If you are going to paint a dash you should just take the whole thing out so you can do everything on the bench. You can take the whole dash out in probably and hour with a helper. You can then get to the wiring harness and do what ever you need to with ease. This is roughly the process.
Of course unhook the battery and remove your console.
The speedometer cable must be unhooked.
1: Remove the dash pad.
2: Take the 4 nuts off the steering column and drop it down. Unplug the harness from the column. If you are going to paint the dash good time to get the column also. Just go ahead and take the screws out of the plate on the firewall and unhook the rag joint lock rod to transmission and you can get the whole thing out of your way.
3: Take the glove box out.
4: There is a wire form that braces the dash to the cowl. Remove the bolt from the lower edge of the dash.
5: Take the two end plates off the ends of the dash.
6: Remove the A post covers.
7: Take the single hex bolt on either side of the dash up next to the windshield.
8: There is one screw directly over where the steering column goes remove it.
9: Take the bolt loose in the center of the fuse box and separate the connection.
10: There are two hex head bolts on each end of the dash that go through a bracket on the A post remove them.
11: If you have air unhook the control cable from the heater box.
12: Unhook the big rubber plug on the heater / air cond. control.
13: You will need the shifter to be as far back as possible.
14: Unplug all the connections down at the bottom of the A post kick pad area. They all have different connectors so you pretty much cannot get back incorrect.
15: As you pull the dash back you will need to pull one connection apart for the heat / air near the center then the entire dash can come out.
You can remove the instrument cluster and all the controls on the dash. The center gauges can come out. You can remove all the air vents and wash them up. After you get everything off the dash then you can get it ready to paint and them put everything back while on the bench.
Much easier than trying to do it in the car. Remember when they built these things they put a dash in less than 2 minutes, lol.
I just posted a bunch of pictures the other day of the firewall, heater/air cond. box and the dash. If your car still has the original insulation on the cowl it is falling apart. Ground up stuff with a thin black plastic backing. I used some of the China fake Dyna-mat on the cowl going back. Good time to do the heater core and rebuild the heater air box. In the pictures I posted it shows the barrier I add to keep the mice out of the heater box and ducts.
Even being so careful and checking every wire and doing the wrap over I have some issues that I will be working on later this week. Got behind around the house and car has to wait.
On the knob on the wiper control I have a hook shaped tool that I go behind the knob and pull on the tab and the knob comes right off. I can do it sitting in the seat.
You can make you a tool for the dash nuts by taking a tube and cutting the two sides off and just leave two tabs to fit into the nuts. Sometimes the headlight shafts are a bear to get out even with the button on the switch pushed.
I wish I had someone to shoot video for me I could save you lots of time if you could see it done once.
When you go back in everything is mounted in the dash, instruments, center gauges, radio, all wiring and it will just sit right back in place. Plug in the wires and put in the 8 bolts and put the column back and you are done.
Over simplified I am sure but once you do it you will never lay on your back and try to fix anything again.
David
