8 socket did the trick.
Got the cluster fully installed today. 4 hours of bending twisting and being as careful as possible not to break or scratch anything up. I checked each item I connected as it was hooked up for correct operation. Made sure all the new LED bulbs worked as I went. Got everything in place then pushed it back into its place. Just as I tightened the last screw I remembered the 2 vac hoses that work the headlights.:rant: Crap! Remove the screws pull it carefully back out enough to get my hands in there and get them connected. Because this is a Corvette headlight switch the Vac ports are a bit different and the hoses had to be routed at a different angle.The speed nuts under the dash were anything but speedy. With the help of my trusty sawzall trimming a 1/2" metal flap away I was able to get all 4 in place and tight. 2 shims and a wedge looking thing had fallen out as I was working so a break to go through the Chassis manual was in order to see where these went. Part of the steering column mounting.:Smarty: Sure wish I had been able to locate new HVAC controls. Mine look like crap and when I find a nicer one I'll have to do this all again. I did scratch up the paint on the underside of the dash. Some from screws and stuff on the back of the cluster and some from the sawzall. I have more paint in that color. Something to do another day. Next time out the radio,ductwork, ashtray. glove box and dash pad. Phewww. Tired just writing about it!:laugh:
With double jointed fingers too. I went through 3 bulb holders trying to replace the fuel gauge bulb on my '69 'lark. Luckily Holden use the same ones so I had spares "in stock" One of them finally shook its way loose & fell on the floor a month ago. The other one has vanished into space seemingly. Not looking forward to popping the dash pad to attend to some rust around the windscreen. Or popping the laminated 'screen either.
Are you saying the LEDs simply don't work or are you saying they aren't bright enough? When I attempted my led conversion the LEDs were simply not bright enough and wore not omnidirectional enough either.
I have several different styles of LED's Some have lights all the way around and on the end. Others just have the 4 light tabs on the end facing out. for the clock and hvac controls I used the rounded ones and the cluster general lighting and fiber optics used the flat top ones.Also used green and red LED's behind the turn signals and warning lights. They are very bright and look more crisp. Not that old yellow looking light. Really happy with the upgrade. I'll get a pic later and post it. If anyone is interested 32Kcenturion here on the board sells these lights and probably hook you guys up with anything needed.
